-:' :.
,,-."·'1'·' A V~"r Old
A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Written In 1968. "Un senor muy viejo con nills
encrmes" ("A Very Old Man with Enormous
Wings") is typical of tI style known as "magic
1968 realism," which is closely Ilssoclated with its lIU-
thor. the Colombian novelist Gabriel GllfCillMnrquez..
This imaginative style combines realistiC. everyday
details with elements of fnnlllSY, blurring the read·
er's usual distlncuons between reallly and magic.
But unlike other works of the imnginnuon such as
fairy lides or folk legends, stones of magic realism
lend to noelear morals or Simple truths; they present
n rich and vivid world of magical possibilities.
while frustratIng lind complicating the tender's ef·
forts [0 fix a definite meamng to events.
Very Simply stated, this is the story of what
happens when an IIngci comes 10 town. But while it
is subtitled "A Tnle for Children," it is by no means
iI Simple story. The settmg is no ordinary town, aod
ItS visitor is no ordinary angel-indeed, he may
very well not be an angel at all. In most respects, he
seems disappointingly ordinary and human, despite
his extroordinary appeatilnce. Because he conlrn-
diets their expectations, the chatilcters we meet
seem thoroughly incapable of understaoding him;
their convenllonll.1 wisdom and superstitious beliefs
lead them into absurd explanations for his sudden
visit, aod they treat him in a mllnner that seems
cruel, unjust, and ignorant.
Magic realism has been a popular and influen-
tial fonn, atlrllcling a wide readership and a great
,"
deal of interest from literary scholars. Dl'llwing on
the stories and legends of his rural South American
childhood, lIS well as his study of the sophisticated
techniques of modernist writers, Garcia Marquez
creates II rich and suggestive fictionllilandscape that
challenges traditional modes of thought and focuses
ihe reader's allentlon on the difficult, elusive work
of making sense of the world.
Author Biography
Gabriel Jose Gnrem Marquez was born on March 6,
1928, in Araclltaca, Colombia, a small town In a
filITllmg region near the Caribbean COllS!. His birth
C/UJ1e just lIS this region entered a sudden economic
decline after twenty yean: ofrdative prosperity. His
father, an out-of-work telegraph operator, relOCilt~
ed, leaving young Gabriel to be rlllsed by his grand.
pill"Cnts for the first eight yClll'$ of his life.
These enrly circumstances are slgnificllnl, for
they seem to hll ...e had a profound influence on the
mnlUre writer's work. Garcia Marquez has said thnt
he had learned everything Impor1ant m his life by
the time he was eight yean: old, and that nothing in
his writing is purely a product of "fantasy." As a
boy, he delighted in his grandfalher's storytelling,
from which.h.e heard local legends and history; from
his gl'llndmother and the other villagers, he ab-
sorbed a wealth oftl'llditions, superstitions, and folk
beliefs. Drawing heavily on such sources, Garcia
Marquez. has developed an imaglllative style !iter-
ary critics call "magiC realism," Many of his sto-
ries, including the celebrated epic nove! CI,n (JIlos
de soledad (Olle Hundred Years ofSolitude 1967),
ill"C set in a fictional village named "Macondo"-
which seems to be based on AAClitaca, and in some
ways reflects the rich, confllslllg world of childhood
as well, Like the unnamed villages III "A Very Old
Man with Enonnous Wings" and "The Handsom-
est Drowned Man in the World," Macondo seems
10 be half-real and half-mythicnl, a place where
dre;lffi$ and the supernlltural are blended wilh the
details of everyday life, lind where the mostelltl'llor-
dinan' events are somehow accepted as "nonnal,"
even if they can't be adequately explained. Old
men, like the Winged gentleman In "A Very Old
Man with Enonnous Wings," are frequent charac-
ters III Garctll Marquez's writing, leading crilics to
speculate that they may all be derived, III part, from
the author's own grandfather.
v 0 I u '" t " ,
Garcia Marquez reJomed his family in Bogota,
moving from a tropical village to It cold city high in
the Andes mountairls; he gr;'Iduated from high school
in 1946, lind entered the National University in
Bogota as a law student III 1947. However, the
following yearmruked the beginning of /0 vloltm:la, a
decade-long penod of elvil wnrfare III Colombia,
which would disrupt his life in many ways. When
violence III Bogota caused the University to close,
Garcia Marquez transferred to the University of
Cartagena (near Arncataca on the northern coast) to
continue his-law studies. While there he also took a
job as aJoumalist IUld began to write fictton senous·
ly, in 1950 he dropped ouroflaw school and moved
to nearby Bamlllquilla. He found newspaper work
and joined a circle of local writers who admired the
work of European and Amencan modermst aUlhors
(includingJnmes joyce, Fnmz Kafka, Virginia Woolf,
William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway), and
who sought to apply their styles and techniques to
Latln American settings and themes III their own
Writings. Garda Mdrquez. has acknOWledged the
particular mOuence ofFaulknerand Hemmgway on
his own early work, and critics often compare
his fictional creation of "Macondo" to that of
¥oknapatawpha County, the recumng setUng for
many of Faulkner's novels and short stones.
For fifteen years, Garcta Marquez made a mod-
est living lIS ajournalist and published several short
stones. His first novella, La !la/arasca, was pub.
lished in 1955; it was translated into English in 1972
as the title piece in ua!S,ann alld Other Stories,
which llIe1uded a translatIon of the story "The
Handsomest Drowned Man in the World." ThaI
same year a Bogota newspaper, £1 uputador, sem
him toSwilzerland as acorrespondent, but the paper
WIIS soon shU! down by the military government,
stranding Garcia Marque;z. In Europe for several
years m relallve poverty. A second novel, £1 colond
no Ii/me qultn it escriba (No Dlle lY,ifes ta tlit
Colonel), was pUblished Ln 1961, followed by a
collection of shaft stories, Los (ul/troles de la
Mamd Grande (Big Momn's Funeral), in 1962. By
this ume, his writing had received some critical
approval but had made very little Impact outside of
Colombia, and Garcia Mdrquez.lIpparenuy resolved
not to write aoy more licuon. However, three years
later he began working on Ont Hundred Years of
SolilUde. When it was published in April, 1967, it
became an mtemallonal sensatlOn: after years of
frostmtion, Garcia Marquez was an "ovemlght
success_" In the process, he not only found a vast
audience for his own writing, but helped spark a

boom.penod for LntinAmericnn literature in genE:.r·
al. Weslern critics took a new Interest in the region
and began 10 recogntle the achievements of such
wnters as Julio Connnr, Emeslo Sabato, Jorge Luis
Borges, Pablo Nerudn, Carlos Fuemes, and Mario
Vargas Llosa-all of whom cnme 10 enJoy much
wider readership than they had found before Garda
Mil.rquez's breakthrough. A s~cond story collection,
In i/lcrdb/e J trUte historia de 10 candida Erindiro
J dt! Jll abllda duo/modo (111e Illcredible alld Sad
SraryofIllnocent Erindimond Her Heartless Grand-
mother), which includes "A Very Old Man with
Enormous·Wings," was published in 1972, Garcia
Mdrquez'slaternovels include E/ otalio ddpamorco
(The Allfunm of tile Patriarcfl, 1975), CrOlllca de
III/a muerte onunclado (Chronicle ofa Death Fore-
laid, 1981), Ef omore/l/as li/1lepas dd colera (Love
in tlie Time ofCholera, 1985), and El gellerol ell su
/nben-ma (The Genera/ ill HiJ Labyrilltli, 1989),
Among his many honors Is the Nobel Prize for
Literature, which he received in 1982.
Plot Summary
While Garcia Mnrquez makes no divisions In the
text, this discussion will consider the plot In fout
sepllJ1ite stages, The story begins with the "old
mnn's" arrival and ends with his depllrture, The
IIlterveningperiod, which covers several yennr, may
be divided inlO two stages: the brief sensation
caused by his appelll1lnce and a long per10d of
declinmg mterest in which the strange visitor IS all
but forgollen.
Arrival
The seumg IS an unnamed coastal village, alan
unsp~cified time in the past. A long l1linstorm hllS
wllShed crabs up from the beach. inlo Pelayo's
house, creallng an odor he thinks may be affecung
his sick newborn child. DispOSing of their cart:asses,
he sees a figure groaning on the ground in his
courtYard; as he moves clOJ;er, he discoveG it to be
"an old man, a very old man,lymg face down in the
mud, who, in splleofhis tremendous efforts, couldn't
get up, impeded by his enormous wings." Stanngat
thls pitiful "bird-man," Pelayo and his wife Elisendn
begm to overcome their amaument, and even find
him familiar, despite Ihosemystenous wtngs. While
they can't understand his language, he seems to
,"
have "a strong sailor's VOICe," and at fiGt they
decide he IS a shipwreck~d foreign sailor, somehow
managing to overlook the need toexplnin his wlnt!s.
Butll neighbor soon "corrects" them, stating confi·
dently Ihat he IS an angel, Assuming he tS nothing
but trouble.she advises them 10 kill him. Not haVing
the hean for it, Pelayo instead locks the old man III
his chicken coop, still planning to dispose of him,
only now by setling him to sea on a raft. He and
Elisenda wake the next morning to find a crowd of
neighbon m the courtyard and a far more compti·
caled situation on theirhnnds; SUddenly, "everyone
knew that a flesh-and-blood angel was held captive
in Pelayo's house."
Sensation
The villagers treat the old man like a "circus
animal"; Ihey foSS him food and speculate about
whal should be done with him. Some Ihink he
should be made "mayorofthe world," olhen want
him 10 be a "five·star gen~ral in order fO win aU
wm," and still others hope he will father Ii super·
race of "winged wise men who could take charge of
the unlvene." The village priest arrives to lOspect
lhe captive, and presumably to make Ii more rea-
soned judgmenl on his nalure. Father GonUiga
suspects "an Impostor" at once and finds the old
man's path~tic appearance to be strongly at odds
with the church's traditional Image of heavenly
messengers. Finding the old man smelly and de·
crepit. his bauered wings infesled with insects, and
shOWing no knowledge of church euquette. the
priest concludes that "nothing about him measured
up to Ihe prond dignity of nngels." Despite his
skeplicism, he refuses to give a definitive ruling on
the old man, choosing instead to write leiters to his
church superiors and walt for n written verdict from
scholm III the Vatican. in the meanllme, he warns
the villagers against reaching any rash conclusions.
But word. of the "angel" hIlS already traveled
100 far, drawing fanlastic crowds and. creating a
carnival atmosphere; evenlS unfold quickly, de·
scribed in language that suggests the cxaggernted,
drenmlike world offairy'llIles.
Surrounded by all this het:tlc IIclivity, the old
man U1kes "no pi\fl. In his own act," keeping 10
himself and lolerating the abuses and indignities of
his treatment wilh a pali~nce thaI seems to be "[hUs
only supernatural vtnue," Drawn by the crowds,
lraveling Circuses and carnivals arrive III town--
" I'~r:r Old if,," with Ellortno" .. IVtlll'
mcluding one that provides fonnidable competition
forthe puuling auraclion of "a haughty angel who
scarcely deigned to look at monab."
Decline
The new sensation is "the spider-woman,"
whose fanlllSlic nature includes none of the majesty
we associate with angels; she represents a kind of
"magic" familiar from fairy-tales and folk legends.
When Slilla girl, she once disobeyed her parents by
going danCing; later. on the way home, she WllS
struck by lightning and changed into a giant taranlu-
la, relaining her human head. As a speclacle, she
appeals 10 the crowd in ways the old man cannot,
and even charges a lower admission price. Signifi-
cllntly, she speaks to her visitors, explaining the
meamng of her monstrous appelll"llnce; hersad Story
Is easy to understand, and points to a cl~ar mornl
(children should obey their parents), one h~r audi·
ence already believes to be truc. tn contrast, the old
man does nothing to explain himself. leaches noth· Gabriel Garcia Marquez
tng, and doesn't even entertain people; rather than
confirming their beliefs, his mysterious naturecltal-
lenges all the expectallons it creates, He does per-
fonn some miracles, but they arc equally pUzzling, disagreeable old man, "dragging himself about
seeming to be either practicnljokc:s or Ihe result of here and there," always underfoot. Elisenda seems
some "menlll1 dison:lu," These disappoiOung mira- 10 find him everywhere In the house, lIS if he were
duplicating himself just to annoy her; alone point
cles "had already ruined the angel's- n:putaUon,
she grows 50 "exasperated and unhinged" she
when the woman who had been changed into a
screams that she is living in 1I "hell full of angels."
spider finally crushed him completely." The crowds
Finally lhe old man's health deteriorates even fur·
disappear from Pelayo and Elisenda's counyard lIS
suddenly lIS they had come, and the unt:Xplain~d ther, and he seems to be near death.
mystery of the "bird-mnn" is- quickly forgollen.
Still, thanks 10 the now.departed paying cus· Departure
tamers, Pelayo and Elisenda an: now wealthy. They As winter gIVes way to Ihe sunny days of
rebuild theIr home as "a two·stol}' mansion with
spnng, the old man's- conditiun begins 10 improve.
balconies and gardens and high netung so that cl1lbs
He seems to sense II change tnking place In himself,
wouldn't get tn during the wmter, and with iron bnrs
and 10 know whalit means. He tries to stay outofthe
on the windows so thaI angels: wouldn't gel in," and family's sighl, sill!ng motionless for days In the
setde into a life of luxury. BUllhe ruined chicken comer of the courtyard; at night, he qUietly sings
coop and its ancienl captive remain; as the yem sailor's songs 10 himself. Stiff new feathers begin ro
pllSS, the couple's growtng child plays in the eourt· grow from his wings, and one morning Ellscnda
yard with the old man, who stubbornly surviVes sees him LtYing them OUlln the eourtyard. His firsl
despite his infinnilies and neglect. When a doclor efforts to fly arc clumsy, consIsting of "ungainly
comes 10 eXlimine him, he is mazed that the old flapping that slipped on the light and couldn't get II
man is still alive, and also by "the logiC of his grip on the air," hut he finally manages to lake off.
