A very old man with enormous wings

German Kurbaji Hammond, Natasha ENC1102 May 29TH, “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’’ ” A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’’ is the reflection of relations between real and divine worlds. Gabriel Garcia Marquez introduces the images of angels and real figures. Daily details of human lives are combined with invented and magic factors of unreal world. Fantasy is combined with reality and a question arises: what are the magic possibilities presented in this story of magic realism, whether the Angel is the inspirer of people. Firstly, it should be noted that there is no need to focus on reality of the events. It is better to open the minds of readers to new opportunities and creative triggers. It is even impossible to claim whether this angel is real or not, or from which world he has come from. Common people are unable to meet with the miracle and when they have this magic opportunity they even do not know what to do. Angel tries to teach people in patience, which is almost a supernatural feature and it is hardly conceivable by the people. There is no cruelty or anger about this angel. Maybe, it is his main intention to teach people to be more tolerant and friendly. This is the main question, I am interested in. A didactic nature of this story should be found in the Angel’s distant guidance of people and not in imposing doctrines of goodness or patience on them.
The Angel is capable of making miracles, but people do not seem to be ready for them. Thus, for example, when he is asked to return vision to a blind man, the latter obtains three teeth. What is even more scaring is that people’s greediness prevents them from close relations with the h Angel and good natured emotions shown towards him. They are so much focused on their own troubles and even their achievements do not make them happier. Pelayo and Elisenda do not care much about the Angel, they just clean him from time to time, but they do not want to think deeply and obtain magical lessons from the Angel. Basically, people learn a cruel lesson from the Angel: they do not learn from their mistakes and they do not appreciate a precious moment they have. They are very much worried about the opportunity of the Angel’s death. Fortunately, he recovers and flies away from them. They feel a great relief. Their actions are so superficial that they cannot even understand the deepest sense and experience provided by the Angel. In other words, he tried to teach them to live in peace and respect each other. People were ignorant and selfish and cared only about themselves. Angel was perceived by them as a miraculous object, which owes them something. Actually, it is a wrong attitude, it would be better if they learned a lesson of patience and appropriate behavior from the Angel. Human greediness is positioned as the most destroying factor for the lives of human beings. Moreover, money and miracles are two things, which are expected from the Angel.
It is a pity that people are unable to establish trustful and unselfish relations, because they cannot even treat the Angel properly. Was the real intention of the Angel to change all those degrading features of human beings for positive ones? To my mind, the main intention of the Angel was to show people that he was as tolerant as a dog and he wanted to exist on his own and not to be involved in ugly relations with people. The Angel tries to implement a philosophical attitude to people and their lives. In other words, he tries to show them that it is appropriate to perceive the life as it is and not to rely completely on others. He does not want to belong to someone, he wants to exist on his own, but people are cruelly demonstrating their potential ownership of the Angel.
For example, the Angel is owned by Pelayo and Elisenda and he creates their fortune. Then they exploit him and neglect him at all. That is why he tried to make a something good for them, but he obtained misunderstanding and human greediness destroyed his life. His lesson of goodness is relevant for a child of these greedy people. The child likes to play with the Angel and he understands him much better than his parents do. When the Angel flies away from these people, his divine ideas fly away with him. He does not want to develop dependent relations with people. Thus, he flies away and takes his ideas away from them. He could not protect them from their own greediness, because they did not want to be protected from it.
Works cited
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings. Web. May 26, 2012.