A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings 
Gabriel Gracia Marquez
Introduction of the author
· Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927 – 2014) was Colombian-born Spanish American journalist, novelist and short story writer.
· He is regarded as the literary volcano of the nineteen sixties and an exponent of a new narrative style known as magical realism.
· His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) is taken as a classical example of magical realism.
· Marquez is one of the best novelists of world literature and perhaps the best in Spanish literature.
· For many readers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and magical realism as synonymous with each other.
· Magical realism is a mode of narrative in which real and fantastic, natural and supernatural, are coherently represented in a state of equivalence.
· Marquez’s other best-known novels are No One Writers to the Colonel (1961), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), and Memories of my Melancholy Whores (2004).
· The story ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ was first published in 1955.
Setting of the story
The main part of the story takes place in Pelayo’s courtyard. It is drenched due to rain. Pelayo’s family is disturbed by crabs. Due to the stench caused by crabs, air is polluted causing injury in inhabitants’ health. The weather is very bad since Tuesday. Sea and sky are a single ash-powdered light, has become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light is so weak at noon.
What is the text about?
‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’, published in 1955, is a magical realist story which examines the human response to those who are weak, dependent, and different. The story shows human nature-related curiosity, greed and cruelty.
Characters
Pelayo
Pelayo, who found the very old man with enormous wings in his drenched courtyard. Surprised, he informs his wife about the groaning strange man. He assumes that the old man is a shipwrecked sailor. As the wise neighbour woman tells them that the old man is an angel, he locks the angel in the chicken coop. With his wife’s idea of charging admission fees to see the old man, be changes his economic status. He quits his job as a bailiff because he earns good amount by charging visitors/pilgrims five cents to see the strange man.
Very Old Man with Enormous
The old man was found by Pelayo in his drenched courtyard lying face down in the mud. He was moving and groaning. In spite of his tremendous efforts, he couldn’t get up. He seems almost subconscious. He was dressed like a ragpicker. He was bald headed and had very few teeth in his mouth. His wings huge, dirty and half-plucked entangled in the mud. He speaks an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice.
The Spider Woman
She is one of the strange characters in the story the other being the very old man with enormous wings. The spider woman has the body of a tarantula and the head of a fair maiden, she recounts her tragic story to the public. According to her, she was punished for sneaking out of her parents at her young age to go to dance. She becomes more popular than the old man and is able to draw attention of the crowd who are busy watching the angel and making remarks behind him. She is frank and more sociable than the strange man. Her moral tale is digestible as she physically more humanlike than the angel.
Elisenda
Pelayo’s wife, who appears taking care of her child and killing crabs in the beginning of the story. She ordinary but concerned primarily with getting by. She comes up with the idea to charge admission fees to see the angel. Her idea works well as they earn enough money for a new house. The amount earned with the admission fees, changes their economic status. She is worried about the poor health of the strange man. She doesn’t know what to do if he dies there. When she sees the old man getting strength and flying to disappear over the horizon, she breathes the sigh of relief.
Neighbour woman
Neighbour woman is supposed to know everything about life and death. She thinks that the very old man with enormous wings is an angel and he must have come for the child. For her, the old man is so old that the rain knocked down. For her, angels are fugitive survivors of celestial conspiracy, and therefore, they should club him to death.
The child
The child is sick in the beginning of the story. He wakes up without a fever showing desire to eat on the day when the very big man with enormous wings is locked up with hens in the wire chicken coop. He makes a full recovery by the end of the story. He is the only character who doesn’t treat the angel with disdain simple because he is an innocent child. He happily goes to the chicken coop to play. It seems that he has some sorts of link with the old man/angel as shown by them contracting chicken pox together.
Father Gonzaga
Father Gonzaga is a local priest who is suspicious about the old man being an angel. For him, Latin is the language of God. According to him, an angel is a God’s messenger who speaks Latin, but the old man doesn’t understand his greeting in Latin, so he cannot be an angel. To make sure, he decides to write a letter to his bishop to get the final verdict from the highest courts. He regards the miracles in the presence of the strange man as mockery to gullible people. When the attention to the so-called angel dies down, he no longer thinks about it at all.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. How does the narrator describe the weather and its effects in the exposition of the story?
It was on the third day of rain, so Pelayo’s courtyard is drenched (wet). Due to rain, there are many crabs disturbing Pelayo’s family. They killed many of them and Pelayo threw them into the sea. The newborn baby is suffering from fever. They think that the child has temperature all night due to the stench caused by the crabs.
b. Describe the strange old man as Pelayo and his wife first encounter within their courtyard.
The man was very old and lying down his face in the mud, in Pelayo’s rear courtyard. He was moving and groaning. He was trying to get up but couldn’t get up due to his enormous wings. He seems almost subconscious. He was dressed like a ragpicker. He was bald headed and had very few teeth in his mouth. His wings were huge, dirty and half-plucked entangled in the mud. He speaks an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice.
c. Why did Pelayo and Elisenda imprison the old man in the chicken coop?