Wings;' which seem so natural that the doctor Elisenda sighs with relief, "for herself and for
wonders why cveryone doesn't have them. Even the him," as she walches him disappear, "no longer an
binl·man's mystery and wonder grow so familiar annoyance in her life but an tmaglnary dot on the
that he eventually becomes a simple nUisance: II horizon of the sea."
,"
 A V~~. Old Man "I'h EnDrmD" WI "J:"'

Characters perfect Immortal or member of a diVine race,. But
mther than make a judgment from the evidence of
his senses (and knOWing thaI the devil likes to trick
Bird-mall people with IIppearances), he applies II senes ohests
Su Very old mlln with enormous wmgs to the old man, pmumably based on church teach,
the edge of town, trading II nunor administrative
position for the leisurely life of a gamekeepmg
sqUire. While Pelayo's discovery or the wmged
being bnngs him great forlune,lt also brings confu-
sion and compliclltlon into his life. It IS not the sort

Elisenda
In her ffillrrlllge 10 Pelayo, Elisenda lakes an
aCllve piUt in decision-milking. Her husband runs to
get her llS soon as he discovers the old man. and they
try to make sense of him together, nppll.fently shnr·
109 the same reacllons. It 15 she who first conceives
of chargmg the villllgers admission 10 see the "an·
gel," an idea which makes lhe,coup!c wealthy. At
the end of the story, she is the mistress of an
Impressive manSIOn, dressed in the Iinest fashions.
Yetlheold man seems 10 be aconslllnlllnnoyancc to
her, II feeling that only intensifies over lime:. He is
useless lind infunalmg 10 her, "drngging himscJf
about here lind there like 11 stray dying ffillll"; she
seems to be constantly shoomg him 0111 oCher way.
She eventually grows 50 "eJlllSpcratcd and un-
hinged" Ihal shescteams that she IS liVing m II "hell
full of angels." Elisendn IS also the only witness to
lhe old man's departure, watching silently from the
kitchen wmdow as he !lies out his newly regrown
Wings. Her reaction as he disappears over the hori-
ron shows n measure of sympathy for the "senile
vulture," as well as her hope that her own life will
relUm to normal: she lets out a sigh of relief "for
herself. and for him."
Father GOIlUlga
A former woodeutter, Father Gonznga is the
village priest whose religious tmming and standing
m thecommunity make him a moml and intelieclUal
aUlhorily. Of all the clJarncters, he seems uniquely
qunlified to pass ludgment on the strange visitor and
[0 determine whether he is really one of God's
angels or "just II Norwegian with wmgs:' Howev-
er. his understanding of church doctnne leads him
to no solid conclusions. He counsels the villagers 10
wilhhold their own Judgment umil he can recdve II
definitive answer from scholars in the Vatican.
FatherGonzaga is never able to proVide an explana-
tIOn, and he loses sleep over the mystery until his
parishioners eventually lose interest in the old man
entirely.
Examinmg the angel-like creature. Father
Gonzaga immediately suspects thnt he is "an 1m-
poslor." The old man's unbearable odor, his dere-
lict condilion, and his undignified appenrance all
make him seem "much too human" 10 accept lIS a
mgs about the nature or angels. First, he greets the
old man m Laun; the lnck of a response is yet
another SUSpiciOUS sign, ror it shows that the "an-
gel" doesn't "undc.rstand the language of God or
Jrnow how to greet His ministers," A series of
letters from higher church authorilies results In
funher "tests" or divinity (Does the old man have a
belly-button? Does his language seem related to the
biblical dialect of Aramaic?) but fail to lend him to
any final jUdgment. Unable to provide the answer
that they seck from him, the Fnther can only warn
hisllock not to Jump to any concluslons-a waming
which they Ignore with enthuslIISm.
As a comic authority figure Father Gonznga IS
open to a variety of interpretations. He tS c1enrlY
ineffective m his role as a spiritun! authority and lIS a
source of wISdom lind enlightenment. His superiors
in the church hieruchy prove no more helpful and
seem to be obsessed with obscure theologicaIab-
stl1lctions, such as how many angels can lit on the
head of n pm. Such factors suggest atleoS! a mildly
satirical vlewofthe Catholic Church and perhaps of
organized religion In general. To some critics, Fa-
ther Gonzaga's means of inqUiry nrc also II parody
of the SCientific method, while hi.s fruitless corre-
spondence with church scholnrs rellects the useless-
ness ofbureaucmcies everywhere. And othercrities
even see a rellectlon of themselves-the figure
of the cultural nuthonty, whose profesSIOn makes
him unwilling to admit the obVIOUS limits of his
understanding.
Oldman
Su Very old man with enormous wmgs
Pelayo
It is Pelayo, the town bailifr, who discovers the
old man with Wings struggling face down in the
courtyard of his home after a stann. As the strange
visitorbegms to attract crowds, Pelnyo and his wife,
EIisenda, exhibit him as n carnival al1raction. Though
the old man proves to be only a tempornry sensa·
tion, he creates 11 highly profitable windfall ror the
youngcouple,.ln "less than a week they had crammed
their rooms with money" from paid admtssions;
they quicklY eam enough to rebuild thel'rhouse liS a
mansion and to live In luxury by village stllndnrds.
Pelayo quits his job and sets up a rabbit warren on
of Juck he hopes to see repented. When he and
Elisenda design their new home, they are careful to
include "iron bnrs on the wmdows so that angels
wouldn't get in."
Spider~lVoman
The centerpiece of a tfaveling carnival, the
"woman who had been changed into a spider for
disobeYing her parents" proves to be a more popu-
lar attraction than the old man, caUSing the villagers
10 lose interest in him and pUlling an end to Pelayo
and Elisenda's profitable courtyard bUSiness. As a
young girl. she had once gone dancing all night
against her parenl$' wishes; later, while walking
home, she WIIS nllegedly struck by lightntng and
trnnsfonned inlo "II. frightful tllfill1lUla the size of a
ram ..• with the head or a sad maiden:' Compared
to the baffling old man, the spider-woman provides
II. far more satisfying spectacle. While she is at lenst
as grotesque and fantastlc as the "bird-man," she
charges a lower admission price; more imponantly,
she is willing to commUnicate freely with her visi-
tors, recounting her sad experience and inspiring
sympathy for her fall:. The "meaning" or her SIOry
IS easy to grasp and leaches a clear momllcsson_
one that confirms the villagc.rs' conventional be-
liefs. In contrast, the old man makes no allempt to
explllln himselfand seems to contradict all religiOUS
and folk beliefs nbout the nature ofangels. His very
eXIStence raises disturbing questions, but he offc.rs
no reassuring answers.
Very old man witll enormous lI'illgS
The old man is the slOry's central charncter and
its central mystery. He is given no name but is
precisely described in the lille, which mcludes eYe-
rything that can be said about him with any assur·
nnce: he IS an extremely old man, in failing health,
with all the frailties and limitations of human old
age, and he has a huge pair of bird'5 wings growmg
from his back. We follow the other characters in
their cOmiC efforts to explnin him. to aSStgn some
"meanmg" to his sudden appenrnnce,and finally to
just put up with his annoying pmence, but when he
flies away at the story's end, the mystery remainS.
The very idea or a "Winged humanoid" evokes
the image of angels, and most of the "Wise" villag-
ers quickly assume that he is an ntlgel. But eYery-
Media
Adaptations
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" wns
adapted, with some modifications, as a film with
the same title m 1988, m a Spanish produc-
tion directed by Fernando Bim. Stamng DIIISY
Granados, Asdrubal Melendez, and LUIS Alberto
Ramiriz. the film is aYailable with English SUbtl-
ties on FoxILorbcr Home Video. Facels MUlti-
media. tnc.• or from Ingrum international films.
thing about him seems to contradict traditiona.l
stereotypes of heavenly power and immonal perfec.
tion. When Pelayo first finds him In the courtyard,
appa.n:ntly blown out of the sky by II slrong fIIm-
storm, his condition IS pllthetlc: be lies "race down
in the mud," "dressed like a ragpicker." nnd tan-
gled in his hair-plucked, bug-mfested wmgs. The
nll.m'ltor tells us directly that this "pitiful condition
ofa drenched great-gmndrather had taken llway ::my
sense of grandeur he might hllye had:' and Father
GonZllga underscores the pomt Inter. when he ob-
serves thlll "nothing about him measured up to the
proud dignity ofangels:' Nordo the villagc.rs allow
him any dignity or respect; throughout the slory.
they treat him "without the slightest reverence."
He is displayed like a circus animal or sideshow
freak; poked, plucked, and prodded; branded with a
hot Iron; pelted with stones and garbage; lind held
prisoner foryellts In a filthY, battered chicken coop,
exposed to the elemenl$. Though he IS lhe source of
the family's great fortune, Elisenda comes to find
him an intolerable annoyance, becoming' 'exasper-
ated and unhinged" by his presence. He is under-
standably "standoffish" toward people, tolerotmg
only the company of the couple's young child, and
the villagers come to think of him as "a haughty
angel who scarcely deigned to look at monllls:'
Given his cruel captivity, the reader can only agree
when the narrator observes that his "only super-
natural virtue seemed to be patlence:' Even this
vlnue IS later depnved of lillY otherworldly great-
ness; it becomes merely "the pauence of a dog who
had no illUSiOns:'

," SharI SfDrl~, (Dr SfuJ~nl' " a I " m • 1 J i

 A Vt~~ 014 ~t~n .. 1.lh En~r",~u,
The old man is described in Imagery of enrth-
Iy poverty and human weakness, contt1ldieung
traditiOflal heavenly stereotypes. Even the birds
with which he is compared to are ignoble ones
("buzzard wings," "a huge decrepit hen," "n
senile vulture"\. Yet there is clearly something of
the magical about him beyond his unexphlined
wings lllId mystenous origin. He does, afler nIl,
perfonn miracles-bul they, too, fail to misfy
expeclillions. The blind man's sight Isn't restored,
but he suddenly grows three new teeth; the leper's
sores aren't cured, but sunflowen begin growing
from them. These are "colUollUiofl miracles," which
show "n cennin menial disorder," us ifsenilitY had
caused his magic powers to misfire. Alternately,
Ihey could be practical jokes, a fonn of "mocking
fun" to avenge his abuse by the crowd. TheU' sick
child recovers when Pelayo and Elisendalake in the
old man, but this could be COincidence, or perhaps
anolher case of failed magic (if, lIS the neighbor
woman believes, he IS an angel of death sent 10 take
the baby). And, despite his obviouslnfinnities, heis
possessed of a surprising Inner strength. His hClllth
seems to be in irreversible decline throughout; a
doclor's examination finds II "impossible for him
10 be nIive," and very lale In the Slory his death
appears imminent. Yet with the coming of spnng,
after years of uselessness, his wings grow new
fenthers and regain theU' sU'englh, allowing him to
escape the village forever,
Although his wings mnke him a creature of the
sk-y and he IS clearly no! at borne on hmd, the old
man also hilS some IIssocllltion with the sen. He
comes from the sea (oral least from over it), washed
up with a tide ofcrabs by a three-day stann; his first
attempts to flyaway are accompamed by "a wind
Ihat seemed 10 come from the high. seas." Pelayo
and Elisenda first take him for a foreign sailor
(perhaps because they detect "a strong sailor's
vOIce" m his Incomprehensible speech), nnd an
early plan called for him to be set out tosea on araIt
with provisions. ~ his wings begin to regenerate,
he sings "sea chnnteys" under the stllf5. Critics
disagree in their interpretations of this connection
and in their jUdgments on its significance, But in
Garcia Mlirquez's olber works, they often find the
sea to be an important theme or symbol, both ns a
natun! force of great power (equally capable of
bringing rich. gifts or tenible destructiOn), and M a
force associated with the supematul1l1. Sevem1 of
his stOries Include epiSodes where unusual strangers
from the "outside world" appear In a sma.ll town
" .
Wlnlf
and have a strong effect on Its people. Very oflen,
these remarkable visilors amve by sen.
The old man .is nlso connected in some way
with Pelayo and EUsenda's child. The newborn is ill
when he flut appears, but quickly recovers when
the "angel" lakes up residence. The "wise neigh-
bor woman" believes that he wns sent to lakes the
child's life, BOlh the child and Ihe old man come
down with chicken po~ lit the same time, and the old
mnn uncharaCleristlt:ally allows the child 10 play
with and around him, tolemung "ingeniOUS infa-
mies" with pauence. But beyond these delails, the
COMectiOll or bond between the two Is not developed.
Because the old man IS a misundentood outsid-
er subjected to cruel mistreatment, he becomes
primarily a figure of pUy-a strange emotion for an
"nngel" to inspire. He hIlS enough magicnl quail.
tIes to lei the reader see him, atlenst potentially, us a
figure of wonder, but his very human vulnernbUity
keeps this from being much more than nsuggesllon.
