Surname1

Student

Course

Professor

Date

Satire in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

Thesis

The story "a very old man with enormous wings" is a satirical piece that works to mock

human hypocritical and selfish nature and the Catholic Church.

Short Story

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, and Nicholas Tornaritis. A very older man with enormous wings.

GradeSaver LLC, 2007. http://jaimebell.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/51426730/A%20very

%20old%20man%20with%20enormous%20wings.pdf

The article presents a short story, "a very old man with enormous wings," by Marquez,

where Pelayo meets an old winged man while throwing the crabs he had killed during the heavy

rains. Pelayo spots the older man who could not stand because his wings were broken. He runs to

fetch his wife, Elisenda, who is in the house taking care of their newborn baby with a high fever.

A neighbor informs Pelayo and Elisenda that the old winged man is a fallen angel who has come

for their child and they should kill him (Marquez & Nicholas 392). The two refuse to kill the

man, and Pelayo pushes him into the chicken coop. At dawn, the entire community visits

Pelayo's homestead, curious to see the angel. Elisenda is happy that they can use the Angel to

make money by charging five cents to those who visit their courtyard. This proves the human
 Surname2

nature of being self-centered as the family works to benefit themselves while the older man lives

with the chicken in the coop. The article is a valuable source for my study because it is a

significant reference for Marquez's works.

Critical Essays- College Library

Farsi, Roghayeh. “Proximization and Literature: Marquez's "a Very Old Man with

Enormous Wings." Journal of Literary Semantics, vol. 47, no. 1, 2018, pp. 67–83,

https://doi.org/10.1515/jls-2018-0004.

The article argues the proximation model of interpretation is the only theory that can be

utilized in interpreting the story "a very old man with enormous wings" by Gabriel Garcia

Marquez. This is because the story's author uses magical realism language, which entails using

magical characters to portray the practices and hypocrisy of the religious Catholic Church

leaders, making it difficult for literal interpretation. Through magical realism, the story illustrates

the very self-centered nature of human beings that seems to judge people according to their

physical appearance (Farsi 68). Since the old winged man appeared shabby, he spent his time in

a chicken coop where nobody seemed to care whether he was a human being or not.

Some people tormented him by burning and even throwing stones at him to see how the

stranger would react. This shows a form of inhumane and insensitivity usually portrayed by

people against animals and fellow human beings. Though the man was winged, only the wings

made him different, indicating that he felt pain as the townspeople tormented him. Therefore,

through the proximation theory, the reader can understand the high use of magical realism to

assist them in interpreting the selfish human nature of human beings (Farsi 72). The article is
 Surname3

helpful for my research because it portrays the satirical character of human beings, making it

challenging to assist others as they judge them through their status quo and physical appearance.

Since the older man appeared poor, the people treated him like a less human being.

Paul Taylor. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Independent (London, England :

1986), Independent Digital News and Media Limited, 2013, p. 40.

In the above article, Paul Taylor indicates how self-centered people are by suggesting that Pelayo

and his wife only valued the appearance of the old winged man after a neighbor claimed that the

stranger was an angel and was there due to their son’s illness. Though the neighbor suggested

that Pelayo kills the older man, it seems they had another mission of keeping the Angel because

he could bring fortune to them. This led to Pelayo offering the man the chicken coop as a place

to live. Later, Pelayo and Elisenda charge an admission fee to see the older man, leading to them

becoming wealthy. The article claims that the Catholic Church focused on appearance rather than

the doctrines, indicating that its charitable works and teachings were questionable. The criticism

of the Catholic church arises from the acts of father Gonzaga, who appeared judgmental

regarding the older man being an Angel. Observing the older man's shabby feathers, the priest

claimed he was far from the eternal and Godly creatures.

The priest also argued that the man was not an Angel because he could not speak Latin.

This shows how satirical the Catholic Church was in judging and classifying people. The

townspeople also proved insensitive after mistreating the older man by throwing stones at him to

see what would happen. The article proves to be credible to my research because it describes the

poor judgment of the community and religious leaders, which indicates that the society is yet to
 Surname4

understand the religious doctrines. The source is relevant to the study because it portrays the

satirical nature of the Catholic Church and human beings, mocking their inhuman acts.

