Magical Realism In A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

A Look at the Human Nature through the Use of

Magical Realism in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

A Very Old man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a classic example of Magical Realism: it combines ordinary, everyday things with fantastic, supernatural events. The mixture of realistic, often mundane situations and extraordinary incidents creates the dreamlike, mysterious atmosphere so characteristic of the works written in the tradition of Magical Realism.

After reading Marquez's short story, the first question that comes to mind is: who is the Old Man? The author leaves the answer open to the reader's interpretation. The way the Old Man is first introduced suggests that he is just a very old, disheveled individual who got lost and accidentally wandered into Pelayo's and Elisenda's backyard. The extraordinary fact that the Old Man happens to have enormous wings is understated by his general appearance: "He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather had taken away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud." (929). After a brief initial surprise, the couple comes to a "reasonable" conclusion that the strange being they found in their yard is most likely a castaway sailor from a foreign ship: "Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor's voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm." (929). The way Marquez solves the issue of "the inconvenience of the wings" is a wonderful example of Magical Realism at its best.

The true identity of the Old Man is then pondered by the whole village. Even though the "old neighborhood woman who knew everything about life and death" (929) proclaims him an angel, the village priest disagrees with her opinion based on the fact that the Old Man does not understand Latin. Marquez gives the readers only some ambiguous and vaguely stated clues: he calls the Old Man "a flesh-and-blood angel" who is altogether "much too human": "He had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings was strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels." (930). Perhaps the most interesting and thought-provoking contention is presented by Father Gonzaga "who argued that if the wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels." (930). In the end, the question of the real identity of the Old Man remains open to the readers' interpretation.

The supernatural components of the story are balanced with realistic elements, such as the apparent curiosity, greediness and cruelty inherent in human nature. The Old Man's presence in the village seems to bring out the worst qualities in people. Marquez suggests that human beings are intrinsically curious and drawn to anything or anyone who appears to be unusual: when Pelayo and Elisenda "went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren't a supernatural creature but a circus animal. ... The news of the captive angel spread with such rapidity that after a few hours the courtyard had the bustle of a marketplace. ... The curious came from far away." (930). The human tendency to gossip spreads the rumors about the Old Man and creates the perfect opportunity for Pelayo and Elisenda to capitalize on the "unfortunate angel's" pitiful situation: they "got the idea about fencing the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel." (930). The presence of the Old Man brings forth and exposes the couple's greediness - by charging admission to see their captive, they soon become rich enough to build not just a new house, but a luxurious mansion: "in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon. ... With the money they saved they built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens..." (931).

In spite of the fact that the Old Man was the source of their newly found wealth, the couple shows no sense of gratitude towards him - on the contrary, once they become prosperous, they forget all about the original source of their good fortune and neglect the angel, leaving him in the same old chicken coop they put him in when he first appeared in their backyard: "The chicken coop was the only thing that didn't receive any attention. If they washed it down with creolin and burned tears of myrrh inside it every so often, it was not in homage to the angel but to drive away the dungheap stench that still hung everywhere like a ghost..." (931). Without making any obvious statements, Marquez artfully points out the greediness and lack of gratitude that seem to be inherent in human nature.

The author's negative view of humanity is most strongly expressed through the descriptions of various cruelties the villagers inflict on the Old Man. The lack of compassion and tolerance towards anybody who is even slightly different can be seen at the very beginning of the story, when "the neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death" (929) suggests that the Old Man should be "clubbed to death". The only reason that stops Pelayo and Elisenda from following her advice is the fact that the angel becomes an attraction and later on, a good source of income. Blinded by their greediness, they are indifferent to the inhumane conditions and suffering the Old Man experiences as a result of being locked up in the chicken coop for years.

The villagers who arrive to view the