Finally, there is lit lenst an equal suggestion of a
pOlential "dark side." Pelayo's firsl impression is
thai of having seenn "nightmare," nnd the "menial
disorder" of Ihe old man's miracles suggests Ihat
his "magic powers" are uncontrollable, making
him dlll1gerous. When burned with II branding iron,
his slaOled wmg-f1apping creates "a whirlwiod of
chicken dung and lunar dUSI," "n gale of panic that
did not seem to be of this world." It is almost a
moment of terror, when he cllims down, the villag·
en regard him wllh renewed caUllon nnd fear. "his
passivity was not that of a hero laking his ease, but
that of a call1clysm in n:pose," And though his visit
brings truiy mlmculous results for Pelayo and
Elisenda bv making them fabUlously wealthy, It
also seems to be a frighifulllnd unnerving expen·
ence for them. Elisenda comes to feel that she lives
in "a hell full of angels," and when they desIgn
therr dream home, the couple make sure to "angel-
proof' it with iron bars.
Themes
Doubt and Ambiguity
One of this story's difficult aspects Is Ihe senSe
of uncertainly it trcllles by leav!ng imponant facts
Sh~r' S'~rlt% (~~ SIu4tn'l
unresolved and seeming to offer severnl possible
interpretations for its evenu. The render IS never
allowed to doubt Ihat the old rnlln and his-strange
Wings lire as "renl" as anything else in theslory', yet
the reader can never be sure just what he is-a
heavenly angel, n sad human who happens to have
Wings, or perhaps some other, unexpillined possi.
bility. This deliberate uncertainty can lenve readers
feeling II bit chCllted-pllrticullU'ly in what seems to
be a fairy tale. Stones are expected 10 have clear-cut
mennings, and the author is expected to reveal litem
to the reader, Ifnot,there is a tendency to feel he has
failed in his storytelling, or that his audience hM
failed as rellden. But in works ofrenlism (and many
other formsJ, ambigUity IS often used as an ioten-
1I0nai effect, to make a story seem less "story-
like," lUId more like life itself. It reflects the under.
5tlUlding that realllfe is far more uncertain than the
stones In books, and often forces renden to choose
among several, equally possible expllUlations of
events. As charnclen in daily life, readers seldom
know "the whole slory"-but it is trndilional to
expect wnters to lie all tales neatly together for our
undersllUlding. While it compllcatcs the task of the
~ader, the skillful, suggeslive use of ambiguity is
often admired by critics, and is USUally considered
to be one of the most appealing featu~ of "magic
realism."
Even In Slones dealing with magic orthe super.
natuml, there are rules n wriler is expected to
follow-for example, thnt lItere must always be a
clear distinction between magical events lUId "nor-
mal" ones, lind that the nature and significance of
all charncters is eventually mnde known to lite
render. But as n magic realist, Garcia Marquez
inSists on breaking these rules as well. WHhout its
fantllsllcelemenU,thcfC is nostory; yet the reader is
never sure just how 10 take them, lll1d how far to
trust Ibe namtlor. Sometimes, he makes it obVIOUS
Ihat the villilgers' magical beliefs are in fact ridlcu.
lous delUSions: but at other times, the reader sccnu
expected to take logically Impossible events at face
value. The changing of a humllO inlo a giant spider,
a man Who can't sleep beclluse "the nOiSe of the
SIIll'S" disturbs him-are these things that "n:ally
happened7" Can they be diSmiSsed as mere halluc!_
naUons7 Iuc they poetic images, meant to be inter-
pn:ted on some level beyond their literal meaning7
Like the old mllJ1 with his miracles, Gan:ia Mnrquez
may be suspected of haVing a kind of "mocking
fun" with the reader, suggesting all SOrt!i ofmimcu-
lous possibilities, then stubbornly contrndicllng all
~
O,.;
Topics for I
Further
Study
Look into other fonns of "fantllStic" lilerature,
such M fairy tales, SCience liction, mythology,
superhero comics, or folk legends. Choose spe.
cific works of at least two different types and
compare IheU' styles and techniques to those of
"magic realism" as represented by this SIOry.
Compare the manner lU which Garda Mdrque1.
treats the tradilionlliidea of lUIgels in "A Very
Old Man with Enonnous Wings" with the way
lUIgels are repreSented or interpreted elsewhere,
in some oiber work or media, Potential sources
include fealure fUms, television shows, religious
or insplnttionnlliteralure, llJ1d-advenising.
Be an amateur "magic realist," loosely follow.
ing the formula Gmt:fa Mdrquez emploYed for
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," For
Ibis assignment, your "village" is any other
slory you have already studied; the "angel" will
be another chanCier you Introduce from "Out.
side" the slory, chosen because he or she seems
tOlnlly a.lien to the sense of the story us you have
come to know it II could be a character from
outside literature: a pop culture celebrilY, a rep-
~entative from another time orcultu(C-anyone
who seems not to belong at nll in the world
constructed by the author of your story. Re-wrile
or outline the story, Incorpotatmg ibe View-
point of your new chancter and making the
other chlU'llcters respond to Iheir iII-litting new
companion.
the expectations he creates. In appreciating such a
story, it may be necessary to limil one's reliance on
clear meanings and mornl lessons, and to be pre.
pared 10 enjoy the sheer wealth of possibility and
comic misunderstanding that IS presented.
Tlte Problem a/Interpretation
Onee((ect ofambiguity is to focus attention on
Ihe uncertain nature of all effom to assign meaning
to events. The troublesome nature of illltrprttortolf
J 1 I
 " V"r Old A10n .. l l h Eno''''oo'
has been a mailer of intense Interest for literary
critics in the yeatS smce this story was wrillen-
which may be one reason Gan::ia Marquezremains a
popular subject of scholnrly attention. Many theoriSlS
stress that oJI "readings" (whether of texts, or of
life l!sem arc strongly influenced by their context,
and by the specificmterests and point of view of the
person making the jUdgmen!. While one may detect
such mOuence in the opinions of others, it usually
operates unconsciously in Ihe self; the llSsumptlOns
behind one's own thinking are so familiar thnt one
tends not to even recognize them as assumptions.
Some critics go so faras to suggesllhat all explana~
lions are aClually illV/!fI/ioIlS, and that "true mean-
mgs" can never be reliably detenmned. While one
may not choose to embrace so extreme a position,
the speculation serves as a remmder Ihat confident
pronouncements aboul the world are seldom, if
ever, as rational or disinterested as one believes
them 10 be. The villagers' quirky thought~patlerns
may be seen liS a parody of Ihis universal human
tendency. They "talk themselves into" all kindS of
wild s?eculations, clingmg to UTlltional nOllons
(such as the "fact" that mothballs are the proper
food for nngels) and leapmg to Impossible conclu-
sions (for example, that the old man should be
named "mayoroflhe world."l It seems thaI, once
they get an idea into their heads, they willfully
conVince themselves of its truth and ignore any
evidence to the conlrary-unless a more appealing
vefS/on of lhe truth comes along., Thetr folly IS
a kind of exaggermed Ignorance, which Garcia
Marquez: uses consistently for comic effect; but in
their unqucsllonmg application of''conventional
wisdom," and their stubborn faith 10 their own
ideas, they renect habits of nund that can be recog~
nlzed in all cultures.
On another level, the amhor may be seen as
placmg the reader in much the same position-
forcmg the reader to accept mterpretations that
seem absurd, or 10 give up any hope of understand~
ing events. in this sense. it might be said that the
story's meanmg lies m the mllnner it denies any
clear meanings, complicaung the reader's efforts to
understand, and showing usual means of detcmun-
ing the truth in II strange, uncertam ligh!. The
conlext of literature may tempt one to "read into"
these odd characters, looking for symbolic mean~
ings and creattvely-coded messages from the au-
thor. Nothing prevents the reader from dOing so, but
there are few clues or hints to help and no obvIOUS
way to confirm or deny any interpretation one may
construct. The reader can't be sure if he is finding
"
Win,;
the story's meaning or making one up; he may even
wonder if Ihe story has a meaning at alL Garclll
Marquez: presents a rich mystery, which engages the
reader's thinking and seems to "make sense" in the
manner of fairy tales; then he leaves Ihe reader to
decide its meaning for himself. However one goes
about the job, he is never allowed to escape the
suspiCIOn that he may. in his own way, Wind up
being as foolish and gullible as the villagers.
Style
Imagery
In establishing the characler of Ihe old man,
Garclll Marquez: plays against traditional stereo-
types of angels. Angels are supernatural creatures
and are expected them to be presented in Images that
convey grandeur, perfeclion, wisdom, and graee.
By definition, angels are contrasted with humans:
though they resemble humans phYSICally, they are
super-lulI/wn in every conceivable way. But like
Father Gonzaga, the reader's first response to the
old man IS like!y to be that he is "much too
human." lnstead of presenting a majestiC, awe-
mspiring figure, GarCia Marquez describes a crea-
ture with mortal weaknesses and senility ("a
tlrenched grellt-grandfather"), tn circumstances with-
out llny trace of reverence or dignity. While his
feathered wings invite compansons with birds, even
this Imagery is common llnd debased; he is "a senile
vulture" or a "decrepit hen," not a soaring eagle or
an elegant swan. While the villagers face the prob-
lem of understanding an apparent"ange!" who fits
none of theu- expectations for the type, the reader
finds himself placed by the author in the same
position.
Also unusual is the way Gnrtlll Marquez: com-
bines different types of imagery. The opemng line
reveals thatil is "the third day of nun," and a few
lines later this Information is reptllted In another
form: "The world had been sad Since Tuesday."
One tS a direct statement of fact, which might
appear in a weather report; the other is a poetic
Image, projectmg human emotions onto the weather
and individual feelings OniO the enllrt world. Ex-
pressed in other tcrms, the reader accepts the first
version as "real," while the second version {if
taken at face valuel is "magll:nl," mvolvmg a
logicn1ly-impossibleconnccllon between human feel-
ings and the weather. Both attitudes are familiar to
renders, who know 10 read a factual account in a
Shorl S'orl,: ,,,. S'ud,nl'
" V~'r Old
rtltionaJ, literal frame of mmd, and to suspend
disbelief in a more imaginative story, where de-
scnptlons lire expected to be used for their creative,
suggestive effects. But Gnrt:ia Marque.. never al-
lows the reader to settle comfortably into one attl~
tude or the other; throughout the story, realisltc and
magical details are combined, seenung to suggest
that both attitudes are valid, and Ihat neither one is
suffiCient by Itself.
Narration
The ambigUity within the story is remforced by
inconSistenCies in the namlljve VOice. The nnrralor
IS, after all, the "person" presenting all this odd
imagery to lherender, and readers habituany look to
the narrator for clues to help find a proper tnterpre-
tation. For example, when the namtlOr states that
Father Gonzaga's letters to his church supenors
"might have come and gone until the end of time"
without reaching a conclusion, he confinns the
reader's suspicion thnt the priest's approach is fu-
tile. despite his confident IISsurnnces- to the crowd.
Narrators don't just present facts: they also give
direction as 10 "how to take" the information we
receive
This narrator. however, seems to direct the
reader all over the map and to be inconslstentlfl his
own attitude to events, The Villagers' wild ideas
about the old man nre often presenled as obvtollS
delusions, charactetized liS "frivolous" or "sim-
ple" by the narrator. But at other times, he seems no
more skepticalthnn the villagers. For example, the
story of the spider-woman seems far more fantastic
than that of an old man with wmgs, bmthe nnrrator
gives no suggestion that her transformation IS par-
llcularly unusual and seems to expect the reader to
acceplthis fnmkly "magical" event as ifi! present-
ed no mystery al all. Though they are wise in ways
the villagers are nol, and see through the vartous
fanciful interprelatlons of the visitor, readers come
to feel that the narrator may not fully understand the
old man himself. Such an unreliable storyteller
makes a mystery even more mysteriollS, complicat-
ing efforts to fix a definile meaning to the tllle.
5istorical Context
Tile Lack ofa COlltext
The time and place of this sturY lire undeter~
mined. The characters' names suggest a Spanish-
speaking couutry, and II reference to aupJanes indi-
V" I u m ,
Hon .. "11 En"r .. "u
Clites Ihal we are somewhere 10 the twentieth ccntu-
ry; but beyond these mmor delails, we seem to be In
the "once-upon-a_time" world of fairy litles. The
narrator tens of events In the past, U5mg the phrase
"in those times" in a manner common to myths lind
legends. These associations help prepare the reader
for the story's "magtcal" elements by suggestmg
Ihat this is not a factual history to be taken literany,
butll tale of the tmagmation where the usual rules
may be suspended.
Such an "undetenmned" selling IS common m
Garda Marquez's fiction. White he IS often outspo-
ken m his journalism and takes a pUblic stand on
many political issues, references to contemporary
history In his fiction tend to be indirect and uncer-
tam. Critics have {ned to trace such connections (for
cxample, by suggesting that a character in one of his
novels is modeled on a certain South Amencllll
dictator), but the author's decision to wnte in this
manner Indicales that such "messages" life not his
pnmary concern. By its nature, the story IS nottled
to any particular lime or place; like legends from a
mythical golden age in the past, Ii calls our Illtenuon
to timeless, Universal themes, applymg m a general
way to all times and places,
Tile Context ofReception
While the story shows no direct evidence of
hisloncal context, it was. of course, wnilen m a
partIcular time and place. And like all artistiC pro.
ductlons, its "success" has depended not only on
Its IIftISItC merits, but on its ability to attract an
audience and to gain acceptance from critics: nod
scholars. Unlike the writing itself, the receptIOn of a
work Involves faclors lllfgely outside the IImhor's
control, factors usually havlflg much to do with
histOrical and cultural context.
