The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Book Report/Review Example

Salvation Introduction The short story, "The Handsomest Drowned man in the World" is literature work done by GabrielGarcia Marquez in Spanish by 1968. The short story was then translated to English in 1972 and published with other works of Marquez. The short story is thought to be part of the slices of 100 years of solitude works done by Marquez. The short story is about a small fishing coastal village interrupted by availability of a dead body washed by the waves. The man who was drowned had a huge impact in the village, and the village changed forever upon the arrival of the drowned body. In the short story, the theme of community and myth are available, and the ideas of the drowned man are found in other Marquez works. The short story is linked to the 100 years of solitude work because the ideas of the drowned man are available. Marquez wrote the work using different styles and characters portraying different character traits. Analysis The start of the short story is marked by children playing in a small fishing village along side a beach. The children sow a dark and slinky bulge approaching in the waves. Finally, the bulge turned to be a drowned man who was covered with stones, seaweeds, and a variety of sea creatures that were dead. The men around headed to neighbouring village to enquire if the man belonged to their community while the women were left behind cleaning the body to prepare for burial (Marquez 1). The small fishing village has unique features that differentiate it from other villages. It is a coastal and cliff side town in a form of a desert like cape without flowers. The villages is little such that they do not have place to burry the dead, but the inhabitants throw the dead over a cliff or into a sea instead of burying them at the small ground. The village is composed of simple people and they believe in myth as much as what they view with their eyes. The village is too small such that all the men fit in seven boats. The village has only a total of 20 houses (Marquez 3). When the women were still washing the body they realised that the man was unique because he was bigger, strong looking, handsome and most virile man they had not even seen in their life time. As the men returned and informed the women that the neighbouring villages have claimed that they do not know him, the women wept with joy since they claimed the man was theirs. Until then, the men did not know what was happening but when they sow the man they were happy because he was handsome, big in size and masculine. As they admired the man, they thought that he was ashamed of his size and felt awkward then decided to take his life (Marquez 5). The villagers prepared for funerals to burry the drowned man. As they let the body over the cliffs and back to the waves, they realized that their lives have changed completely because as the man was strong, and they decided to build strong and big houses. They also decided to paint their wall with bright colours and plant flowers so that when ships pass through their town they will look and admire the beautiful, bright and fragrant town. As the women named the man Esteban they also claimed that people will regard the town as Esteban village. The drowned man marked a new beginning of the village because the inhabitants decided to change everything to look good just like a man (Marquez 6). Admiration In the short story, the theme of admiration is evidenced. The story explores and explains what it means for a man to be great and the effect or influence a person has to those admiring him. Most of the time, admiration is directed outward, but the story tells us that at some point it can turn inward, towards the manifestation as a self-betterment desire. This is seen when the drowned man led to change and new beginning of the village (Shmoop 7). The man was found died, but the women, and men of the village admired him and decided to change their lives. This teaches us that when an individual admires something or somebody he/she tend to change in order to resemble a person. For example, in real life when an individual is doing shopping and like a certain cloth, he or she goes and finds enough money to purchase the cloth. The lesson learned from this theme is that people should live in a way that other can admire them and copy their ways (Sustana 3). Transformation From the story, the theme of transformation is seen whereby the man leads to transformation of the village. The village remained without reforms for many years until the time when the man was found dead. It takes someone’s effort in order to transform and another person from outside the community can not trigger transformation (Sustana 2). The man was dead, and he did not play any part in the transformation of the village. The villagers learned from the dead man and decided to transform. In order to transform it needs guidance of a great person. The villagers could not transform because they had not come across a different person in their life. Immediately they sow the man they decided to transform their lives. In the real life situation, the elders should guide other people in a society in order to transform. For example, in a family, children and mother see the father as unique and, as a result, the father should guide the rest of the family in transformation (Shmoop 30). Men and Masculinity The theme of men and masculinity in the story is portrayed by the strength, size and attractiveness of the drowned man. In the story also non physical traits like humility, compassion, modesty and leadership represents a man (Sustana 4). The men in the village were given the task to go around the neighbouring villages to inquire about the man while the women were left at home. In the story, both men and women admire the highest idea of masculinity. The women admired the man and also when men returned they admired (Shmoop 23). Versions of Reality Through the magic realism genre, the story identifies the blurring between the reality and myth. The appearance of the big and different man made the villages come up with a revelation (Shmoop 12). The story reminds people that myths are used to explain the unexplainable. It is very important to interpret the myth in a positive way. From the story, people learn that myths are collective experience available and shared in a community. When living as a community people should be ready to come across myths and interpret them positively (Sustana 5). Isolation The theme of isolation is also available in the story. The story identifies ways in which people do away with personal isolation in a collective community. The people in a small fishing village share the same beliefs. The common beliefs in the fantastic or mythic create unit or bring together the inhabitant of the small village (Sustana 4). The children, women together with the men of the villages are brought together or united by their common desire for self-improvement. As a group, they imagined how they could improve and have a better future than the present. This teaches us that; people should not be selfish, but they should live in unity and share ideas. The story also promotes the aspect of empowerment (Shmoop 17). Symbolism, Allegory, and Imagery Throughout the story, an aspect of imagery is evidenced. The children playing sow the body and thought he was a whale and latter after removing the things that covered him they realized it was a man. In another part of the story the man could not be noticed but only the shape could tell or claim that it was a human body because he was covered with the crust of scales and mud (Shmoop 15). The women made him a shirt using a sail because they believed that if he were alive he could have authority to call fish by names. The villagers latter imagined the man’s pink, sea pink lion hand as he stretched just like a sperm whale. From the start of the story the drowned man appears as an object of the sea and he returns to the sea where the divers and fish die of nostalgia. The association of a man and the sea highlights his roles as a supernatural object of mythology as the villagers claimed that he did not belong to their world (Sustana 2). Conclusion In conclusion, the story teaches us a lot of lessons as it contain many themes. People should not be isolated because isolation does not contribute to the development. People should be focused and determined to transform. People should live in unity and empower each other in order to transform the society and live a better life. People should also learn to take myths in the society positively. Works Cited Marquez Gabriel G. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. Viewed June 15, 2010, from http://www.enotes.com/topics/handsomest-drowned-man-world Marquez Gabriel G. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. Viewed May 28, 2014, from http://www.utdallas.edu/~aargyros/hansomest.htm Shmoop. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: a Tale for Children: Shmoop Literature Guide. Canada: Shmoop University, 2010. Print. Sustana Catherine. Analysis of the Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. Viewed on September 10, 2013, from http://shortstories.about.com/od/ContemporaryStories/fl/Analysis-of-lsquoThe-Handsomest-Drowned-Man-in-the-Worldrsquo-by-Gabriel-Garciacutea-Maacuterquez.htm Read More