A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of an old man with wings. In essence, the man had landed on the patio of two young couples, namely Pelayo and Elisenda. The two became hospitable to the old man after noticing his presence healed their son. Elisenda called on their old neighbor whom they believed to be having pertinent information regarding the supernatural world. She believed that the old man was angelic. However, the neighbor lady was skeptical since the figure did not somehow reveal what an angel was supposed to be like; the old man was weak, rugged, and smelly. Additionally, his wings were very dirty, and the man could not seem to support his weight. Moving forward, he attracted a caravan to the town who paid a lot of money that later transformed Pelayo and Elisenda life. One day, the old man gathered strength and managed to fly away. Characters in the story have managed to explicate the aspect of good and evil in the story and how the two aspects co-exist.
Pelayo and Elisenda are similar in that they are good people when they host the old man with wings (Marquez, & Tornaritis, 2007 p.13). The couple is similar in that they did not consider sending away the old man but rather first considered to speculate him at close range. Pelayo first takes the first chance to look at him when he was sweeping the patio filled with crabs. He is a good person because he did not chase “it” away but rather carefully speculated him before heading to call his wife (Márquez, n.d p.1). His wife on the other end, revealed that he is a good person through the narrative as despite being intrigued, she told his husband that they should not chase him away rather called the neighbor lady who significantly new everything about life and death. This shows that Elisenda was a good woman as she gave the old man a chance to be examined by the neighbor lady (Zwaan, Magliano, & Graesser, n.d. p.388). Moreover, Pelayo and Elisenda embody the good trait aspect as they gave the old man with wings a chance to live and associate with their child even before he could develop his first set of teeth (Márquez, n.d p.3). The child loved this fact and mutually lived with the old man until the day that he flew away. Pelayo and Elisenda were also good hosts based on the fact that they did not let the old man go hungry despite him not eating; “… he could scarcely eat…” (Márquez, n.d p.4). This shows that Pelayo and Elisenda were good hosts.
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The child and the old man embody the good aspect based on their mutual association. In essence, the child was first cured of his illness and could now walk again. This episode happened after Pelayo and Elisenda were hospitable to the old man despite his condition. Notably, the child was good to the old man as he did not fear his company. Occasionally, the child went to the chicken coop and gave the old man company (Márquez, n.d p.3). It played in the area despite the awful smell emanating from the place and the bad condition of the old man. Later, the two personalities were infected with chicken pox, and it was at this point that the old man moved into the big house; “They both came down with chicken pox at the same time (Márquez, n.d p.3). Thus, the good personality theme could only be seen through the mutual association of the child and the old man.
The neighbor lady and Elisanda serve the same interest of being good people in the story. The neighbor lady embody’s this trait as she serves as the voice of the people in the story. Despite the fact that she was known in the town as the wise woman, she manages to prescribe to Elisanda that she can feed the old man with mothballs (Márquez, n.d p.1). This shows that the neighbor lady is a good person and that she was concerned about the old man. On the contrary, if she were a bad person she would tell Pelayo and Elisenda not to feed it rather throw the supernatural being into the sea. For this reason, the neighbor lady marks out that she is a good lady. Moreover, Elisenda is also good as the neighbor lady as she heeded to the lamentations of feeding her with mothballs. Immediately, she took the old man to the chicken coop and fed it with mothballs (Márquez, n.d p.1). She was also hospitable to the old man when she invited him to his house after consideration on how he related with the son.
Father Gonzaga and Elisenda reveal the aspect of evil in the story. The latter individual is a minister and ordained person, but despite this affliction, he was not receptive to the old man (Marquez, & Tornaritis, 2007 p.25). Rather, he allowed him to caged like a fugitive. Furthermore, he disguised himself by lamenting that the old man should be caged; however, this was amidst the fears that the society would shun him for he could not notify them whether the creature is an angle or not (Márquez, n.d p.2). Markedly, Elisanda could be thought as being evil because she was happy when the old man finally flew away from their court. “Elisanda let out a sigh of relief … because he was no longer an annoyance in her life …” (Márquez, n.d. p.4). This shows that she was disguising herself as being hospitable, but she was instead managing the presence of the old man.
Summing up, good and evil transcends throughout the story concerning A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. Several characters highlight the goodness aspect including, Pelayo and Elisenda, The child and the old man, and the neighbor lady and Elisanda. Conversely, Father Gonzaga and Elisenda relatively portray evil traits in the narrative.
References
Márquez, G. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.
Marquez, G. G., & Tornaritis, N. (2007). A very old man with enormous wings. GradeSaver LLC.
Zwaan, R. A., Magliano, J. P., & Graesser, A. C. (n.d.). Narrative Comprehension. learning, Memory, 21(2), 386-390.