The extremes of popular and critical recepllon
can be seen lfl the stereotype of the "sti1rVmg
Mist," who works without reward for years lhen
suddenly (perhaps only in death) receives wide.
spread,long-overduerecognitiou. This is the "trag-
ic gemus," ahead of his tlme-"lhe world was not
ready" for the work he produced. The type does not
fit Garcill Marquez exactly, but he did labor In
relallve obscurity for many years, then suddenly
became an mternational phenomenon: a best-selling
author who was also llralsed by promlueut mtellec-
tuals, even bemg heralded-as the vanguard of n
revolutton In Latin Amenclln literature. Such sud-
den enthusiasm, for however deserving an artIst,
indicates that the world somehow war ready for
Gnrcia Marquez m 1967, when the publication of
" .
 Dlle Hundred Years afSolitude brought him instnnt
fnme,llS wellllS Intense scrutiny,
The Oarcln Martluez "boom" WIlS fueled by n
number of developments, both In populnr eulture
I1l1d in criticnl scholarship, which mnde It easier for
many readers to embrace n work of "mngic real·
Ism," and l1l1author from n non~Western culture.
The late 1960s are usually characterized ns n period
of intense cullUml change, in which lrlldltional
values of nil kinds were challenged, and nltematlve
ways of living were widelv explored. College cam·
pu;es were a pllnlculnr focus for this controversy,
most famously in OCCllSional violent confrontations
between law enforcement nnd student political prtr
testers. But it also found expteSslon through pas-
sionate debntes within the scholarlv disciplines,
debates in which the most basiC assumptions were
quesuoned, and apparently radiclll changes were
gIVen serious consideration. In liternture deplUt-
mentS, one teSult W/IS an effort 10 expand the "can~
on"--the list of "c1115sic" works (sometimes listed
in an official document, sometimes found in the
unspoken, shnred ll5.51lmpliOns of faculty members I
whose study is Irnditionally considered to fonn the
necessary bam of a libernl arts education. Critics
chlU"ged that, with few if any exceptions, the canon
had excluded women and people of color from the
roll of "great authors," as well as wJilers from poor
or working.class backgrounds IUld those from non-
European cultures. Efforts to expand the canon, 10
include n more diverse blend of cultural voices
among the works considered wonhy of serious
scholarship, have continued for over thirty years.
GlUl:la Marquez can be seen IlS nn enrly beneficlluy
of this trend; Latin American writcrs had long been
neglected, nnd his work could be shown to include
manY of the elements critics had prnued in Europe·
nn nnd North Amertean works. He thus made nn
early "test case" for expanding the canon, an
example of a non-Western Miter who deserved to
be honored on a level equal to his Western contem-
poraries. His recognition encouraged the "discov-
ery" of mnny more Latin Amencan authors and
contributed to an explosion of seholnrship on the
region's litenuy heritage,
Rnlllly, this story has 11 context within Garcia
Mnrquez's own career. Il WIl5 wntten in 1968, a yenr
after his sudden fame. One inlerpretnuon of "A
Very OldMlln wlth Enonnous Wings" sees ItllS an
exnggerated, satirical neeount of his own experi-
ence with instant celebrity; or, in a more general
wny, ns a commentnry on the position of the crentive
lUtist 10 modem culture. In this reading, the "old
J "
man" IS the artiSt, while his "wings" stlUld for
trnnscendence, greatness, lruth, beauty-whatever
elusive qualities we think of lIS being vnlunble in art,
The vi11.agers, in tum, nre "the public," who-are
greedy forwhalever "magic" he might bring them-
bUI who instst on havmg It on thetr own terms.
Rather than IIccc[lting him lIS he IS, with all his
quirks and contrndictlons, they treat him ns a carnt-
vnlatlrllction and look for ways to profit from his
oddce1ebrity, They misunderstand him completely,
yet confidently "explain" him with wild, illogical
spcculauons. And giVen a choice, they prefer the
kind of magiC offered by sensntlonS like the spider-
woman-flashy and ellSY to understand, fimng In
comfonnbly with their beliefs, presenting no awk-
ward difficulties or mysteries. However "magical"
they may be, such crentures as artists nnd angels JUSt
aren't made for everyday life; ultimately, they are
an nnnoyance nnd an emblUTItSsment to the rest of
us. This is, of course, only one of many possible
interpretlllJOnS, for a story that seems designed to
resist any stngle, clearexplanntion. But it does show
another way in which context (eultural, historiclIl,
and personlll) can find its wny IOta n story whieh
seems, on the surface, to have been WOllen from no
pnrticulnr tIme or place.
Critical Overview
"A Very Old MlUI with Enonnous Wings" was
wnllen In 1968, in the wake of its author's sudden
fllme. The story's liming hns led some critics to
suggest that it mllY, lit lensl in plUt, be a comic
treatment of OnIda MllIquez's own experience liS n
writer, or an allegory for the condition of creative
lUtists in general. In this reading, Ihe old man
represents the artist, and his experience In the vil-
lage IS a satirical account of the way a wotk IS
received by the public. Whilehls wings mnrkhim lIS
extrnordinary, in olher ways he fails to meet the
villngers' impossible expectatlons; nnd while they
feel a need to n«ount for him, this proves to be a
difficult, complex., and uncertain IlIsk. Instead, they
misinterpret him wildly, and abuse and explOit him
lIS a carnival freak. By inSisting on simple, drnmallc
"miracles" that fit comfortably with their beliefs,
they give up /111 chance of understanding whalever
"magic" he doa possess and soon lose tnterest in
him, However, 11 must be stressed thnt this is only
one possible interpretation for this complex slory.
Olher critics have argued that, howeverappealing, it
tS fnr too simple, "neat," and logical to fully
Shori SI .. r l t i r .. r SIII"tlll.
necQunt for a laic so neh in Invenuon llnd sugges-
lion; and even diose who ndvance such a reading
pOint out diat is just one of severnllevels on which
mCllning can be found.
While GlIICla Marquez's early short stories,
wrillen In the Inte 19405 and enrly 19505, were
generally considered unsuccessful for thelr overly
self-cOl15CtOUS usc of unconvenuonnl narrative tech-
DIques, his later stones employ mlUlY of the same
nnrrntlve strntegies that have mnde GlUl:in MllIquez
one of the twentieth century's most influentinlnu·
thon, prompting critics to compnre him to the likes
of Willinm Faulkner IUld Franz Knfkll,
Criticism
Tom Faulkner
Afrulance writer and copyedltor, Fau/k1l<:T 1$
pur$uing on M,A. III Englislt at lVa)'lleState Un/I'u-
sity./nth<:follow/JIC essay, he up/ores the peculiar
effeCts o/maglc rea/hill as a literary sl}'le emplol'ed
in "A Very Old Mall lI'it1l Enonllo/lS Willgs, "
The style ofwdting referred to IlS "magic realism"
is marked by Its ImagInative content, vivid effects,
nnd lingering mystery. In combining fantnstic ele·
ments with realistic detllils, a writer like Garcia
Marquez cnn erente a fictional "world" where the
mime-ulous nnd the everyday Jive side·by.side-
where fnetnnd iUuslon,sclence and folklore, history
and drenm, seem equally "real," and nrc often hard
to distinguish. The fonn clelltly allows writers to
stretch the limits of possibility and to be richly
inventive; however, it involves more than the crea-
tion ofattrnctive fllntllSies. The villllge In "A Very
Old Mnn whh Enonnous Wings" may be IIppealing
In some ways, but it is nlso n complex, difficult,
even disturbing fantllSY. Beyond imagination, Ihe
successful creallon of such 11 world in the render's
mind requires skillful use of the same tools and
techniques fn.milillt in more conventional, less "magt-
cal" types of fiction, Garcia Marquez net only
combines realistic details widi fnntastic ones, but
seems to give them both equal weight, an ~uIII
claim to rcnlily or truth in the reader's mmd.
In the characterofthe "blrd·mnn," weean see
this style at work and experience the charming (but
unseuiingj effect it often hIlS on readers. His mySle·-
rious nalure IS the story's eentrnl "problem," the
soun;e of its energy nnd lenslon. We know, of
course, thnt human beings don't hnve wings; logi.
y 0 t 1/ .. f
clllly, such 11 character must be either a monster or a
mirncle-if he exiSts /It all. Yel when the doctor
examines the old mlln, whnt most impresses him IS
"the logiC ofhis wings," which "seemed so natura!
on that completely humnn orgnnism that hecouldn't
undel'3tnnd why other men didn't have them too."
Logic nnd science insist thnt such a crealUre must he
sup<:moruml, but GlltCia MllIquez presents him as
enlJrely "nalUral"; much like the doctor, once
we've "seen" him, it's as if Winged old men were
common, even unrema.rk.llble, visitont Weseehow,
despite "the inconvenience of the wings," Pelayo
and EIisenda "very soon overcnme their surpnse
nnd In the end found him familinr," As renders, we
nre guided 10 the same kind of acceplnnce. No one
questions the old man's existence. or the relllity of
his wings, not even the nllITlltor (except, perhaps, in
the final line. when the old mnn becomes "nn
imaginary dot on the hOn:/;on of die sea"). He may
or may not be an angel, but he is unquC5l1onnbly an
old man with wings, lIS "real" /IS anyone else in
the story.
Several techniques contribute to Ihe old man's
vivid "exlStence." Detailed sensory imagery is II
slandnrd means for writers to reinforce ncharncter's
"reality" to the reader, and Garcia Marquez not
only makes us "see" the old man (rightdowntothe
"few faded hall'3 left on his bald skull" and the
plll1lSites picking through his ruined feathers), but
also "smell" him, "feel" the texture of his wmgs,
and "henr" his whistlinghelUtbent. The rieh unllge-
ry 1I1s0 works to undermine supernatural stereo-
types. contrndicting our usual idCIIS about lUIgels
nnd denying the old man any of the heroiC or exalted
qualities we expect. He is described not only in
humnn, eanhly tenns, but In terms of extreme
wCl!kness nnd poveny ("dressed like a rngpicket,"
"his pitifUl eondition of a drenehed grent.grandfa-
ther"). When he Is compnred to birds, lhey nee nOI
exotic eagles or dtuzling pClleoeks, but common
SpCCles with less·lhan·noble reputalJons (his "buz·
uurl wings," "n decrepit hen," "a senile vul-
ture"). As Father GonUl-ga observes (nnd by the
lIuthor's design), "nothing about him measured up
to the proud dignity of IIngels." He thus becomes
real the more wesee him lIS hltman, acrenlUre closer
to our own expeJienee and understlUlding-not /I
shining, mythical being but II frail, suffering, even
pathetic fellow, who hnppens 10 have a few physi-
cal quirks.
The problem Gnn:la Marquez pteSents us IS not
just "Whnt if nnge1s were real?" but "What if they
were relll, lUId nothing like we expect them to be?"
JJ I
 " V.r~ Old Man .. I,h Enar",au.
What
Do I Read
Next?
Readers who enjoy this story may wish to ex-
plore Garcm MilIl\uez.'s other works. Big Mo-
mo'z FUlleral {19621 and TIle Incredible ondSod
Story of bmocell/ Erendira and Her Heonleu
GrondmOlhu (1972) ilre collections of short
stones, many of which also embody principles of
magic realism. The novel One Hundred Yeorz of
Solillide {19671 depicts the muvelous village of
Macondo Ihrough a complex history that spans
three generations of the town's leading family.
Here, as in LoVl: //I the Tillie ofChoiuo (written
In 1985, and sel in an unnamed town), Garcia
M/Utluez. creales a dreamlike, many-layered land·
scape, realized in far more detail than is possible
for the village in this brief tale. To many critics,
Dill! Hundred reorz of Solitude still represents
the highest achievement of magtc realism.
Ulb)'rtfl/hz (1962) by Jotge LUIS Borges IS a
collection of short fictions, essays, and "Pllf-
abies" that presents interesting parallels and
coO!rasts to the style ofGnrcia Marquez.. Borges
IS not strictly considered a "magic realist,"
haVing already achieved considerable recogni-
tion before Garcia Marquez's success; however,
he does show many of the same influences Ilnd
concerns, and indeed may have influenced the
younger writer. Borges seems fascinated by pa;.l..
dox and the humlln thirst for meamng; through
ShOll, tightly structured narr.l1ives, he develops a
vunety of inventlve contradictions, fuJI of hid-
den insights and unexpected turns.
He creates a tensIOn between the old man's magical
and human qualities, leavmg us unable 10 fit the
character mlO a comfortable menta! category. The
old man IS far too human and decrepit to match our
cultuml image of angels: perfect, powerful, majes.
tic, immortal. Nor does he appellf to be a heavenly
messenger, sent by God as a sign of momentous
changes; his presence seems to be purely lIII accI-
dent of the weather, without purpose or meanmg.
Nonetheless, he certainly has his magical qualities,
,"
Wlnt'
Since the appcara:nce of Garclll Mnrquex.'s works,
writers from mMy \rllditions have conunued to
test the baundunes of flUltasy and reality, m
mnovative works that suggest the mfluence of
magIc realism, or at least seem to anse from
Similar sources and concerns. Among the milny
such works that employ an Amencan setting are
Mu Apple's Tht Orang/ng ofA/IItnca{ 1976), a
collection of modem fables that explores villiouS
aspects of "the Amencan Dream" and its mod-
em myths of success, andMumboJumbo (1910)
by Ishmael Reed, a saliric "HooDoo detective
novel" that is alSO an ambitious, mythical re-
Imagination of the history of Africans m Arnertca.
