Introduction
There is no doubt in the fact that the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a great example of magical realism. The author of the story has beautifully presented that script and has added an element of interest in the story for all the readers. The text is about a couple and an old man with wings whom they found outside their house. The old man was not like normal human beings as he had many wings, but he was covered with mud and was in a pitiful situation. Pelayo and Elisenda inquired about the old man from a neighbor who was considered as having enough knowledge about life after death. She said that the super-natural old creature was an angel. In addition to this, people from all over the world came to see the angel and Elisenda decided to charge them fee for watching the strange old man with the wings.
The family became rich enough by the fee charged to the visitors, but after some time, there was a decline in the fame of the old angel with the introduction of a new attraction for the people. It was a woman who turned into the spider for not obeying her parents . This story and the topics discussed in it are very important as this trend is so much found at present. The story tells about the selfishness of people and caring for someone for the financial gain. In addition, this text shows that the people readily judge about the things on their own without getting the correct information. In other words, people stereotyped the old man as per their culture and perceptions .
Background Information
The present text is about an old man with wings who was found by a couple at a night. A wise woman living in the neighbor said that he is an angel, and the old man was caught in the chicken coop by the couple. Soon, the strange old man became the center of attraction for the people living all over the world. It is found in the story that the people readily stereotype anything that they do not know. A person said that he is the super form of human who will soon conquer the old while the other said that he is mayor of the world. In short everyone thought as per their cognitive developments and limitations. In addition, some people came to see the angel to get health and some came for money and success.
The priest Father Gonzaga discovered that he is not an angel as he does not understand Latin, which is the language of God. The visitors treated the old man ungenerously by hitting him by stone or burning his side. There were many visitors coming from all over the world so Elisenda planned to charge five cents to each visitor, which transformed the financial situation of the family. The old man does not have any special thing like an angel, but his patience was praiseworthy. After a few days, another miracle happened when a woman turned into a tarantula because of not obeying her parents and all the spectators were attracted towards her empting the yards of Pelayo and Elisenda. However, until that time, the family had a lot of money to build a double story mansion along with a lot of shopping. The family left caring so much about the old man and they wanted to shift him to any other place as he was about to die as well. Pelayo and Elisenda did not like the place of their house where the old man was living because there was a lot of smell. One day, Elisenda saw the old man flying in the sky and felt relief for both of them.
Apparently, the text provides us with the explanation of the human behavior. He has beautifully presented the elements of stereotyping, lack of knowledge, and selfishness of the human beings within the story .
First major reason
The text is justified as most of the human beings are so selfish that they seek for their own benefit and consider their individual preferences as more superior over the benefit of others. Elisenda availed an opportunity of getting financial advantage from making the old man a circus animal who should be visited by paying 5 cents.
Second major reason
Most of the individuals prejudge others without any interaction. In general, people are unable to understand and respect other individuals while living in a culturally diverse and pluralistic society. It has been observed that people use to stereotype the individuals who are difficult to understand or have never interacted with them before. Unfortunately, we have trained our minds in a way that it type cast the people or any other thing that is extremely puzzling, and the misconception takes place in this way (Heilbroner).
Third major reason
There is no doubt in the fact that people at present presume many things without having perfect knowledge about it . The author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has emphasized that the individuals believe in miracles, which is not wrong, but they take this reality in a wrong way as in case text, people wished for health, money and success from the old man.
Conclusion
It is concluded by the case that human being is a selfish creature as the humans try to cash any opportunity to make money even through any unappreciated practice. In addition, the author has shown a mirror to all of us living in different societies as we stereotype the people belonging to different cultures.
Works Cited
Cruz, Nilo. "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: Adapted from the short story by Gabriel García Márquez." Theater (2003): 65-91.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary edition. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Griffith, Jeremy. Human Nature. 2011. 17 November 2014 <http://www.worldtransformation.com/human-nature/>.
Heilbroner, Robert L. Don’t Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgment. 1962. 1 November 2014 <http://teacherweb.com/ca/eastlakehighschool/mrgillet/dont-let-stereotypes-warp-your.pdf>.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. 2014. 17 November 2014 <http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/MarquezManwithWings.htm>.
