A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Essay Example

Deeper study shows it to be a thought-provoking narrative for adults. The surface level is the fairy tale narrative of a man with wings, who may be an angel. Underneath this surface is the deeper symbolic meaning conveyed by the characters. The old man and the spider-woman are symbols of foreigners. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” demonstrates people’s fear of foreigners, their expectations towards outsiders, and their treatment of non-conformists. The initial reaction of the characters towards the old man with wings is fear.

When Pelayo discovers him lying in the mud of his courtyard, Pelayo is “Frightened by that nightmare” (Garcia Marquez, 2). This connotes the feelings of intense fear, horror, and distress aroused by the old man because of his foreignness. The couple is made speechless with terror. It is only after they subject him to close and long scrutiny, and grow accustomed to his foreign appearance, that “they dared speak to him” (Garcia Marquez, 2). The old man’s alien appearance makes the entire town perceive him to be a threat.

Based on this perception, the initial reaction of the people is “to club him to death” (Garcia Marquez, 2). Although they let the old man live, “Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with his bailiff’s club” (Garcia Marquez, 4). . The old man is seen to have the power to generate catastrophe. As an alien, the spider-woman also evokes fear as “a frightful tarantula” (Garcia Marquez, 5) with her appearance. Even after the old man brings prosperity to Pelayo and Elisenda, fear lingers in their hearts.

When they build their new house, they make sure that it has “iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldn’t get in” (Garcia Marquez, 11). This fear is an off-shoot of the peoples’ expectations towards outsiders. The various characters have preconceived notions of outsiders. Pelayo and Elisenda, on hearing the old man’s alien language, conclude “that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship” (Garcia Marquez, 2). The old woman insists he is an angel because he has wings. Father Gonzaga believes that any angel must be conversant in Latin: “The parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers” (Garcia Marquez, 5).

He has a fixed idea of angels and rejects the old man because he does not meet his criteria. The priest concludes that the old man, with his rank odor and mangy wings, falls short of angelic standards and “nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels” (Garcia Marquez, 5). In the case of the spider-woman, the townspeople are more accepting of her foreignness. This may be attributed to her meeting their expectation that misdemeanor must be punished. They can accept the she “had been changed into a spider for having disobeyed her parents (Garcia Marquez, 5).

Again, the spider-woman is not perceived to be as alien as the old man because, unlike him, she speaks Spanish. When an