Readers might be interested in a novel which is
qUllesimiliU" in theme 10 "A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings": that work of ficHon is T7le
Wonderjill Vizlt {l89S}, by H. G. Wells, author
ofTIle Time Machine, TIle hland ofDr. Moreon,
The Invizible Mon, and other distinguished works
of the Imagination. The Wonderfill Viz;', which
concerns the wounding and capture of an IUIgel
by IUral English villagers, has been described by
critic Kenneth Young as "an IronIcal study of
life m the English countryside. ... The Salire-
on ownership, on the ugliness of people's lives-is
gentle, though there IS a dark passage on 'the
readiness of you Human Beings to inflict pam'."
and is even credited with nuracles (though, like
everything else aboul him, they ilre disturbing, and
fail to satisfy expectalionsl. However mlmcu[oUs
his nature,origms, orabiHties may be, he is stranded
here, Ilnd relallve1y powerless-an exile from his
fOlmer life, at the merey of s\rllngers. The villagers
must somehow Ilccounl for him, and because no one
understands his Janguage, he IS ullable (lind appar-
ently unwilling) to explrlln himself. Several pOSSI-
ble mterpretations anse, but most of them are clear-
Sh<l'f SI""" t<lr Slud~n"
ly absurd, telling us more about the Villagers'
superstitions and beliefs than about the old man's
"true nature." They are rendered with playful hu-
mor, ensunng that the reader will apprecl/lte the
irrational and illusory basIS ofsuch "folk Wisdom."
Yet our "supcnor," conventlonal methods oflogic
and reason don't seem any more useful in reaching a
secure explanation. The old man remains a stub-
born, mtngumg mystery, both magIcal and ordl-
nllf)', impossible to decipher but undeniably tllere.
This uncertainty (or ambigl/iry) applies not just
to the old man. but evidently to life itself, as it ts
lived in Ihis Umeiess, nameless village. It seems to
be a place where lUSt about anything can happen (for
example, a young woman can be changed into a
spider for disobeYing her parents}--Or at least, it is a
place where everyone is quile willing 10 beliel'e
such things happen and to act as though they do
happen. This impression is partly a result of Garcia
Marquez:'s use of narrative VOICe. For the most part,
the Siory seems to be told by the standard "omms·
clent observer" of third person fiction-a narrator
who knows all the neeessary facts, and can be
trusted to present them reliably. When such narra-
lion expresses an opinton, the reader tends to accept
it as acom:ctinlerpretallon. This narrntormay seem
to lit the type at firsl, but later appears to change his
point of View, and even his opiniOns of events. The
narrator seems to endorse the villagers' thinking at
limes (for example, reporting without comment that
the old man has a "strong sailor's vOice," even
though we have no evidence for this assumption of
Pelayo and E1isenda's), but at other times, he seems
nlmosl contemptuous of their irrational ideas. (A
few lines later, when he describes how the cOLlple
"skipped overthe Inconvenience ofthe wings" and
"quite intelligently" decided thlll he was nothing
but a sailor, the mtent seems to be strongly sarcas-
tic.) We might entertain hope that FntherGonuga's
conts-pondence with church leaders will eventually
produce an explanation-until the n!llTlltor com-
ments Ihat tllOse "meager letters might have come
and gone until the end of lime" without result. in
such ways, readers come to rely on the narrator for
clues about "how to take" elements in the story that
may be unclear. But this narrator seems detennined
to be untrustworthy, and lenves us uncertain nbout
important events. Without telling us how, he treats
everything that happens as though it "makes sense."
Though he is habitually iromc In his view of the
"Wise" villagers' beliefs, he describes the super-
natuml expenence of the "spider-woman" in slm·
pie factual telmS, seeming to accept It as readily as
Y <I I " m :
his chllTilcters do. Are we to conclude that this
fantllStic transformation from human to spider actu-
ally happened? Or that the nlllTlltor IS now as
deluded lIS the villagers? Oreven that he is purpose-
ly lymg to us1 At such moments, the nanntlon
seems to parody the slyle of traditional fairy taJes; as
the label "magiC realism" suggests, some elements
of the story seem meant to be approached with the
sJmplistlc "logic" of fantasy, while others are
depicted with alilhe complexity lind imperfectIOn
that mark "real life."
Garcia Marquez: not only combines realistic
details with fantas(Jc ones, bllt seems to give them
both equal weight, an equal claim to "reality" or
"truth" in the reader's mind. Dreamlike, poetic
descriptions are presemed maller·of-factly; like
Winged old men who fall from Ihe sky, they lire
trealed more as everyday realities than as biz:arTe
Impossibilities. When we ieam that a ChllrllCler IS
depnvcd of sleep "because the nOise of the stllfS
disturbed him," il seems 10 be merely a symptom
quoted from his medical chart, perhaps even a
common cause of insomnia, not an obVIOUS delll·
slon or a feat of supernatural heanng. As m the
Similar case of the "poor woman who sHlce child·
hood had been countmg her heartbeats and had run
out of numbers," the narrator gives no mdicalioll
that any particular explanallon IS reqllired, almost
assummg that the reader will accept these odd
riddles without question. Traditionally, we aren't
meant to take such language literally (as a descnp-
tion of factuat events), but poelically (orjigllraflw!-
i)'), as a creative key to some idea or stale of mmd,
which we must Interpret for ourselves. (The IIIsom_
mac, for example. might be said to "really" be
experiencmg hallucmatlons due to mental illness, or
perhaps a feeling of isoJallon /lnd inSIgnificance in
the cosmos-but nOlactually listentng to stars.) But
here, such "magical" descriptions seem to be of-
fered as straightforward accounts of "nolmal" (if
rare and unuSllal) occurrences (his ears are senSI-
tive, and those stars are JUS! too loudll-events
whose "real meaning" need not, or cannot, be
detemllned. but which must nonetheless be accept-
ed as "reaL"
The mixture of different kinds of imagery, and
dilTerent narrative attitudes, serves 10 heigh len the
reader's uncertainty. Realistic and magIca.l descnp.
lions a.re oflen combined, as if they a.re IIIsepilfable
aspects of the same events. Thus, we are not onlv
told that It IS "the third day of rain," but abo, a few
lines iater, that ''It}he world had been Slid smce
Tuesda}'." Dy combinIng factual and imaginatlve
" ,
 A v=~~ 01" AI~n "'I'" En~'''~''J
descnptions, and seeming to-trelltthem wiih equal
ii
credibility, the author suggests that both "ways of
Irnowmg" are valid, perhaps even necessary to
achievmg II balanced understanding. MagiC seems
to lieJust beneath the surfllceofthe story, wlliting to
break through, almost beyond the nlltTUtor's con-
trol. For example, a description of the old mnn's
undignified captivity Iingel'S over factual, everyday
details (his diet of eggplnnt mush, the crowd tossing
stones to get him to relict, the hens pecking through
his feathers); but the insects ,infesting his Wings are
suddenly described liS "stellar pnrnsites' '-II poetic
Imllge, not a "faclUlll" one (lit least until there is
ooy evidence of insects liVing on starn!. If we
approach the Story expecting to be chnrmed by a
fairy lale, the factual descnpllons seem "too real;"
they Slloil the "magical" effect we hope for, by
allowing the unpleasoot and inconvenient details of
everyday life to inl!\lde on our iffiagmative land-
sCllpe. But if we read with a "realistic" frame of
!lUnd, looking for solid facts nnd logical explana-
tions, the strange poetIC Images only frustrate us,
and may cause us to question other IIpparent "facts:'
The mllglCllltouches lOlly dazzle us, but they can
IIlso make us feel like the old man In his ellJlyefforts
to fly: thllt we are "slip[pingJ on the light," unable
to "geu gnp on the air," WemuSl somehow accept
the events our nanntor presents (at least temporari-
ly), m order to continue teading at all, and have nny
hope of making sense of the tnle. But we llJe never
sure wheiher to "accept" them as real events, mllSs
hallUCinations, symbolic stand-ins for some "oth-
er" story the author has in mind, or the unreal
"magic" of legends and fairy tales. We <:annat
choose between reality and magic; GllJCia Martjuez
insists on givmg us both, even In the most minor
details. When the slanled bird·man suddenly flaps
his wmgs, he crelltcs a "whirlWInd" in the court·
yard, with a dustcloud composed of both (enrthly)
chicken dung and (heavenly) "lunar dust": even
the dirt on the ground is shown to be both humble
and marvelous Ilt once.
Typical of the style, this Story's tone seems
bOlh playful and serious. The striking images and
sudden surpnses stimulale the reader's senses and
tmaglnation, but also frustmte and complicate our
efforts to fix a definite meamng to events. Works of
magiC realism are both praised and critiCized for
their "childlike wonder," their depiCtiOn of a world
of almost-infinite possibilities, where the super-
natural and the everyday tnke on the SIl-me vivid
Intensily. But they Me not fairy tales or Iwo-dimen-
slonnl fllnl1tSies; they offer no cleM lessons, SImple
,"
lVlntJ
events, or sharp distinctions between relllity ood
mllgic. "Wondering" includes both delight and
confusion, the stroggle to comprehend experiences
that challenge our understl1llding, and don't fit our'
accustomed map of reality. Far more things are
possible in the world of magic realism, including
muncles, contradictIons, and logical ImpossibiJi-
ties-but this also means thaI more meanings are
possible, and that aU meanings will be elLUive nnd
uncertain.
Source: Tom Faulkner, Ovuview of "A Verv Old Man with
Emlrlnous Wing$," for SIIGt'f SIGntS (GrSlUdtl1U, The Gale
Group. 1999.
Mark Millillgton
Millington is UCtllrlr III Larill AmlrtCan Sflld·
iu or rhe UniverslryofNot/lngham, Engfand.In rhl
following UClrpt, Ite provides an overview of the
symmetrical stnlCfllre af lite staries in The fncred-
ible aod Sad Story of the Innocent Erendiraand her
Heartless Grandmother, including "A Vtry Old
MatlWirh Ellomrous Wings, "dtrail/ng Iht optning
of tach story willt tht orrival ofall lIlI'oding pres-
ence which callus widlJprlod changl ill the li/t
patttnrs oftlu characters, oud tlte COIlc/IWOII with
a depllrture which completes the /lotl/rof C}'Clt.
MiJlingtoll also focuses 011 the norrollvt stnlc/Ure of
tlte SlorilS, II'lJich illcorporolls culll/ral knowltdgl
fralllts olld partiolnarrotor ollthonry to lmphasizt
tlte rtlo/iall berWetl1 tht Ilarralfve world tlnd thl
aClllal world.
j am gOIng to begin with beginnings. Each story in
[The ftlcudlble and Sad StOry of thl IllIlOCtllt
El'llldim and !ler Htartless Gralldmotlrtr (ISS»)
begins with on nrrival-a spO-ce or a consciousness
IS invaded by an unknown presence. But the nature
oflbe invading presence differs: m "Constant Death"
and "B1acam4n" it is human (Onesimo S4nchez.
lind Bhlcllm4n respectively}; in "Vert OldMan" it
IS pan-human (the bird-manj; in "Drowned Moo"
it was formerly human (Esteban's c0rtJsej; in "Sea"
and "Incredible Story" it is 1I natural phenomenon
{the smell of roses and 0. wmd respectively}; and in
"Last Journey" it is an object (the ghost ship;. But
in four of the stones the source of the invading
presence is the same: in one way or another, the sea
Is Ilssocialed with the arrival in "Very Old Man,"
"Sea," "Drowned Man" and "LastJoumey," and
In the first two of these the Invading presence
returns to the sea at the end. And in all oflhe stoties
the IIfTival has the same extrnordina.ry effect-it
becomes the focus of widespread, sometimes all-
Sh~r, SlDrl~I (D' SIU"tn'I
A Vr" 01"
absorbing, atlenUon-and in ellch case the Ilmval
represents the inception of a series of events that
will occupy the remainder of the story. Theeffect of
the Ilmval is to disrupt-lt introduces Instability
into a preexistent silUlItion, I1Ild Ihllt tnstability pro-
duces interest and also movement. The mlerest
Stimulated by the new amval centres on a common
reacUon in severnl stories: the need to discover the
mcamng of Ihe disruption. BUI the mvading pres-
ence also seems to produce a release ofencrgy in the
chlU11clers and 50 to create a new plltlem of life. fn
both respects the nmval is a beginning-a pOint of
mceplion.
The fact that in certliin stories the chll1'llcters
need to interpret the amval, to eslablish the mean-
Ing of the invading presence, IS a sign of the
destabiliZing cha.racler ofthe event. The diversity of
the interpretations and the confUSIOn felt is most
grnphically apparent III "Very Old Man:' Here the
desire to understand is powerful but the capacity to
comprehend minimal: Ihe bird·man Is vlI.nously
seen by the villagers as a nighlmare, a shipwrecked
sailor. an IIngel lind a cireus animal; I1Ild their
confusron is shared by Ihe chain of eccleSiastical
interpreters exlending up to the Vallcan, which IS
nolable for its failure to produce- even a conjecturnl
rntel1lretatlon, The same overloading of interpreta_
tive skills IS evident In "Drowned Man," where the
destre to establish whether Esteban Is human is
Simply swept aside by unquestIOning awe in the fllce
of his extrnordinary belluty. In both of these c:ases
{and in the other stories with inantmate invasions}
Ihe new arrIvllI sets up no dialogue with the commu-
nity that is invaded-ihe bird·man and Esleban
Simply arrive nnd are observed. They provide no
self-explanation, and thllt accounts, in pllrt, for the
disputes that Mse as to their nature and even eXISt-
ence (examples ofthe laller are in "Sea" and "Last
Journey"). fn ellch CllSe, the inlel1lretallons are
attempts to accommodate tbe unknown within eve·
ryday frames oflrnowledge. Given tbe nature of the
new IIfflVa!s, the interpremtions are not surprising,
though they are cenainly not definitive either. They
also provide II valuable mellns of assessing the
workings ofcha.racters' mind5,thalis, their capacity
for rational thought, and this factor is crucial for the
reader's response, In polClltinily stimulating I1IllIOnlC
view of cha.racters.
