I rather liked A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, but I had to read it twice to get a better understanding. I believe Marquez’s tale was one about the nature of people and the magic that we miss in our lives. Marquez entwined magical elements with real life that made me reread certain scenes, to see if I had missed something. The very first surprise is that this “angel” was not at all the image of an angel that we would expect. He had fallen from the sky and was trapped in the mud by his “huge buzzard wings;” he had few hairs or teeth left and was dressed like a hobo. But the old man did have angelic qualities, like his endless patience and the torment he endured. He suffered great mistreatment by Elisenda and Pelayo who profited from his misfortune, locked him up in a chicken coop and tolerated physical abuse from all that came to gawk at him. He never fought back, he bore all of the cruelty and waited, like he knew it was only for a time. …show more content…
The wise neighbor woman immediately declared that the old man was an angel. This is what she and many others wanted to believe. Father Gonzaga didn’t believe that the old man was an angel, but he wrote to Rome to let the Pope make the official decision. Instead of proclaiming the old man an angel, they ask for the priest to study him and see if he has any heavenly qualities. When no such qualities are found, they declare the old man to be a stranded Norwegian sailor. I think the absurdity of Rome’s investigation and decision seems to be Marquez’s way of making fun of the bureaucracy of the Catholic church and religion in