Pelayo and Elisenda imprisoned the old man in the chicken coop because the wise neighbour woman told them that the old man was an angel who was a fugitive survivor of spiritual conspiracy and might have come there to take their sick child. She opined them to club him to death.
d. Why was Father Gonzaga not sure about the old man being a celestial messenger?
Father Gonzaga was not sure about the old man being a celestial messenger because he was shabby, having half-plucked wings with parasites and didn’t understand Latin. For him, Latin is the language of God. If he was a celestial messenger, he would understand God’s language. Father Gonzaga decided to ask his bishop for guidance.
e. Many people gathered at Pelayo’s house to see the strange old man. Why do you think the crowd assembled to see him?
Many people gathered at Pelayo’s house to see the strange old man. I think the crowd assembled to see him with curiosity, surprise and hoping for a miracle. They heard the rumour that an angel had been made captive in Pelayo’s house. The pilgrims were the sick and the curious. The sick came to seek advice and healing from him and the curious gathered to see the unique creature.
f. Some miracles happened while the crowd gathers to see the strange man. What are these miracles?
Some miracles happened while the crowd gathers to see the strange man. They are as follows:
i. A blind man grows three teeth.
ii. A paralytic nearly wins the lottery.
iii. The sores of a leper sprout sunflowers.
iv. The child makes full recovery after the strange man is locked up in the chicken coop.
g. State the irritating things that the people did with the strange old man.
The people did several irritating things with the strange old man. They plucked his feathers up and threw stone at him to make him stand up. They seared him with a branding iron to see whether he was still alive. They had fun with him without slightest reverence.
h. How and why was the woman changed into a spider?
She was transformed into a giant tarantula with the head of a woman as a result of disobeying her parents. According to her, she sneaked out of her parents’ house to go to dance. While she was returning through the woods, a fearful thunderclap rent the sky in tow and through the crack came the lightening brimstone that changed her into a spider.
i. Describe how Elisenda saw the strange man flying over the houses.
One morning while Elisenda was cutting onion in the kitchen, she saw the old man stretching his wings, taking off into the air and disappeared over the horizon. At his first clumsy attempt, it was unlikely that he would succeed, eventually he managed to fly.
Reference to the Context
a. The arrival of a strange man at Pelayo’s courtyard arouses many suspicions and explanations. Explain how the neighbour woman, Father Gonzaga and the doctor speak of the strange man. Why do you think these three people give three different kinds of interpretations?
The arrival of a strange man at Pelayo’s courtyard arouses many suspicions and explanations. The neighbour woman mistakenly thinks that he is an angel and must have been coming for the sick child of Pelayo and Elisenda but the rain has knocked him down. She advises Pelayo and Elisenda to club him to death because she thinks that an angel is the fugitive survivor of a spiritual conspiracy.
Father Gonzaga took a close look at the pitiful old man who was lying in the corner of the chicken coop drying his open wings in the sunlight. He had his first suspicion because the old man did not understand Latin language. For him, Latin is the language of God and an angel must understand it as he is a messenger of God. he promised to write a letter to his bishop to get the final verdict from the highest courts.
The doctor is baffled by the strange man. He takes a curious listen to the man’s heart and finds so much whistling there and bizarre sounds in his kidneys. It seems impossible for him to be alive. The strange man’s wings are so natural to the doctor that he can’t understand why people do not normally grow them.
These three people give three different kinds of interpretations because they are from different fields. The wise woman has a reputation of knowing everything about life and death. Her opinion about the strange man is based on her shrewd guesswork. The medical doctor gives interpretation as per his knowledge and experience on the medical sector. Similarly, Father Gonzaga is a local priest and gives his own interpretation based on his religious faith.
b. This story belongs to the genre of ‘magical realism’, a genre perfected by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his novels and short stories. Magical realism is a narrative technique in which the story-teller narrates the common place things with magical colour and the events look both magical and real at the same time. Collect five magic realist happenings from the story and argue why they seem magical to you.
The story belongs to the genre of ‘magical realism’. Magical realism is a Latin American narrative technique in which fantastic elements appear as a natural part of the story’s environment. As its name suggest, it blends real world with fantasy. In this story, there are several magic realist happenings. Five of them are as follows:
The sick child gets recovered and suffered from the chicken pox together with the old man
The child is the son of Pelayo and ‘Elisenda. He is suffering from fever in the beginning of the story, but he makes full recovery after the strange old man is made captive in the chicken coop. Later on, the child and the angel come down with the chicken pox at the same time. Both of these events seem magical for the gullible people for they are unexpected.
The blind man who doesn’t recover his sight but grew new teeth
The blind man may be hoping for a miracle, i.e., recovering his sight but he grows three new teeth. This seems magical simply because a person grows teeth in his/her babyhood and childhood. No man grows teeth in his adulthood. It is unusual and unexpected.
A paralytic who didn’t get to walk but almost won the lottery.