More Important than Ihe question ofchllrllcters'
lnterpretlltions is the new direction that their lives
take. Thechange results from the instability lhat the
new amvals produce, since chllJllcters are S1imulllt·
M~n wIth En~c .. ~". IVln,J
tt...
Th. b1rd-m.n'.
a.rrival involves Pelayo and
Elisende. willy nilly in
trying to cope with the sheer
physical problem of crowds of
onlookers, and tha.t problem
leads to their fina.ncial
triumph. the building of a
luxurious hOllee and e. new
job for Pelayo: life is
transformed •••• "
ed to undel1ake IIction, and acUon means change. II
is not that any specific response IS demanded, any
inesc/lpnble action fort:ed upon them, but ihilt a field
of possibility is opened up.... In "Very Old Man"
the bird-mnn's arrival involves Pelayo and Elisenda
willy nilly·in trying to cope with the sheer phYSical
problem of crowds of onlookers, and thai problem
leads 10 their financial triumph, the building of a
luxunous house nnd a new job for Pelayo: life is
tnutsfonned...•
The structure so far Isolated, therefore, m.
volves various kinds of invllSton or arrival, which
somellmes stimulate inlerpretation but which, above
aU, destabilize a preeXistent situation and lead to the
inception of new movement, new courses of Ilclion.
And the remarkable feature of the new movement in
ISS is that the mdividuals involved, who first per-
ceive Ihe inl!\lding presence, are frequently joined
by the whole community-a brolld expansion takes
place, which mnkes the disequilibrium a shared and
festive evenL There is II multiplication of interest
which often exlends beYond the bounds of the locnl
population. The fair motif is central to this expan-
sion. In "Very Old Man" the bird-man's Ilntval
initially affects only Pelayo and Elisendn, but over-
night there is a large mllux of people from the
neighbourhood lind subsequently ofhuge crowds of
people from far and wide who stretch In aline over
the hori:wn wailing to see the prodigy. This influx
bongs with il II variety of fairground performers
from around the Caribbelln who tempomnlY lrans-
I J ;
 A \"'f Old M~Jl .. llh £"."rm"u,
fonn the eommunity-life undergoes a pro>:ess
of carmvaJizallon..
111is move mto expansion and camlVali1.lltion
amplifies the localized effetts of new arrivals; It IS a
tOn$lstent structural motif throughout ISS, but there
tS no precise repetition of detail in each story; 11 is n
general rhythm and developmelllai slr-Itegr..•.
Given that some of the stories do not rely
heavily on strong >:ausal links to sUSlain forward
movement, it IS interesting to consider how endings
are achieved. If there tslittle causal emphaSIS, what
rel:l1lon can an ending have with what precedes it7
Is there any evidence 10 suggest that the endings III
ISS aCI as pOInts of tulmlmmon or resolullon7 And,
if not, how does each story create II "sense of an
ending"? The key faclOr here is departure. Mosl of
the slones rely on departures to proVide II "sense of
an ending," thllt is to create an ImpresSion that a
"natural" cycle has been >:ompleted: the depanUIe
tennmates what the amval inaugurated, which is
something thllt readers can accept by drawmg on
cultural knOWledge and wilhout needing an expla-
nation of how or why it came abouL "Very Old
Man" ends with the growth of the bird·mlln's
feathers which treates the possibility of flight and
I
departure.
mle( ending of "Very Old Man" (not
i untyplcally) seems to be undenktennmed; 11 is
i pomtless to ask why the bird-man's feathers grow
l~
and why he flies IIway, smce there IS no cause other
than the need to proVide II narrative ending.
This type of ending leaves us with a global
structure as II basiS for most of the stories: amvnl-
reaCllon and expanslOn-depa.rture. But the sym-
melry of this structure IS deceptively lIttractive. It is
deceptive becau,e it provides anent representlltion
which fnils to take mto account an tmpOl1ant aspect
of the stones: their elusiveness. II is not that this
structure is wrong, simply that it does not tell us
enough. Above "n, this pattern seems "closed,"
where the stories are teaSingly "open" -that IS,
they are thematically reticent while foregrounding
elements of a highly imaginallve and problematic
,ort. There is II need. therefore, to question IIny
SImple, closed representlllion. One way to modify
the neatness of the first representation is by looking
at the reversllis which contribute-to the instability of
the stones; and one WilY 10 begin trying 10 make
sense of their openness-without reducmg the StO-
nes to statements of what they are "about," which
would impose closure from "outside"-is to exam-
me the fair motif. ...
" .
WIlli'
The fair motif is. or accompanies, lin Intn"lon
into the narrative space mISS-it conslUutes or
reinforces a rIldiclll disequilibnum In life plltterns;
III Ihis WilY it represents a potential opemng or·
tmnsfoonation. And III that connection the fair
motifcan be examined in Ihe light of what [Mikhail1
Bnkhlin [in Prob/tlns of Doslotl'sJ..y's Pot/ICS. trans--
lated by R. W. ROlSel, 19731 calls popular-festive
roons or carnivals. Bakhtin's theori1.lltion is useful:
CarnivatlJ • pageant without a sllige and wilhoutll
divillan IntO ptnonnelS and lpecmon. in Ihe c:.ml-
vat everyone II an uUVC pll1lielpanl, eVerytlne com·
munl:! In the earnlval act. CllIlllyal isnol conlempl~l­
ed, il IS, ltricily Ipeaking, nOI even playw OUI; il!
p;l,T\lcipllnl! live In II, thev !lye il«ording 10 llstawl, as
long as Ihole lzw) lU'e in force, I.e. lhey live a
c"",i...diJlIc life. The cunivallllic life iJ life dtllwn
OUI of ill 'm"'/ nn, il II III a dellrl'e "life IUmed
inlide OUI:' "life Ihe wrong WilY round" {"monde
A renyen"l.
The laws, prohibitions and restnCtlOns which
detennme the system and orrler of normal. I.e. non·
carnival. life are for the period of carnival suspend.
ed; above all, the hiemrchical system and all Ihe
connecled forms of fear, awe. piety, ellquelte, etc.
are suspended, I.e. everything Ihatis determined by
social·hiem.rchical inequality among people, or any
other form of inequalilY, mcluding age.•.. Car-
nival celebrates thange Itself, the very process
of replaceability....
The stress here IS on newness, on Ihe potential
for change, on living in a radi>:ally different way
from before, ifonly for the dUrIltlon of the: festivity.
In that perspecllve the fairs or carnivals of ISS are
recognizable as stimuli for change ("Sea" and
"Very Old Man") or as wllys of life ("Blacam~n"
and "Incredible Slory"l.
But the key question IS: "How much really
changes or ts tronsfonned in ISS!" ... In "Very
Old Man" there IS real tmnsfonnation; the fair
builds on and exceeds the IIfbitrnry nmva[ of the
bird-mlln and it helps Pelayo and Elisenda to gam
new social status by allowmg lhem to earn money
from the cunosity the bird·man is. Here the change
outlaslS Ihe feslivity...
I will end by lI11emptlng to analyse the structure
of Ihe narrauve spate created In ISS. 1 wllnt to
suggest a WilY of understanding the kind of narrative
world that exists in ISS; Ihat is, by trymg to establish
lhe nature and consistency of the relations thllt hold
between the actual world and the narrative world, I
want to propose an IInalytlcal approach to the com-
prehension of the stones' nilITiltlve space.
Sh"" 51",1:. r", Sludtlll'
In distUssing the WilY all dis~ourse is com-
prehended [in "Semantic macro·Structures and
KnoWledged Frames m Discourse COmprehenSiOn,"
In Coglfitil·t Proctsses III Comprehension, ed. M.
A.lust lind P. A. Carpenter, 1977]. Teun van Dijk
has stressed the importance of knowledge frames.
He defines these as follows:
Frames ~te knowledge Rprelentnllonl aboul the
"world" whicll enable Ul 10 penonn ludt bUle
cognili~e aen lIS pam:pHon. aclIon, and tanguage
comprl'lIenSilln.
We propose that frames define units or chunks of
conteprs which are not essentially, but t)'picalf)'.
related. Some Intuitive examples may clnrify this
poinl. Conceptually, there is no Immediate oressen·
tial relallon between the concept of "table" lind the
concept of "ceTenl," nor between "soap" and
·'water." nor between "waitress" and "menu."
They are distinct and do not presuppose each other.
Yel, they are organized by the frames of "break-
fasl." "washing" and "restaurant," respetlively.
They usually denote certam nonnal CQurses of events
or tourses of aCllons mvolvmg several objects,
persons, properties, relations, and facts.... It is in
this sense thllt frames life higher-level organizing
principles. They unify concepts ofvllflous types and
at vnnous levels of representation under Ihe con-
stramr of typicality and nonnality, ... Frames ••.
are conventlonlll lind general. Most members of a
society or culture have approXimately the same set
of frames.
Van Dijk POints out that these frames act as a
crucial part of our honzan of expectation lind tom-
prehension in processing all discourse (including
literature), and it IS clear that they complement
whatever conventions may hold within any specific
discourse. The reliance of discourse on knOWledge
frames is evident in ils capacity to be comprehended
without recoUrse to totalizing explanation. Dis·
course IS efficient lind concise; it can elide informa-
lion precisely because it can rely on mggenng
knowledge frames in its audience-it can rely on
shared expenente. This IS n bastc assumption whi>:h
is operIltive In discourse processing by default; that
IS, unless there IS any indicallon to the contrary, It
seems that nonnal knowledge frames lire operative.
This basic assumption is apparent in innumer-
able details of ISS: Ihe reader can be relied upon to
lIt1l1th Ihe appropnate frame to Single IIClIons that m
global tenus form pan of, for mstance, haVing
breakfast, making love, orattempung murder. Simi-
larly. globalacllon need only be alluded to for a
knOWledge frame to fill it oUt: playing droughts,
V" I u m •
selling II patent medicme, attcmptmg to COfTllpt II
politician. TIlese bilS of knowledge lire trivial be-
clluse they correspond to a possible or actual world
of e;l;perienCe, and the IIlput of informatIon by the
reader IS, therefore, effortless, even unconSCIOUS,
whatever the specific detail of the narrallve.
But the key point is that much of the force of
ISS derives from the deviation from knowledge
frames. If one defines II "possible world" iIS one
Ihat IS constructed and comprehended in lerms of
knowledge frames of the actual world (in specific
combination or permutatton), then it IS evident that
ISS tonSU1!cts only panially possible worlds; it
blurs or subvel1s Ihe normal SU1!ctures of the attual
world. Some eXllmples of blumng or subvemve
phenomena or aCHons which nre "facts" within the
stones will make Ihe pomt more clearly. In "Very
Old Man" the spider-woman has lin e;l;planauon for
her condition: she IS nOla fairground cunoslty; her
condition IS real just as that of the bird· man himself
IS real, and this blurs the normal distincllon between
Ihe fair ground and the real world.... In "Very Old
Man," II cultuml knowledge frome IS subverted
when it becomes obVioUS that the supposcd angel
displays only one feature ChilnltterlSUC of all angel:
he has wmgs. Otherwise he is phYSically ulllmpres·
sive. withdrawn, pasSive, fails to undersland Laun
and is ultimately a domestic nUisance...
[Often I the knOWledge frames of the actual
world a.re indispensable III rending. but there ilI"C
also Significant deViations from ortrunsgresslons of
this ensemble of structured knowledge. So, lJ1 part,
ISS aligned with lind, in Pilrt, sits athwllIt actual
knowledge frames. And the area of discrepancy
does sometimes extend to the conscIous aC!tons and
the mindsof thllIilClers. Not only IS Ihere no rallonal
critique of events by characlers from within the
stones-that IS a vlewpomt potentially eqUIvalent
to that of the Tender-but the chilnltters frequenllY
add 10 the number of devialions..
In this WilY the narr:tllve spate seems fillher
idiosyncrallc. And so a final questIOn must be posed
concemmg Ihe position of narralors. 111e nillTlltors'
position could theore.tlcally provide il gauge of
events or behaviour; it could align the global POInt
of view with IhM of the render and hislller knowl·
edge frnmes; It could constitute an internal refer-
ence point of critital distance. In fatl. the quesuon
of the narrators' position IS quite complex. In the
first place the authority and mediation of the nilITlltors
In ISS is more or less unifonn. This IS the case
reganlless of whether the narrator speaks with a first
I ; r
 or a third person voice., though the latter is more
common.... This authority and mediating pow-
er--plus the capacity to name and classify, and the
control ofchronological progress-doubiless create
a cellain conSistency and clnrity. But the question is
to see how that authority and m~iation are used. Do
they can)' out the task of distancing critique? The
lUlSwer IS that they do not The narrators' authonty
is partial~ it is used to regmer scenes and 10 fill in
certain contexlunl gaps, but it is not used to justify,
explain or question what the characters do or what
phenomena are.•.. (The! narrators' silence, the
lack of authomalive, rational discourse, IS an Impor·
tant feature. The narrators do not ralionnlize; they
do not analyse; they mther present events as if they
were "Simple facts," even if these "facts" deviate
substantially from our knowledge fmmes, This IS
cunous in so far as their authority seems to imply a
capacity for rallonalizing distance; but, to fact, the
narrators' viewpoint is closer to the chnrncters than
to the reader. Very often Ihe "seeing eye" of
narration is that of one aligned with a chnrncter's
Viewpoint or with an amalgamation of chnrnclers'
viewpoints. And Ihis is hardlY sUtprising since the
nnmltive structure, the relations between nllmlliVe
world and actual world, would be inconsistent and
simplified if the narrntors cut through the complexi.
ties of the other features I have described. The gaps
and uncenlunues an; crucial and exist in termS ofthe
relBllon actuaUnllITllUve worlds. To have recourse
10 such labels as fairy stories or children's stones to
describe ISS would be to seek security and closure
by remOVing tile stories Into an unworldly, "purely
literary" fmme of reference (if such a concept IS
anything more than wishful thinking). The fissures
in our knOWledge frames that are created, and the
consequent uncertainty potentililly stimulated in our
reading, ate surely conSIStent with the basiC thrust
of the fair or cllffiival motif: namelY,to open up and
tn1IIsform.
