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Symbolism In A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

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Some religious individuals categorize the concept of being a “good Christian”, even though they do not practice the religion. However, they go to church which they believe classifies them as Christians. The concept of encountering something supernatural or maybe miraculous, for instance, encountering a filthy angel, can become a difficult task. An angel who appears not to exceed the expectation of individuals as a result of society exemplifying what an angel should resemble is part of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children”. It can shift the beliefs of religious individuals to judge irrationally and in a few cases act cruelly by causing of fear of the unknown; the reason being they expect something different and angelical. In the short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez illustrates how an isolated group of people develops a hypocritical behavior towards an exhausted sickly angel who arrives in …show more content…

It is significant to note, that the title “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is symbolic to the angel that gets knocked down by the storm. In fact, it is old since angels existed before Earth and before humankind. The angel is symbolic to this story in numerous ways: they watch over, protect and love humankind following God’s command to watch over humanity. The Bible states, “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word obeying the voice of his word!” (Ps. 103.20). Moreover, even though humankind acted cruelly, he did not harm them towards them because as God loves humankind and angels praise and glorify God, angels love humankind even if they remain flawed. In this short story, Pelayo, his wife, and the town are symbols of humanity and their exposure to a supernatural creature similar to an

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The short story, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is titled this because it shows that the characters don’t understand or appreciate how magnificent the angel is. When Pelayo and Elisenda first meet the angel, they “skipped over the inconvenience of the wings” and automatically assume that he is a “lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm,” (1). They view him as a “very old man lying face down in the mud,” (1). They don’t consider the possibility that he is an angel until their neighbor “who knew everything about life and death,” (1) tells them that he is one. Their newborn child is ill with “a temperature all night,” (1).

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