Cultures vary from one society to another, and it is this cultural variance that makes all the difference in how humans treat one another. What is acceptable and glorified in a particular culture, maybe dishonorable in another. This position is evident in Gabriel Garcia Marquez story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” While having wings is glorified in the old man’s place of origin, the humans having a different culture are not moved by the wings. In fact, they do not make any correlation between having wings and being a supernatural being. Instead, they treat the old man as a common human and even go ahead to lock him in prison. As such, the old man feels alienated in a culture that is not his. In this regard, the supernatural nature in the old is treated and analyzed familiarly without attaching any significance to it.
In the story, an angel is supposed to represent the supernatural world as he has wings which are not a common human phenomenon. However due to tote, the fact that he is found on them beach ailing, and with broken wings, his supernatural abilities are crowded. The humans then cannot make a connection with his supernatural nature as he is considered fragile which is a human and a natural characteristic. Having wings, which should appear as a supernatural phenomenon, does not have any significant impact on the humans. According to Crite (2014), the doctor observes that the man has wings but wonders why humans lack them, as they do not make any distinction to the old man’s abilities. In essence, the humans seem to try to make sense of the supernatural aspect by analyzing it in their familiar ways. According to the human perspectives, wings are but useless bodily attachments, which any human can have. In this case, the old man is treated like a common criminal, as the wings have no impact on his superiority over the humans (Marquez, 2008). The old man yields to imprisonment without any resistance, which puts his supernatural powers to question. As such, he is seen as a normal human being who cannot do anything to defend himself from the people torturing him. The actions of the humans ignoring the supernatural aspect of the old man and the way they mistreat him makes them inhumane (Latham, 2006). On the contrary, their efforts to humanize the old man only succeed for a while before the old man finds his strength and flies off.
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Differences in culture bring in a lot of tension between the supernatural and the natural. The humans rely on their human nature to try and make sense of this old man with wings. Failing to understand the difference, they seek the help of the Pope. However, the conflict and tension escalate, and the only way to do it is to lock up the old man. By doing this, the humans hope to keep the source of tension away from them. The humans try to demystify the existence of wings on the old man by applying human interpretations. According to Khan (2014), the humans feel that the old man is no different from them going by the fact that he was found on the beach weak and frail which is a human characteristic. Additionally, the fact that the old man does not resist arrest goes ahead to affirm their assertions that this man is only mortal. In fact, the difference between the supernatural man and them is the fact that the old man has wings while they do not. The humans are of the idea that having wings do not make one superior to others a theory they put to the test by imprisoning the old man (Latham, 2006). If the old man were a supernatural being, then he would be stronger than the humans would, but he is not. However, at the end of the story, their beliefs are made null and void when the old man flies away. At this moment, the humans feel that they were prejudiced against the old man’s ability as he was not as human as they have initially believed.
The community in this story treats the outsider with suspicion simply because he is not from this society. More so, the fact that he appears different makes him become a source of ridicule. His presence here creates a tension between the supernatural and the human. The actions that this community takes against the outsider goes ahead to show their high levels of suspicion and mistrust. The members of this community regard outsiders as a bad influence who should be locked up. They do not trust the man in spite of his old age and bad health. Instead of tending to his needs the community is hostile towards the frail old man. Their human nature is put to the test, and they fail miserably. They base their actions on the fact that the man has wings on his back, which makes a human alien creature. In their rash judgment, they fail to show compassion and pity where it deserves (Broad, 2017). This community goes ahead to put the old man in prison to prove their superiority over this man. They would not allow foreign values and influences to get in their way. They would instead stick to what they believe in than accept new perspectives. The actions go ahead to show a rigid community which only relies on its wisdom to dissect matters which are beyond their understanding. However, at the end of the story, their values and beliefs are frustrated as they realize that this man was not as human or a castaway as they thought he was.
In conclusion, individuals from a specific cultural affiliation tend to live life in the dictates of that particular culture and beliefs. As such, it becomes hard to adapt to the viewpoint of others in as much as they make sense. In the story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," Marquez establishes this fact by showing how human treat the old man who is an angel. These humans refuse to accept the old man as a supernatural being in spite of him having wings. They instead to understand the supernatural by relying on their familiar analyses. As a result, they treat the frail and senile old man like a criminal instead of showing pity on him. It is when he regains strength and flies away that they realize that their judgment was skewed. In essence, then the story reveals how cultures can clash making individuals alien to a particular culture be treated like an outsider, an alien or a castaway
References
Broad, L. (2017). Review: ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.’ The Oxford Culture Review. Retrieved on 9 March, 2018, from https://theoxfordculturereview.com/2017/12/01/review-a-very-old-man-with-enormous-wings/.
Crite. E. (2014). Magical Realism in a very old man with enormous wings . Westport, CT: Praeger.
Khan. N. N. (2014). Review of short story a very old man with enormous wings. Research Scholar , 398-400
Latham, D. (2006). Magical Realism and the Child Reader: The Case of David Almond's Skellig. The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children's Literature, 10 (1).
Marquez. G. G. (2008). A very old man with enormous wings . In J. Kelly (Ed). The Seagull Reader Stories (2nd Ed). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