SOIlI"C:Cl MlUk Mllling!on. "Alpe<:1J or NlImlll\'l' SlnJCIUm
tn 17lt IIlr;udi/11t <lIId Sa.d sl/JI}'o!fht iml/Jctll/ ErtlJdlF'll and
Iltr ff,artJrss OF'lllllh'l/Jfllu" in Oabrld Oarr;la MaN/Il'Z:
Nr'~ Rt/Jdlngr, edllcd by BCfTIIII'tI McGlIlrk lind R!clllUd
CMdwcll, Cambridge Univmhy Press. t987, pp. 117-33.
John Gerlach
111 th~fallawillg uc~rp(, Gerlach uallllll~S "A
Yeo' Old Mall with Enonuous Wings" as afamoS}'
/IllI'!lidl Garcia Marquez,elllploys Irl1lguag~, Similes,
afld satlr~ tobotlld~stroyalld evokt: 011 appropriate
uocttOlltO a IIIY1hic subject. Gerlach also off~rs ltis
inUrputatloll ofthe role oflhe lIarro10r, ossertiflg
llror Ihe Illlrraror liSt'S- IWO lel'els of dislortlOn 10
; J «
cantrast tire hl/lllan folly of tile vii/agers wilh Ihe
more deJ'irob/e traits (such as patiencel of tire
oldman.
Is fantllSY dependent on certllln themes, and, if so,
might these themes be exhausted? My own responsc
to one story, Gabriel G.arc:ia Marquez's "A Very
Old Man with Enormous Wings." n story In which
theme and the atmosphere of a fantasy that emerges
from the theme~, if anything, negalively correlat-
ed, leads me to suspect that fantasy is not closely
lied to theme, so thatfantllSles maybe created in any
nge, without reference to theme,
The story might best be described by starting at
the end. AI the conchlslon, nn old man flaps like a
senile vulture away from the village where for years
he has been held captive, The womlll1 who has
grodglngly taken care of him watches him ooen a
furrow in the vegelable palch with his fingernails in
his first attempt to rise. She sees him nearly knock
down a shed with his "ungainly flapping." As he
gains altitude and begins to disappear, she watches
"until it WllS no longer possible fot her to see him,
because lhen he was no longer an annoyance In her
life but an tmagtnary dot" George McMurrny, In
his recent study of Gahriel Gmia Marquez {Gabn.
t:I Garcia Marquet. 1977], focuses on this final
Image and concludes that for the rcader (and the
villagers) Ihe story is a "cathltl11C destrucllon of
antiquated mYths," My own reacllon WllS quite
different: I had the prescribed catharsis, but I came
Ilway with my taste for myth and the supernatural
intacl. i could see how McMurray nmved lit his
conclUSion, because this partIcular Icarus, with his
"few faded hairs left on his bald skull" and toe air
of a "drenched great.grandfather," would hardly
seem to tnspifc wonder. But i felt lIS If I had
witnessed the beginmng of a myth, not its end, Ilnd
the story had evoked for me Ihe sense ofwonder and
marvel that one IISsOCIales with myth lit its inception.
Whether the story IS best designated lIS a myth
or as It fantasy is anolher matter. Myths present
"supernatuml episodes as a means of interpreling
natu'ral cvents in an effort to make concretc and
particular a special perception of man or Il cosmiC
view," lIS re. Hugh Holman, in his 19721 A HOlld-
book to Uleral!lrt: would have it. The old mlln of
Gmia Marquez's story does not stimulate the vil-
lagers to tnterpretlll1}l\hing. He is dropped into their
exiStence untXplained, and leo.ves unexpillilltd, clan·
fying nothing. It would bemore accumte loconsider
Ihe work a fantMy on the grounds that the story
deals, to use the handbook's terms agllln, with an
"incredible and unreal characler." I will eventually
apply a more contemporary definition of fantasy to
the Story, [Tzvetanl Todorov's definition [in· 77le
Foll/astic: A Stn/l:mmt Approach 10 a Utemry
Gt:nre, tmns. Richard Hown.rd, 1973J, but for the
moment I prefer to pursue funherthe consequences
of McMurray's approach, His view implies that the
subject of myth, or, llS I will have it, fanlasy,
determines our reacllons. If the lext parodies a
mythic subject, then the reader would appropriately
respond, not with an elevated sense of wonder, but
wilh amusement at the exposure of nonsense, Since
lhe subject mailer in GlllCili Marquez's story does
not diminish my own appreclattOn oflhe marvelous,
i am left 10 conclude either that McMurrny has
misread the text or that the effect of a fantasy IS not
dependent on the sUbject. I have concluded that both
propositions are true. McMulTllY has misrepresent·
ed the text, and, even so, somelhing other than
theme or subject mailer creates what the reader
responds to m n fantasy. "A VeIY Old Man wilh
Enormous Wings" can be used to show that, as
Todorov hllS predicted, the manner of lelling, not
the matter, creates the fantasy.
McMurray'S points should first be dealt with in
more detail. His interpretation is brief, but his
IIfgumenttsea.silyextended, PIll1 ofGarcia Marquez's
slfntegy, as McMurrnv suggests, WIIS undeniably to
diminish the grandeur of this unellrthly wmged
creature. Similes used to describe him do not even
gmnt him human allrihules: matched with the vil·
lagers who stood around his cage he looked "like a
huge decrepit hen among fascinaled chickens."
Later illS said lhnt he tolerates a child's "ingenious
mfllmies with Ihe patlencc of 11 dog who had no
lIluskns." A complex simile, to be sure, for the
narrator IS saymg not onlv that lhe old man IS like II
dog, but also Ihllt the dog with his patience and lack
oflllusions is like a human being. Nevertheless, the
effect of the simile is to emphasize the analogy 10 an
animal. The syntllX of the sentence which reveals
the old man's wmgs also diminishes mther than
ennobles him. Pelayo, the man who found him,
heard something moving and groanmg in the coun·
yl1l1:lthat he had recently cleaned of crabs and the
stench they left behind. Pelayo "had to go very
close to see thai it was an old man, 1I vefY old man,
lying fnce down in the mud. who, in splie of his
tremendous efforts, couldn'lget up, Impeded by his
enOrmous wings." The long sentence, with its
hesitations that duplicate in lhe render tbe efforts of
Ihe old man, relegates the marvel of his wings to the
terminal subordinate clause. Rhelolical decisions
tfT,e n.rrator', mntive in
telling t.he story would sesm
to be satiric rather than
inspirational. The credulity
of mankind and greed~~
Pelayo's wife begins to Charge
admission to see the old man-
are a.pparently the narrator'a
targets."
such lIS these have JUSt as much effect on us 11$ the
content. It would seem that bolh the language and
the content ~ pushing the reader in the direCtion
lhat McMurray hllS outlined. The supernatuml is
described llS something ordinlll)' or, even more
precisely, foul and repellent
McMurray's Ilnnlysis can be extended fUllher.
The nnrrator's mauve in telling the story would
seem to be satiric mther than inspimtlonal. The
credulity of mankind and greed-PelllYo's wife
begins to charge ndmission 10 see the old man-are
apparently Ihe nnrrator's tnrgets. The church IS 100,
for the attempts of ecclesillStical bureaucl1l!s' to
discover through correspondence with the resident
poest whether or not the wingedcfelllUfe is nn angel
are hogged down by theIr destn: to find out "if the
prisoner had n navel, ifhis dialect had any connec-
lion with AramaiC, how many times he could fit on
the head of a pm. or whether he wasn't just II
Norwegian with wings," Furthermore, the nllITll'
tor's exaggeraled mnnner of descriplion seems to
undercut even funher our respOllSc to the old man.
When Pelayo and his wife Elisendn firsl spenk to the
old man, "he answered III an incomprehensible
dialect with a strong sailor's voice." What it IS that
makes the VOice sound like that of a sailor IS not
questioned by the narrator, who Simply mirrors
what is presumably the illogic of Pelayo and EUsenda.
TIle nnrralor's compliCity in this fabrication extends
beyond mirroring. He notes thai Pelayo and Elisenda
"skipped over the inconventence of lhe wings lind
quite Intelligently concluded that he was Il. lonely
castaway." Since wings are cenalnly more than an
"inconvenience," and the 10gicrtl processes ofPelayo
J ; g
 ;\ !'.,~ Old Man .. ( . k Ena,noa~
tt
The winged m.n',
humanity is underlined by a
foil the nnrrator craatas--a
'/loman '/Iho has been changed
into a spider."
and 8isendn Me therefore something It:Ss than
Intelligent, we have a narrator who, instead of
striving to establish the credibilily ofIhis supernatu-
ral crenture, IS emphasiting the credulity of the
villagers,
Similt:S Ihat demean, satIre, playful logiC-it
would seem Ihat Garcia Marquez is not aboul to
honor a myth, Yet none of tht:Se deVICes totally
cancels out the mystery_ The diminishing suggt:Sted
by these devices does not represent all of the truth
about the old man and his wings. However decrepit
the old man is, he does renew himself. When he
arrived he seemed close 10 death, and seveml years
later a doctor listening to the old ronn's heal1
concludt:S that it is impossible for him to be alive;
yelaner his release from his cage and with the onset
of sunny days, stiff feathers begm to grow on his
wings. Although the narrator contmues 10 demgrate,
calling the new growth "scarecrow feathers" that
look like "another misfortune of decrepliude," the
feathers do allow the old man 10 flyaway, Some-
thing lIbOlit the old roan IS greater than Ihe narrator's
estImatIOn of him.
Other deVICes that the narrator used 10 increase
mtherthtm decrease our respect for the old man also
need to be considered. When compared 10 those
around him the old man becomt:S the model of
patience, trvmg the best he can 10 "get comfortable
in his borrowed nest, befuddled by Ihe hellish hellt
of the oil lamps and sacrnmental candles that had
been placed along Ihe wire." He refuses to eat Ihe
mothballs that one of lhe villagers thinks is the
I,· "food prescribed for angels," and subSISts on egg-
tJlant mush, If he is "befuddled," that term has
lromc value, for It IS those Ihat regard him who are
confused.
Contmsl with what seems 10 be even the sanest
of mortals IS illustrative, Father Gonzaga is the
figure presented by the nam:ltor llS the most sane, He
" ,
.. Win,.
is nol, as his parishioners are, ready to make Ihe old
man the mayor of the world or a "five-star geneml
m order to win all WllrS," nor does he want to put
himoulto stud 10 crente' 'a race of winged wise men
who could take charge of the universe." Fllther
Gonzaga "had been arobust wOodcullcr" and so by
implication is more realislic. He soberly approaches
Ihe old mnn and says good morning m Latin. Father
Gonzaga has "his first suspiCIOn of an Imposter"
when he saw Ihat the old man "did not understand
the language of God or know how to greet His
minISters," lind il is at Ihis point we realize thai
Falher Gonzaga IS the one who fails the test, not the
old mnn. Father Gonzaga noltces that "seen close
up" Ihe old man "was much too human," nnd so
the poest warns his parishioners not to be taken in,
In Ihe light of Father Gonzaga's response, the
comment Ihlll the old man IS "too human" is
particularly telling. Gonzaga's mtlonalism obscures
his realization that although the wmged gentleman
mllY not meet doctnnni specifications, he still is
miraculous, What begins to emerge is an Image of
the old man liS someone possibly more human nnd
reasonable than members of the wingless species.
The wmged man's humanity is underlined by a
foil the narrator creates-a woman who hIlS been
changed into 1I spider. Her preseoce dislracts the
villagers, and they cease to pay Ilttenllon to the old
man. Her exhibit costs It:Ss, and unlike the old mnn,
she talks about her affliction. Where the old man
refused, she encoumges responses, rendily accept-
mg melllbnlls lossed into her mouth. There is noth-
ing ambiguous or SUbmerged nbout our perceplton
of her. The old man's wmgs were slowly revcaled;
we are told bluntly that this womlln IS "a frightful
tamnlulathe sizc of a mm ... wilh Ihe head of a sad
maiden." Though the narrator does not e;l;lIggerale
the catalogue of her strangeness, she tS In fnct more
grotesque than the old man.
The narnllor's descnptlOn of the villagers' re-
sponse to her IS familiar: once ngllillthe logiC of the
villagers IS suspecl; the crowd regards her a spectll-
cle full of "human truth," n "fearful lesson," The
facts of the lesson, however, arc Ihese: II lightmng
bolt of brimstone changed her form because she had
been dancing all night without her parents' permis-
Sion, The narrator's Indirect ex.posure of the triviali-
ty of what the crowd considers a baSIC truth allers
our respollse to the old man. We begm to admire
more his silence and even his diet.
The way the villagers treat him is ultimately the
best clue to how we should regard him. They poke,
Shari S,,,rf~T r"r S."dtn/i
;\ Vtrr Old
they prod, and at one pomt they bum him with n
bmnding iron. Up until Ihis point pain itself hns
seemed unreal. Those with ailmenls who come to be
cured have only Ihe most fanciful of afflictions,
such os thai of on old man "who couldn't sleep
becaose lhe noise of the Stllrs disturbed him" lind
that of "a poor woman who since childhood had
been countmg her heartbeats and hnd run out of
numbers." But the old man with Wtngs responds
with true pam, ranting in his "hermelic language,"
tentS in his eyes, flapping his wings to create "a
whirlwmd of chicken dung and lunnr dust." The
villagers take the old man ns no more Ihan a creature
of fiction, hence not subjecr to pam. They may nOI
see the old man's humanity, but the reader should.