A paralytic is a person who is suffering from paralysis. He/she is unable to move or walk. ‘A paralytic almost won the lottery’ simply means a person suffering from paralysis nearly got recovered. Such happening is unexpected, and therefore, seems magical. What’s more, an immobile person rarely take part in lottery wining game. This is unusual, so it is magical.
The leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers.
A leper is a person who is suffering from leprosy. ‘Sore’ means a painful wound or an infection on body that is red in colour. Similarly, ‘sprouted sunflowers’ simply means a sunflower plant produced flowers or buds. An infection turning into sunflowers is really magical as it not a natural process but a unique happening.
A lady transforming into a tarantula and a man with enormous wings.
A tarantula is a large spider covered with hair that lives in hot countries. A lady who disobeys her parents, transforming to a tarantula with a woman head itself is magical. So is the case of the old man. It is evident that human doesn’t grow wings.
c. The author introduces the episode of a woman who become a spider for having disobeyed her parents. The episode at once shifts people’s concentration from the strange old man to the spider woman. What do you think is the purpose of the author to bring this shift in the story?
I think the purpose of the author to bring this shift in the story to show people’s attitude. Humans are more emotional than rational. It is human tendency to be moved by the rumour. The spider woman recounted her tragic story that was punished for sneaking out of her parents at her young age to go to dance.
Another striking purpose is to show the fact that humans are primarily dynamic. Their interests and curiosity keep changing. Firstly, they are surprised and shocked by the presence of the old man but they take it simple after being together for some days with him. To give the sense of newness in miracles, the author brings this shift in the story.
This story is basically written to entertain children and to teach them moral. Bringing shift in the story by creating the episode of the spider woman, the author intends to arouse interest and surprise on the part of the targeted readers. He also wants to teach the readers lesson to obey their parents by giving example of very strange and painful punishment that the spider woman is experiencing.
d. The story deals with the common people’s gullibility. How do Pelayo and his wife take advantage of common people’s whim?
The story deals with the common people’s gullibility. The word ‘gullibility’ means the quality of being too willing to believe or accept what other people tell and therefore of being easily tricked. It deals with gullibility in the sense that everyone, except Father Gonzaga, believes the wise woman who says that the very old man with enormous wings is an angel. She also claims that he must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down.
Pelayo and his wife, Elisenda take advantage of common people’s whim by charging them admission fees to see the old man. It is Elisenda’s idea to charge five cents to the ones who want see the angel. This idea enters her mind when there gathers a big crowd in their courtyard and around the house. They see visitors from different parts and with various whims. Some of the pilgrims are the sick who are coming with hope of miracles i.e., making recovered and some are curious who are coming just to see the strange man. In fact, the rumour of the strange man brings all types of people from different parts of the world.
Pelayo and Elisenda earn a lot of money by charging admission fees. Pelayo quits his job and builds new house with the amount collected. They uplift their economic status by making a trick of charging admission fees to see the old man.
Reference to the context
a. The taste of children is different from grown-ups. What are the elements in the story that make ‘The very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ a children’s story?
‘The Old very Man with Enormous Wings’ is a children’s story for it has some magical happenings which excite and entertain the children. Children are curious and entertain exposing to unusual events. The very old man with enormous wings and the spider woman themselves are interesting characters for the children. The sick child and the way he gets recovery, contracting chicken pox together by the child and the old man, the doctor’s explanation of the old man’s health and the miracles thought to happen due the arrival of the old man are the elements the make this children’s story.
Grown-ups entertain the story which is more practical for life. They do not enjoy reading, listening and watching stories with exaggerated plot and the characters. Even more interesting element is its moral lesson. The spider woman tells her story of how she transforms into a tarantula. Her story makes children remember and realize the importance of being obedience to their parents.
The entire setting, plot and the characters seem to have created to entertain children. It has magic happenings on the real ground and the moral lesson presented in an exciting manner. The structure and layout are also suitable for the young learners. It has brought reality and fantasy together in a balanced way.
Some other possible questions
a. What did the people give the old man to eat? Does he eat the food they offered?
The people/crowd gave him mothballs and other strange food but he did not eat any food he was offered including fruit peels and breakfast leftovers.
b. What was only food the old man ate?
The only food the old man ate was eggplant mush.
c. Who brought the idea of charging admission fees to see the old man? Why?
Elisenda had the idea of charging five cents to see the old man. She brought this idea after there had been a huge crowd. She saw the chance of earning huge amount by charging them admission fees to see the old man.
d. Who were the visitors/pilgrims to see the old man?
The pilgrims/visitors were the sick and the curious. A visitor was a woman who since her childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of the numbers and another visitor was a sleep walker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake.
e. How did the townspeople respond to the old man’s miracles?
The townspeople interpreted the old man’s miracles as mocking. His miracles did not impress them. They realized that nobody in the town learned anything from the old man/angel.
f. What are the conjectures made by the onlookers/people concerning the strange man’s future?
The onlookers made various conjectures concerning the strange man’s future. Some of them are:
1. He should be named mayor of the world.
2. He should be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars.
3. He could be put to stud in order to implant the earth a race of winged wise men who could take charge of the universe.