Biographical Websites

Famous authors. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. https://www.famousauthors.org/gabriel-garcia-

marquez

The above article indicates that Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born in Columbia, 1927. He

lived with his grandparents, including his grandfather, whom Marquez referred to as "papalelo,"

and was a retired army officer. The Colonel inspired Marquez greatly as he taught him

ideological and political works. The article also claims that Marquez's grandmother was

influential as she narrated Marquez's stories with magic adventures that led him to develop a

magical realism writing style in his stories (3). Though Marquez claimed that all his stories

employed different modes of writing, the theme of reality is common in all his works. Therefore,

his works were meant to criticize and reveal the truth of Columbian life.

The article indicates that due to Marquez’s writing skills, his short stories and novels led

to him winning several Nobel prizes. Though he studied law, his law career did not last long as

Marquez devoted himself to writing stories. The article is a useful source for this study as it

portrays Marquez's interaction with his grandparents as the cause for him to use magical realism

to express the reality in the Community. Since the theme of the research is to prove "a very old

man with enormous wings” as a satirical story meant to mock human hypocritical and selfish

nature and the church, the article would be relevant as Marquez used magical realism to show the

satire.
 Surname5

New World Encyclopedia. Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia .org/entry/Gabriel-Garcia-Marquez

The above article presents the bibliography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which claims he was a

Colombian short story author, a journalist, a screenwriter, and a novelist. He was born in 1927

and died in 2014. Marquez is claimed to be a significant author during the 20th century who

wrote many short stories and non-fiction works. His works gained popularity due to the magic

realism style of writing to express reality. It is perceived that Marquez's writing skills were

influenced by his grandparents as he lived with them during his childhood. However, at the age

of eight years, Marquez's grandfather passed away, forcing him to stay with his parentages, Luisa

Santiaga Marquez and Gabriel Eligio Garcia. As Marquez's parents appeared as strangers to him,

Marquez gained storytelling skills from his grandfather, Colonel, who was claimed to be a great

storyteller. Through his grandparents' stories, Marquez's ideological and political views changed

to liberal. The article claims that during an interview with Plinio Mendoza, Marquez's friend,

Marquez admitted, "my grandfather the Colonel was a Liberal. My political ideas probably came

from him…" (11). The article also describes Marquez's grandmother as an outstanding storyteller

who acted as the source of supernatural, superstitious, and magical perceptions of reality. This

explains why Marquez's highly popularized the magical realism of portraying the reality of

human nature and the Catholic church. Thus, the article is used for this study as it describes the

originality of the magical realism writing style in Marquez's literature.

Anthology
 Surname6

Mays, Kelly J. The Norton introduction to literature. WW Norton & Company, 2015.

https://books.google.co.ke/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=iFqiDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR10&dq=The+Norton+introduction&ots=3LUb

Mgf1WV&sig=-ZZdpn786Yy8VH9DC23cOVzWMP8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The

%20Norton%20introduction&f=false

In the above article, Mays Kelly claims that Gabriel Garcia Marquez lived at a time when

man was curious to discover new things. Gabriel understood humanity's notion is to discover and

learn about the outside world by interpreting it. The interpretation assists in placing human

beings in place within the society. However, many misunderstandings may arise as people

struggle to fit in and understand the world. Gabriel Garcia, an author of various stories, thought

that misconceptions regarding his literature works happened regularly, leading to him writing the

story "a very old man with enormous wings," where he attempted to indicate the literal critics of

the pursuit of taxonomic perfection (Mays 123). The article claims that Gabriel Garcia rebels

against the literary interpretation of the story by excluding the plot and using shallow characters

rather than symbolism.