What I hope is emerging IS a more complele
sense of the role of the namllor. His delllgmtions of
the protagonist have been systematiC but not e;p;clu-
SlVe. He distorts by alternately t:Xa~gemtlng and
understallng. What could be called the outer or
secondnrv level of distortion IS the produci of the
narralor's supposcd sympathy with the vleWpOtnl of
the villagers,1lJis level, whose function is basically
satiric, leads the narralor to cal! wings "inconven-
ient" or to e;p;aggemte thechureh's concern in lenns
of the medieval problem of calculating the number
of angels on the head of II pin,TIle narrator takes Ihe
vtewpoint ofIhe villagers themselves, pretending to
be alternalely detached or supporttve, but every-
where he ex.poses irrationality and superstition.
Underneath Ihis levcl, however, IS another, an mner
or pomary level of distortion, which grows from
one centml fact-there IS an old man with enormous
wings. That conception embodies even In ils gram-
mall cal form a pnrndox m the contrast belween
"old" and "enormous," for we would not e;l;pect
anYlhing so powerfuUy endowed to be so decrepit.
Beyond Ihis parndox. is II kind of stmplicity and
unarguable solidity. The nature oflhe wmgs them-
selves docs not change; whal changes is our percep+
110n of their naturalness. By the end of the Story, a
doclor exammes the old man nnd is surprised. by
"the logiC of his wmgs,,. and Ihe reader IS prepared
for a stmilar realiznllon. These Wings, as the doctor
puts iI, seem "100 natural on Ihat completely human
orgamsm that he couldn't understand why other
men didn'l have them 100," This old man. with his
mllleness, his pallence, IS m some ways more hu-
man, more natuml, and evcn more believable, than
anyone else In the stor)'. The secondary level of
distortIOn playfully e;l;pOSeS human folly; the pnma-
ry level by conlrasl defines mOle desirable hu-
man tmits.
I' " I u no t
Man "'/111 En",,,,,,u, Wfn,.
At this poml it is appropnate 10 define the genre
of Ihe work more precisely. The definition will
allow us tosee how the IWO levels ofdistortion work
together 10 create the effects we lISsoclllte with
fantasy. Within the lasl few years, severnl critics, in
particulnrW. R_Irwm [17le G(lJlle of/ht! Impossible:
A Rlfe/onr: a/Fantasy, 1976J, Eric S. Rabkin m,e
Fan/astir: //I Ulemture, 1976], and Tzvetan Todorov,
haveallempted to describe fllnlasy llS a genre, Oflhe
three. Todorev's analYSIS provides the most mstruc+
ttve standards 10 apply to Garcia Marquez's story.
The fit is not perfecl; Todorov, I believe, concludes
thai "fnnlllSY" nlUTOwly defined 15 h::lrdly bemg
wrillen anymore. But even the divergence between
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" alld
Todorov's principles IS in itself enlightemng.
Todorov assumes that, first, fantllSles produce
the effeci of hesttation. The reader IS never wholly
sure whether he is confronting a sUJlematuml event
or something that can be rallOna!ly explained. If the
reader IS able 10 conclude the event is ex.plicable
solely on the supemalllrallevel, the story belongs (0
another genre, Ihe marvelous, and, if the reader
choost:S the rational e;l;planalion, Ihe slOry falls imo
the genre of the "unCllnny," Secoad, the reader
usually particlpales in the storv Ihrough Ihe medium
of a chamcter who believes m reason and order, so
thai the render upenenct:S the hesitlillon through
the characler's eyes, Third, the reader mUSI not be
able to ex.plain away the supernatural events by
consideong them allegoncal or pOCIlC. In this cllse
the reader would conclude Ihat the supernatural is
merely ashorthand foran iden, hence not to be taken
literally. One of the clues to allegory is that no one
in the Storv IlIkes an abemlllon to be unusual. and so
Ihere IS no sense of hesttllllon,
In the case of the Garclll Marquez story, it IS
simpler to denl with the second pomt first, There IS
no chamcter recountmg for us his expenences,
There ts an implied nlllTIllor, llnd this narrator IS a
direct mversion of the sort ofcharacter that Todorov
has posiled. This IS no ratIOnal human, bUia creator
of eltaggemllons. The hesitation that Todorov speaks
of lIS his first pomt, then, deoves in this story not
from the doubts of a charncter, but from our doubts
about whllt the nltITlltor is saying. Todorov's nnaly-
sis Illlows us to see the mgenuity of what Garcia
Marquez: has done. GafCm Marquez has tilken what
would normally be Ihe mdex of normality, the
village folk, and made lhem the grealest of ex.ag-
gerators. The unreal chamcter, in comrast, begms to
appear normal and harmless. Garcia Marquez has
" ,
 '" V." 014 AlQ" ... 111: En"'OIQuf
managed to make his centrol contrary-to-fllct silUa-
lion, the old man with wmgs (what I have been
calling the primary level of distortion), seems alto-
gether more rational and ordinary than the villagers.
Those who follow Rabkin's definition of fantllSy
should be pleased, for the effect that I have de-
scribed is replete with what Rabkin calls ISO-degree
IUrns in pen;pective, the undennlll1ng of established
expectations, As for the malter of allego!}', It IS
possible that the wings themselves might be taken
lIS allegoncal evidence of the lnle dignity of man,
What prevents us from toong the wings as allego!}'
IS the very insistence on the decrepitUde of the old
man, and elaboration of the reality of the Wings, the
"stellnr parasites" in them. In the SllJne way, the
chllI'llcters both nrc and nre not taking the old man llS
unusual, so that the wings both nee and nre not
allegOrical. It is notlhat Garcia Mlll'Ciuez is making
hash ofTodorov's categories. What he is dOing by
his e:lD.ggerollons is creatmg the maximum doubt
and hesilauon about not only the supernatural but
the nalUralas well.
We should now be nble to reconsider some of
the queslions originally raised by McMurray's in-
lerpretntion. Although it might be possible to con-
I': tend that McMurray's reading of the text failed to
mke into account the double role of the narrntor and
! the two levels of distortion, and hence hedid not see
the extent to which Garcia MllI'Q.uez hilS shifted our
sympathies toward the old man and located the
antiquated, exhausted View in the perceptlon of the
villagers, such 0. view does not fully nccoun! for the
energy of the story. Arriving lit the truth of the story
and feeling its impnct do not o.utomatlcally result
from peeling off the secondary layer of distortion
and gelling o.t the primnry, It IS not possible to tnke
either level as the ultimate truth. The positive vnlues
may seem to be vested in the pnmary level, for
Gllrtia Marquez. hllS made muteness lind patience
seem lnlly supemo.lUtlll virtues, nnd by Implico.tion
exnggernlton the expression of humnn fnllibility,
But the center of the story is still an exnggetlluon.
Men do not hnve wings. The process of distortion
itself is the vehicle of our approach to the story. The
very act of reading and interpreting the story rests
not on muteness and plltience, but on the apprecia-
tion of exaggerntlon. In rending the Story the render
does not respond only to the lnlth of n pilrtlcular
idea, In the cIIse of Ihis slory, for insto.nce, the ideo.
thllt there tS nn mdeslnlctible, Winged IISpect of mnn
that cnn fly despite its own aging or the lack of
nppreciauon from ordin.llJ}' men, The story IS a
whole, notnset oflevels, lind what causes the reader
,"
Wlnt. Vo" Old Jian ... 1111 En"r.,QlI, II'Jn,>
to respond, in the terms that Todorov hIlS estllb- abandoned, It does not matter !hnt we cnnnot tIlke not less, incredible. There Me parodic elements, but
Hsherl, is the reader's hesitation over whllt tS real. the fanciful as liternlly as man might once have, nor Ihis is not a parody ilS such, Wilnt one ultimntely
does it matter that the subject of a myth is decrepit, grasps in II fantasy is the potential of lnnguage 10
This hesitation is built up from Ihe minutest toothless, nnd featherless. The sense of wonder that construct n world pnnly, but not Wholly, like our
delni1s,1l5 cnn be shown inone isolated segment, the n mylh or n fnntllSy evokes inheres not in the subject, own, Fo.ntasy is the logicul extenSion, the wings, of
ending. Even slight distortions In lnngullge nre but III the telling, Fnntasy IS more Ihe how than hlllgUo.ge itself. Uternture III general lind fantasy in
significnnl, The conclUding phrase Sltttes !hilt the the wlult. plll1iculnr an: the magic which our customllI}' lnn~
old man "Wll5 no longer an annoyance in [Elisenda'sl gunge 50 dimly represents.
Put In teons ofTodorov's discuss ton, fantasy is
life but an imagmary dot on the horizon of the sea...
crented initio.1iy by something Significantly contrary SOllml:lll1mGeri&clJ, ''The LogIC ofWingcG=I~ M1lnl.ucz,
The antithesis of "annoyance" and "dot," con-
to the ordinllI}', The tnsk of the reader is to nnturnl- TodctDv.and tho Endleu ReJOUlUS ofFanwy:' in 8ridgu
trasting an nbstrncllon wilh something IItlellSt bare-
IU, to recupemte, tho.t is, to make intelligible, this tt:J Ft:J!lIasy, Oeo/ie E. Sluuer, ErIc S. Rabkin, and Roben
ly visible, mlght make us grnmmatlcally uncomfort-
break from the nonns of the reader's experience. ScholeJ, ed$.• Southern I!Ilncls Unlv=ily Pren, 1982. pp.
IIble, but the mJSmlltch reproduces the Q,ulliity oflhe 121-19,
The most significllOlthing about the genre IS that the
sto!}' itself. It is 115 if there were a rather ec.sy flow
brenk should not readily be bridged; the circuits
between our feelings nnd the things we find nbout
us, 50 that a thought might suddenly take a sub- must be kept open nslong 115 possible. In Tcdorov's
stnnce as real lIS our own, or just llS suddenly words, the hesililtion musl continue. Whnt the read-
disappear. The energy created by unusual phrases er ends up recupenltlng is ultimately the process, the Further Reading
works In the same wny. The idea of modifying broken cin::uit itself. It is not whntthe brenk is nbout,
"dot" by the ndjectlve "imaginary" is plnusible in it IS that there is a continuous break thai makes 0. Bell.vilhula, Oene H. GlI~llI MlIrquee Th. Mml tUrd Hi,
that the dot mny be 50 small thn! it is nenrly fltntllSY, Since fantasy is n process, nota result, its Work. UniversllV ofNonh Carolina Preu, 1984.
resoun::es are endless, and it is in no way dependent Bell_Vmada elplarcs varlous .npecu of Garcia
Imnginnry. but the conjunction of the twO tenns IS
on the fashion of the conventions it adapts. MlU'1juc:z.'s wO"" wllh chaplers fCCilsing on his short
nlso implausible; it has something of the force of an ficlion, hIs Cll/ly <!eveiopmeni U ~ wriler, and hb
oxymoron, for Elisendo. is simultaneously seeing The finnl mnlter to consider is the effect of novels.
o.nd merely Imagining, "Imaginary" is also apt in parody in the genre. Does the parody of n myth or
WillialllJ, Raymond. Gabrit1Go~lnMlIrqutl. Twayne Pub-
that the old mnn is hy our standards rightly consid- fnntllSY make the story a last gllSp, 115 the Russinn Ibhen:, 1984,
ered imaginary. Structurally the close IS effecuve formalists have assened in other cilSes, of a genre A vctume of crltleilm <;-cvCling Gan:i~ Marquu's
beco.use it complements the opentng-the character thnt is nbout toexplre or assume n new fonn? I think c:u:ur up 10 llIe lime of iu publlnllon, !neluding
WIlS visually constructed piece by piece for us, nnd not. Parody is not centntJ to this story, The mention chJptert. ana!Yring each o(hls nnvels .nd mon of lbe
now visunlly rttedes into nothingness, Viewed from slton sterieJ. WitUams abe includes a blogl'llph!cal
of stellar bugs nnd scratehings 15 only a way for the Introduction, tIJld a survey of llIe aUlhor's wor!;; as •
one perspective, humankind is relieved of a burden. muntor to make the mystery of Ihe old mnn mon:, loumll1l1L
Viewed fromanother, n creature more perfcet. more
logicalthnn mlln has achieved his freedom. The fact
that the old man has escaped from the perspectlveof
the characlers means to !he characters that he does
not extst, he mny be Ignored, But we have seen him
endure over a period of time nnd can imngtne him
perhaps going back to whatever imagmnry place it
IS Ihnl he l\ves in, one tho.t has ilS much vnlidity to it
lIS this imllginnry town into which he hIlS fo.Uen.
The cluster of possibilities here mntches the
possibilities advanced in the rest of the story. Clus-
ters such o.s this give the sto!}' Its power and treo.te
the effects we identify with fnntnsy; the clusters
work much the snme wo.y o.s the hesitation over the
natuml nnd the supernntuml. Btenuse the effect of
the SIO!}', the sense in which it ts n fantasy, is created
by the treatment, not by the subject or theme, the
number of fantasies that cnn still be written should
be endless. At one time myths mllY hnve been mo.n's
way of imagimng the ummllginable, but now, even
though literal mythmaking is no longer used to
explain the world around us, the sense of wonder
that mylh bnngs with it need not tn consequence be
Sharr Slario. (or Slud.alz
,"
,....'.;-