Ben Bethers

IB English
Moosman Period 2
February 13, 2023

Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Reflection

This was a very interesting and odd story just like the other Gabriel Marquez stories I

have read. This story depicted an old man who a couple found on the shore of the ocean and

thought was an angel. Very quickly, the old man who was thought to be an angel gained so much

publicity that people began lining up to see the old man. Soon, the couple used this for their

profit and charged money to see the man. They earned so much from this that the were able to

build themselves a mansion and were able to live comfortably for years. Eventually, the fame

wore off because there were more interesting sights to see, but the man continued to live in the

same state that the couple had always kept him in, unsanitary conditions of dung and chasing

him out of the house ever time he attempted to enter and also keeping him outside no matter

what the seasons.

I think that the message of this story is hard to pinpoint. It could be said that it points out

that we should be mindful of everyone’s trials and not treat anyone as if they are lesser than us. I

think that there are many other smaller lessons like that as well in this story, and I think that this

might have been a goal of the author, to have the reader get a lesson out of the story based on

their individual experiences. This was such an odd little story that jumped around so much and

because of this I find it difficult to believe that the author was actively trying to work toward one

objective lesson.

If this is truly the case, I think that the lesson I learn from this story is the one that comes

from the way in which he was kept like an animal in the story and how preconception that people
had surrounding angels and other religious stereotypes directly affected this man. I find it

despicable that the man was locked up in a chicken coop and I think that this may have been a

deliberate move by Marquez to emphasize how this man would be treated for the rest of the

story. I think that the other part of the story that exemplifies this was the time where the man was

in a room in the house and the wife would chase the old man out of the house like a dog with a

broom in hand and treating him contemptibly throughout his stay. She obviously did not care to

know what the man had or was experiencing, nor did she care for his welfare that much. I think

that the couple’s attitude and actions towards the old man speak volumes of how they only really

cared about profiting off of the old man, and once he was disposable they did not care where he

went or how well he was doing as long as he was not intruding upon their convenience.

Overall, I take a lesson of consideration in how you treat others. Even if it is not the case

that you will experience consequences of your actions, which I think is rare but happened in the

case of this couple. I think it is reprehensible to treat any human being like that and I think that

the focus that Marquez placed on the treatment of the old man helped me solidify that belief in

my mind. Overall, it was a very interesting story and I think that there is a lot of depth in it once

you begin to analyze it.