Literary Analysis Essay s1

Tegan Samija

Block C

16/12/12

Literary Analysis Essay

Link to “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: salvoblue.homestead.com/wings.html

Requirements

 250-300 words

 3 quotations

 To smoothly integrate quotations

 To use interesting language to engage the reader and effectively express ideas

 To avoid clichés

Outline

Topic – a theme in the story

Intro.:

 Hook – it is a story for children & children constantly create things (stories, games) and melt their surroundings (inspiring, changing people) –

 Thesis – people look outside of themselves, outside of their own situations, created by other people for what they want/need

Body #1:

 Situations

o Weather = metaphor

o The endless search for something - people looking for a certain thing inside the angel start looking for it in the spider girl instead

o Sick people looking for miracles Body #2:

 It is right there –

o They could have found so much within the angel

. He appeared to heal the child

o Endless potential – author specifically does not say whether or not he was an angel

o They argue about angels fitting onto the head of a pin without ever doing anything – it’s all theory

Body #3:

 What you are looking for may never be found – it has to be created

o Subject to the changes in their situation

o As the girl created something out of her situation after she was turned into a spider

o Because the author didn’t say whether or not the man was an angel, we don’t know if he could have healed those in search of miracles had they taken their situations into their own hands and done the right thing (helping him)

o It is not sustainable to depend on other people – the angel healed the child this time but it is unlikely that he ever will again (because he will never again visit them after the way they treated him)

Conclusion:

 Children look for definitive answers and in this story there are none? As you never know what you will be capable of creating unless you try. If you don’t try, you will never find them, as the characters never did

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story written for children by Gabriel

Garcia Marquez; however, the knowledge of its intended audience acts not as a deterrent to

those exceeding the age of twelve but as a factor that serves to further the development of the

multiple themes explored within the story. Although magical realism is a genre associated with

children, the disturbing descriptions and insights into human nature made by Gabriel Garcia

Marquez would appeal to few children. Even the adult reader is likely to distance him or herself

from the story’s plot and characters out of panic as one of the first, stomach-churning lines of the story “sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish” (1) captures its atmosphere. One of the more delicate themes of the story is the idea that one must take initiative and sculpt what he or she wants from life out of his or her current situation instead of depending on other people or events to provide them with it. In the story, the need for a change is demonstrated, it is proven that all of the materials required for one to create what he or she wishes to obtain, and the consequences that follow looking to others for fulfillment.

As is any well-written short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is rich in metaphors. Both the setting of the story and its static characters act as buttons; turning them around in your fingers causes the idea of independently finding happiness in one’s current situation to unfold and settle behind the plot. The terrible weather described at the beginning of the story describes a need for change and is echoed in the unhappiness of multiple characters.

Characters Pelayo and Elisenda need fair weather so that they can cease their constant state of alternating between continuously killing the crabs invading their home and caring for their sick infant. Characters such as “a poor woman who since childhood [had] been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake” (1) come to visit the “man with enormous wings” (1) in hopes that he is indeed an angel and is capable of helping them. The whole society is constantly in search of something; something that the reader, although perhaps unable to put it into words, can feel after reading that the reason people begin visiting the girl who was turned into a spider instead of the angel because her performance is “full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson” (1).

Despite the differences between what the characters of the story are searching for, whether they wish to find simply a cure for their child or something close to humanity itself, all of the characters need something and after reading the story, the reader is able to see the need for

change in either him or herself or in the lives of other people.

The story demonstrates that in many situations it is possible for one to create the solution to one’s problem; everything one needs can be found in one form or another in one’s situation and surroundings. What stands out the most in the story is the way in which Pelayo and Elisenda treat the winged man after Pelayo finds him trapped in the mud of their courtyard. Although they do not kill him as their neighbour suggests upon concluding that he is an angel, what they do is worse: they lock him in the chicken coop and enable people to pelt him with various objects as if he has not expressed that although he does not speak their language, he is an intelligent creature capable of feeling emotion. The author makes a point of not stating whether or not the winged man is an angel and this is important to the theme. That his identity remains inconclusive emphasises that the possibilities that would have resulted from people taking the situation into their own hands are infinite. That the winged man has the potential to provide people with what they need is proven by the fact that the child became healthy upon his descent into the village. That people spent the time during which the winged man was in their presence debating “how many times he could fit on the head of a pin” (1), something that may have been debated by 17th century philosophers but today is used as a metaphor for discussing something of no practical value, demonstrates that they were so busy trying to determine exactly what the winged man was that they never considered what he could be. Their efforts to categorize him as a sailor, an angel, a trick of the devil, or merely a

Norwegian with wings blinded them to the fact that he could help them until it was too late, until they had moved onto the spider girl in of search of answers and he had flown away, and confined him to the constraints of these labels as he was physically confined to the chicken coop instead of increasing his powers. Had they accepted him as something they could not understand and treated him with kindness, he may have helped them, even if the reason their lives would have been fulfilled was because of what they would have found while helping him and this proves that what on needs can be found in what was has.

The story demonstrates that there are consequences to looking to others for fulfillment.

These consequences can be small and difficult to see, such as simply being dependant on other people, which does not become apparent until one finds oneself alone. Not taking control of one’s situation is unsustainable, demonstrated by the fact that although the winged man appeared to heal the infant once, after the way he was treated, he is unlikely to do so ever again. The consequences can also be that one never finds what one is looking for. The latter is what occurs in the story. In the same way that the reader obtains a sense of what the characters are searching for when they are ravenously absorbing the tales of the spider girl but not the ability to word it leads one to conclude that in fact the only one who can provide oneself with what one is looking for is him or herself because he or she is the only one who can understand and articulate what he or she wants.

