THE HANDSOMEST DROWNED

MAN IN THE WORLD

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Danam v.
!0 Grade
08.09.2022
The author
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was born on March 6, 1927 in
Aracataca, Colombia and died on April 17, 2014 in Mexico. He
was a writer and journalist recognized for his stories and
novels, he is intimately related to magical realism and his
best-known work, the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
the drowned
At all times, the drowned man is characterized with
superlatives. He weighs more than all the known dead, he is
the tallest, strongest, most virile and best-built man.
The story tells about a man drowned but was not from the town since
the town was so small that if someone was missing they would
immediately notice, so the men of that town went out to the
neighboring towns to see if that man belonged to some surrounding
town.
Meanwhile, the women stayed taking care of the drowned man to
clean him and change the clothes he had since the one he was
wearing was very damaged, so they decided to make him a new outfit
to be able to bury him in the depths of the sea.
But the great surprise was that none of the clothes that were made
for him fit him since the drowned man was so big that he did not fit
him and the women had to make his clothes.
masculinity
The story explores the idea of ​what it is to be a man through the men of
the town and also the drowned man. The men of the town are the providers
of the town. It is mentioned in the story that their job is fishing. They are
also in charge of carrying the deceased when they appear on the beach
because obviously, men are stronger than women. In this story, we also see
a different aspect of masculinity. For the town, Esteban becomes the
definition of what it means to be a man. Being a man is not only about
being strong or having the physical aspects of a man. It also consists of
being humble, modest, compassionate, and having the ability to be a
leader, qualities that Esteban shows (or that the town imagines he shows).