Un Seor Muy Viejo Con Alas Enormes by Gabriel Marquez - Essay Example

Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez is known for his creative thinking an meaningful ways of presenting his thoughts to his readers. Written in1968, his ''Un seor muy viejo con alas enormes" ("A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings'') is another good proof of Marquez' affectivity in reaching out to his readers. This short story uses a typical style known as ''magic realism''. In this story, Marquez has once again used his imaginative style in combining realistic scenarios in everyday details with elements of fantasy, shadowing the reader's usual distinctions between reality and magic.

Very simply stated, this is the story of what happens when an angel comes to town. But while it is subtitled ''A Tale for Children,'' it is by no means a simple story. The setting is no ordinary town, and its visitor is no ordinary angel-indeed, he seems very ordinary and human, despite his extraordinary appearance. Because he contradicts their expectations, the other characters in the story seem thoroughly incapable of understanding him. As a result their conventional wisdom and superstitious beliefs lead them into absurd explanations for his sudden visit, and they treat him in a manner that seems cruel, unjust, and rude.

Meanwhile, Joseph Conrad's "Under the Western Eyes" is the exact opposite of Enriquez' "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". Conrad has written in this story the words "All a man can betray is his conscience" (Conrad, 2001), and this is very realistic and direct to the point. There could be instances where one's moral standards may need to be set aside because of what the law states. It is just like having your conscience bothers you for what you have done, but you cannot prevent it because what you did is actually following the laws of the state.

After Conrad's successful rendition of the feeling involved in betraying one's friend to do what is just in accordance with the laws of the states, he made a successful attempt in connecting the moral obligations of the "betrayer" to his friend he has just betrayed. Conrad is indeed a very good writer for having successfully shown how one feels by betraying his own friend, and even his own set of moral standards just to follow the laws and regulations of the states. The way he made his characters opted for such actions and/or decisions by weighing what their minds say versus their hearts is really a very good twist for every part of the story.

Conrad has made a clear description of the feelings such as agony, pain and at the same time proud for doing something that is in accordance with the standards of the state. It is very clear that in Marquez' story, creativity of the writer's mind as well as the readers' mind is a requisite. Although both of these stories proved learning which all readers can apply to real life lessons which readers may have already know but only in theories lessons that we sometimes forget to use on day-to-day living, their style of imparting these learning to the readers is different.

Marquez' is more of a "reading-between-the-lines" type of story. He just suggest what is better and which is not. While Conrad's is more direct. He shows the ill effects of certain actions and he also clearly shows what could be the possible causes of such negative actions. But despite these differences, both stories must be read and are highly recommended readings to a various kinds of readers - may it be for elderly and/or adults, for the youngster and teenagers, for the educators, for the learners, for males or females.

Work Cited: Conrad, Joseph. (2001) Under The Western Eyes. Modern Library.