Critical Essay on Symbolism of Wings in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"

Introduction

Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells us a short story about an old man who appeared in the yard of a married couple. A couple had a sick child and an old man appeared in their yard. The old man also happened to possess wings. The story centers around the fear of the couple that the old man could be an angel and take their child. He was attracted to the chicken coop and became the focal point of attention for the entire town.

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The couple decides that they will make a living by charging an entrance fee to those who want to see the other-worldly attraction.

The crowd loses interest in the "unique" man, and the couple returns to their peaceful lives. They built a large house and started a successful business. After a while, the angel was able grow his wings and flew away (Roberts & Jacobs 2006).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses symbolism in his short story to convey a deeper meaning. The most obvious symbolism in this story is the one of the old man who has wings and is believed to be an angel.

He is a symbol of the unknowable or the unseen, which can sometimes appear in civilized communities. The angel is not seen as a being from the heavens or as something that can be accessed from space, but is instead treated as an outsider or as someone who is unique from everyone else in society. The angel could also represent the faith of people in their beliefs.

They were very close-minded in their vision of what an angel should look like, so even though the man had enormous wings, that was not enough to convince the people that he was truly an angel.

Symbolism of Wings

The chicken coop in which the couple kept the old woman, in fear of him taking their child away, was another symbol in the story. The chicken coop represented the collective belief system of society members. Many people came from all walks of life to see if the old man was an angel. To test if he was what they believe he to be, they pluck and poked at him. They tried to give him mothballs, believing that angels eat them.

They treated the old man as a freak of nature and a carnival attraction, even though he didn't live up to their expectations. This was a clear example of how people in the community shaped their beliefs. He was not treated as an angel but as a wild animal or freak of nature. The short story also contains symbolism, such as the introduction of another freak nature, the woman who became a spider.

This symbolises the faith of the people and how it was easy to be swayed by another "unique" creature who entered the community. The winged old man was finally forgotten by the people, who turned their attention to the woman-spider that eats mothballs. This is a sign of the people's weak faith and the fact that they choose what to believe. If the old man without wings fails to answer their questions or provide the miracle they desire, they will turn their attention to other things. In this story, it is the woman-spider.

Conclusion

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story, "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings", shows how important facts and important things in life often escape weak believers. They often look to the supernatural or the magical instead of realizing the truth. They are already seeing the truth: an old man with huge wings. Yet, they choose to believe the tale of a woman who was magically transformed into a spider. They chose to believe the supernatural, instead of the truth.

Reference

Roberts, E. V. , & Jacobs, H. E. (2006). Literature: An Introduction To Reading and Writing (8th Ed. Prentice Hall.