Were the reader capable of asking the townspeople to explain their fascination with the spider girl, each person would provide a different answer. However, it is clear in the story that these people never find what they are frantically searching for. They are subject to all of the changes in their environment because they take no control over it. The only character who does take control of her situation is the spider girl, who successfully turns her condition into something she can profit from.

The contrast between the attitude of the spider girl and that of the rest of the characters demonstrates the consequences of not taking control of one’s situation.

The short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez demonstrates the importance of taking initiative in order to work with what one has. The many different situations of the stories characters prove that what one needs to find happiness can be found in ones situation and the consequences of not doing so. Another reason that this story would not appeal to children is because children look for definitive answers and in this story, there are none. One never has a definitive answer as to what one is capable of unless one tries. Unless one tries, one will never find this answer, as the characters never found the solution to their problems in the story.

Tegan Samija

Block C

Dec. 16th 2012

The Creation of Happiness

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story written for children by Gabriel

Garcia Marquez; however, the knowledge of its intended audience acts not as a deterrent to those exceeding the age of twelve but as a factor that serves to further the development of the multiple themes explored within the story. Although magical realism is a genre associated with children, the disturbing descriptions and insights into human nature made by Gabriel Garcia Marquez would appeal to few children. Even the adult reader is likely to distance him or herself from the story’s disheartening plot and confused characters out of panic as one of the first, stomach-churning lines of the story - “sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish” (1) - captures the story’s atmosphere. One of the themes that is both enhanced by the role of the phantom child reading the story and easily accessible to the reader is the idea that one must take initiative and sculpt what one desires out of what one has instead of what one has not. The story demonstrates situations in which people can find themselves lacking something crucial to their happiness, that the materials required to find this ingredient can located in what one has, and that there are consequences to not looking for it here.

As is any well-written story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is rich in metaphors.

Both the setting of the story and its static characters act as buttons; turning them around causes the idea of finding happiness in one’s situation to unfold and settle behind the plot. The terrible weather described at the beginning of the story is a metaphor that describes a need for change. This need is echoed in the unhappiness of multiple characters. Pelayo and Elisenda require fair weather to end their state of alternating between continuously killing the crabs invading their home and caring for their sick child. Characters such as “a poor woman who since childhood [had] been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake” (1) come to visit the “man with enormous wings” (1) in hope that he is an angel with the power to help them. The society as a whole is in search of something; something that the reader, although perhaps unable to put it into words, can feel after reading that the reason people begin to visit the girl who has been turned into a spider after disobeying her parents is because her performance is “full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson” (1). Despite the differences between what the story’s characters are searching for, whether they wish to find something as simple as a cure for their sick child or something as complex as the essence of humanity, they are united in their search and the story opens the reader’s eyes to the need for change that may exist either in him or herself or in the lives of other people.

The story demonstrates that it is often possible to create the solution to a problem in any situation; everything one needs can be found in one form or another in one’s surroundings. What stands out in the story is the way in which Pelayo and Elisenda treat the winged man after finding him trapped in the mud of their courtyard. Although they do not kill him as their neighbour suggests, what they do is worse: they lock him in the chicken coop and charge people to see him as if he has not expressed that, although unable to speak their language, he is an intelligent creature capable of feeling emotion. That the author makes a point of never stating whether or not the winged man is an angel is important to the theme. His inconclusive identity emphasises that the possibilities that could have existed had people taken the situation into their own hands are infinite. That the winged man has the potential to help people is proven when he cures the child upon his descent into the town in which the story takes place. That people spent their time with the winged man debating “how many times he could fit on the head of a pin” (1), something that may have been debated by 17th century philosophers but is used today as a metaphor for the discussion of something of no practical value, demonstrates that they were so busy trying to determine what the winged man was that they never considered what he could be. Their efforts to categorize him as a sailor, an angel, a trick of the devil, or merely as a Norwegian with wings blinded them to the fact that he could help them and confined him within the restraints of these labels as effectively as they physically confined him using the chicken coop. Had they simply accepted him as something they could not understand and treated him with kindness, he may have helped them, even if the reason they found fulfillment was because of what they discovered in the process of helping him. This proves that what one needs can be found in what one has.

That there are consequences to looking to others for fulfillment is also demonstrated in the story. These consequences can be small and difficult to see, such as simply being dependent on other people, which does not become apparent until one finds oneself alone. Not taking control one’s situation is unsustainable, demonstrated by the fact that although the winged man appeared to heal the infant once, he is unlikely to do so ever again. The consequences can also be that one never finds what one is looking for. The latter is what occurs in the story. In the same way in which the reader can obtain a sense of what the characters are searching for as they ravenously absorb the tales of the spider girl but not the ability to word it leads one to conclude that in fact the only one who can provide oneself with what one is looking for is oneself because he or she is the only one who is able to understand and articulate what he or she wants. Were the reader capable of asking the people in the story to explain their fascination with the spider girl, each person would provide a different answer. However, although “the woman who had been changed into a spider finally crushed [the angel] completely” (2), it is clear that these people never find what they are looking for. They are subject to all of the changes in their environment because they exert no control over it. The only character who is different is the spider girl, who successfully turns her condition into something she can profit from. The contrast between the attitude of the spider girl and other characters is what shows the consequences of not taking control of one’s situation.

The short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez demonstrates the importance of taking initiative in order to work with what one has. The many different situations of the story’s characters prove that what one needs to find happiness can be found in one’s situation and that there are consequences to not doing so. In addition to the darkness of its characters and plot, this story would not appeal to children because children look for definitive answers. In this story, there are none, as one can never have a definitive answer as to what one is capable of unless one tries.