Analysis of Social Ideals in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Essay Example

?ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL IDEALS IN ‘A VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS’ Submitted By Prepared For Teacher’s Teachers Name Class Name Today’s Date Analysis of Social Ideals in ‘A very old man with enormous wings’ A very old man with wings by Gabriel Marquez, is a short story based in ‘magical realism’ and it encompasses magic, unnatural phenomena and also mythical elaborations (Shannon). The story is about a couple who are going through difficult times financially and after discovering a fallen angel in their back yard their fate changes. From the couple to the neighbor ‘who knows all about life and death’ (Marquez 1); and from the priest to the people of the whole town, Gabriel has conveyed how the town is under a deep moral affliction and has lost track of all morality. Even the ‘fallen angel’ is better in demeanor than the well behaved people of the town. Gabriel has tried to establish that the whole town in all their decisions and actions are motivated by greed and selfishness (Critchfield). The villagers claim to be following religious beliefs yet display high ignorance about them (Critchfield). The author establishes that the ideals of selflessness and religious knowledge are no longer present among communities and have been replaced by moral corruption, greed and selfishness. Gabriel indirectly establishes the ideals of a moral society by showing the corruption and infection that has contaminated the population of the village. The whole village is engulfed in selfishness and inhuman behavior. Just to have their way and for their entertainment they can even harm others. The distortion and infection of morals in the villager’s social morals is also apparent from their ignorance, as they believe anything from a fallen angel to a spider woman, which will satisfy their false beliefs about religion. Even the atmosphere of the village is giving off the stench of the moral corruption that has taken hold of its people. Once a place that was engulfed in sunshine the village, ‘had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish’ (Marquez 1). When discovered, the old man with wings is believed to be an angel not only because he possess wings but also because he displays a fair share of miracles and deeds that are magical in nature (Faulkner). Still doubts arise in the minds of the people but these doubts are based solely on the appearance of the angel (Faulkner). The old man who was ‘dressed like a rag picker’ (Marquez 1) seemed nothing like an angel and just an outcast (Shannon). Goodwin argues that the story specifically narrates the corruption that religious knowledge had undergone in Columbia. The story unfolds around the ignorant villagers who depict the Columbians whereas the ‘angel’ represents the religion in its depleted state; and Father Gonzaga represents the Roman Catholic Church, which knows everything about following extensive protocol but nothing about religion (Goodwin). The priest although a spokesperson for religion, is yet unaware of the teachings of Christ (Critchfield). Rather than looking to the scriptures for guidance about the angel, Father Gonzaga writes to the Vatican for assurances (Critchfield). The priest discounts his own ignorance when he fails to understand the angel and has raised ‘suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God’ (Marquez 1). Everyone in the village, except for the angel and the couple’s child are driven by their ignorance and selfish desires. Everyone’s opinion of the angel and what he should do is guided by either their own ignorance or their selfishness. The neighbor lady ‘who knows everything about life and death’ is the one who actually calls him an angel; who was coming for the sick child but ‘the poor fellow was so old that the rain knocked him down’ (Marquez 1). The lady clearly displays her poor understanding of religion and divine creatures (Slomski). Other villagers offer ignorant suggestions like making him the mayor of the world or a five star general to end all wars; all the while concerned about what the angel can and should do for the people of the village (Slomski). Not once do the villagers consider that as a divine guest responsibility also befalls them to make his miserable condition better (Slomski). Pelayo and Elisenda, after their child recovers, decide to let the ‘angel’ go; but then change their mind and keep him in the chicken coop charging ‘five cents admission’ (Marquez 2) for letting people see him. They knew that the people of the village were always looking for a new religious spectacle, and a miracle; so they decide to make themselves money from this opportunity (Shannon). Utmost selfishness and greed is evident in the fact that the couple degrade to the level of using a religious entity and make a fortune off the ‘angel’, yet not once do they consider it a moral duty upon themselves to provide their guest with better living conditions. He had to live in the crammed chicken coop, which was soaring with ‘hellish heat of the oil lamps and sacramental candles’ (Marquez 2). Even Father Gonzaga is not bothered about this ill treatment of the angel; as being a religious man he should be the one most concerned about mistreating an angel. For the movie based on the story Gabriel wrote the opening lines from Hebrews 13:2: ‘Be careful when you entertain strangers as you may be entertaining angels unawares’; ascertaining the significance of the treatment the guest received (cited in Shannon). Gabriel shows that selfishness and ignorance can be a very lethal combination and the villagers in the story possess both. The villagers who come to see the angel want him to do or say something that can provide them with proof that he has divine origins ; yet when he did not oblige them by responding and reacting, the villagers ‘burned his side with an iron for branding steers’ (Marquez 2). The writer has portrayed here that hostility is displayed by the villagers when they see that the angel is not doing what they were hoping for it to be and does not perform neither any miracles nor magic tricks for their entertainment (Luncheonette). The villagers are at complete odds with religious teachings and judge divinity based on its appearance and magnitude of miracles (Luncheonette). When the girl who was hit by lightning and turned into a spider for disobeying her parents comes to the village; the whole village leaves to be entertained by the spider. As the spider woman can talk back and tell them her sad tale, the villagers consider her a divine creature and a proof of moral judgment; whereas the old man was unable to legitimize their ignorant beliefs about religion (Faulkner). Selfishness is again portrayed when the angel is seen as a nuisance in the new home of Pelayo and Elisenda. Since the couple could obtain material benefits from the angel no longer, it lead to Elisenda getting frustrated with his presence and considered that ‘it was awful living in that hell full of angels’ (Marquez 3). When the angel started growing back feathers he got scared of the couple and their selfish and greedy natures; he hid his feathers and his newly found angel like qualities ‘careful that no one should notice him’ (Marquez 3). After the angel had sprouted feathers and manages to fly away Eslinda breathes a ‘sigh of relief for herself’ (Marquez 3) for she had gotten rid of him finally and all the annoyance was gone. All she was bothered about was her happiness and annoyance. Not once does it come to her mind that how much she had benefitted from the presence of the angel and that the angel had done her no harm (Lauren). Gabriel through the depiction of the angel, the couple and the villagers has managed to portray how the society has under gone moral degradation. Once a society which was founded on religious knowledge which taught selflessness had fallen a pray to ignorance and misconceptions about religion which had in turn steeped the society into selfishness and greed. So much so that people even took advantage of religion to make money. Works Cited Critchfield, Mike. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: Gabriel Marquez’s Bad-Samaritan Parable.” Yahoo voices. Yahoo voices, 2 July 2009. Web. 9 May 2013. Faulkner, Tom. "An overview of 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,'." Gale Online Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 May 2013. Goodwin, John. "Marquez's 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' and Bambara's 'The Lesson.'." The Explicator 64.2 (Winter 2006): 118-121. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 107. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 May 2013. Lauren. “A very l damn with enormous wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Sweet Briar College. Sweet Briar College, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 9 May 2013. Luncheonette. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (short story) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” Teen Ink. Teen Ink, 2013. Web. 9 May 2013. Marquez, Garcia Gabriel. “A very old man with enormous wings: A Tale for Children.” Littleton Public School. 25 August 2008. Web. 9 May 2013. Shannon, M. “A very old man with enormous wings and yellow woman.” Shannon English 10133, 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 May 2013. Slomski, Genevieve. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Master plots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition. Web. 9 May 2013. Read More