The absence of a plot makes it possible for the events within the story to occur without

conflicting with one another. For instance, when Pelayo forces the Angel to inhabit the chicken

coop, the Angel does not resist. The story asserts that "the angel was the only one who took no

part in his own act" (Marquez 272). Everyone seems fascinated by Angel's presence except for

Father Gonzaga, who seems bothered and tensed by his presence. The article is relevant to this

study as it shows the hypocrisy of the religious Catholic Church in the ancient days when the

church focused more on bureaucracy rather than spreading empathy and charity. The priest

warned the people against calling the man an angel instead of telling them to assist the stranger.
 Surname7

This aligns with the topic under study that the story "a very old man with enourmous wings” is a

satirical piece meant to mock human selfish and hypocritical nature and the Catholic church.

Outline

i) Introduction

The story “a very old man with enormous wings” is a satirical piece that works to mock both

human hypocritical and selfish nature and the Catholic Church. The story is authored by Gabriel

Garcia Marquez, who uses a magical realism form of writing to reveal the reality in the

community. The story presents Father Gonzaga, a priest who concludes that the man could not

be an angel since he appears shabby. The priest also talks to the older man in the Latin language

that the man cannot speak. This makes the reader question whether the Catholic Church during

the Medieval period believed that the Angels spoke in Latin (Marquez & Nicholas 393). The

older man appears to be poor and homeless, but the priest only focuses on investigating whether

the winged man could be an angel or not. The church expects the heavenly angels to be well-

groomed and presentable but not shabby like the older man. Pelayo and Elisenda only offer the

strange man a chicken coop to live in as they feel he is not worthy of living in their house.

Though the presence of the priest indicates that the community is a Christianism one, the

presence of the "angel" draws attention to many people who want to witness miracles.

ii) Arguments to Support the Thesis

a) Father Gonzaga warns people against referring to the old man who cannot speak

Latin as "Angel." The Catholic church seems judgmental and values people's

appearances and dress code. This is satirical as the church is expected to welcome

all community members and make them happy.

 Surname8

b) The priest focused on consulting the Roman Church on whether the old winged

man could be an angel or imposter. Why should a religious leader consult with a

fellow human being? The reader expects the priest to pray for God's intervention

rather than consultations from others.

c) Additionally, the priest emphasized that the older man not being an angel and

never taught the people to treat the homeless and strangers with humanity

(Marquez & Nicholas 393). The religious man observed that the older man

continued to live with the chicken in the coop, but he was not bothered because

the man was not an angel. This can be perceived as discriminative, where the less

fortunate people in the society are less valued and continue to suffer as the rich

live happily in the community.

d) Pelayo and Elisenda cannot allow the older man to live in their beautiful house

because he is dirty. They charge people money to see the "angel," which leads to

Pelayo and Elisenda building a bigger house. Thus, the couple benefits from the

older man's presence, but the stranger still lives in the chicken coop.

iii) Conclusion

The story "a very old man with enormous wings" is a satirical work to mock human

hypocritical and selfish nature and the Catholic church. Though the people in the town

appear to be religious, they are attracted by the old winged man and are curious to see

magical miracles. The priest is so judgmental that he concludes that the older man could not

be an angel because he is not well dressed and cannot speak Latin.

Works Cited
 Surname9

Famous authors. Gabriel Garcia Marquez https://www.famousauthors.org/gabriel-garcia-

marquez

Farsi, Roghayeh. “Proximization and Literature: Marquez's "a Very Old Man with Enormous

Wings." Journal of Literary Semantics, vol. 47, no. 1, 2018, pp. 67–83,

https://doi.org/10.1515/jls-2018-0004.

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, and Nicholas Tornaritis. A very older man with enormous wings.

GradeSaver LLC, 2007. http://jaimebell.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/51426730/A%20very

%20old%20man%20with%20enormous%20wings.pdf

Mays, Kelly J. The Norton introduction to literature. WW Norton & Company, 2015.

https://books.google.co.ke/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=iFqiDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR10&dq=The+Norton+introduction&ot

s=3LUbMgf1WV&sig=-

ZZdpn786Yy8VH9DC23cOVzWMP8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Norton

%20introduction&f=false

New World Encyclopedia. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. https://www.newworldencyclopedia

.org/entry/Gabriel-Garcia-Marquez

Paul Taylor. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Independent (London, England : 1986),

Independent Digital News and Media Limited, 2013, p. 40.