A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings as a Masterpiece of Open Interpretation

An author can change how a reader interprets a piece of writing in a number of ways. They can use gaps, motifs, and symbols to possibly bring the reader's attention to a potentially large message to internalize and seek its meanings. Nevertheless, the understanding of these definitions depends on the reader's careful judgment and sometimes differs from one critical assessment to the consequent, relevant assessment. Garcia Marquez’s story, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” exemplifies the inexact science behind matter analysis by distorting the separations between the supernatural and therefore the conventions of human expertise. Marquez bonds the realms of magic and therefore the physical universe in such a fashion that each of the characters and the reader should struggle to decipher the meanings that circumscribe the close reality at intervals through the story.

From a Formalist perspective, Marquez uses dramatic pictures of the grotesque, exercises juxtaposition and irony, and challenges the credentials of humanity to form “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” a parody of the method of literary interpretation. Frances K Barasch defines the grotesque as an instant, or repeat of moments, manifested in a picture or series of pictures that yields inherent conflict between disgust and humor. These pictures, sometimes characterised by “ludicrous horror,” leave the reader torn between laughter and disgust. Marquez clearly frames his narrative during this manner, and instances of the grotesque and ridiculous habituality seams throughout the text, typically at the same time. The distinction makes the solicitation of the two troublesome for the reader. For instance, Marquez doesn't grant the plain and expected 'angelic' characteristics to the old and injured man. Instead of furnishing his angel with the long-lasting qualities of youth, majesty, or heraldry, Marquez introduces the abomination complete with dirty, half-plucked “buzzard wings” an inability to beat the force of the rain (Marquez 336). What is more, Pelayo and Elisenda demonstrate their own grotesque behavior by protecting the winged man with the fowl in their hencoop. This, too, is surprising, and casts the story in each horror and humor. Marquez acknowledges the absurdity of his angel’s condition, permitting his verbaliser to comment that the angel isn't “a supernatural creature however a circus animal” (336). The angel like man, however, isn't the sole grotesque image that Marquez provides. the lady’s change into a spider is equally split between the loathsome and ridiculous, once more rising as parody and ultimately relegated to the standing of “carnival attraction” (338). It is these contrastive paradigms of sunshine and dark that Marquez calls forth to confuse the reader, effectively making a farce not solely at intervals the compass of the text, however additionally at intervals the intrinsic processes of matter interpretation.

Very similar to the vacillant inclusion of the absurd and grotesque, the images, characters, and behaviors exhibited in “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” typically end in verbal or discourse irony. Marquez often applies these varied varieties of irony to airt the interpretation of the text. Elisenda and her husband, for instance, fail to form the initial association to the supernatural and, instead, verify the odd traveler to be and old and injured sailor. Considering that Elisenda’s name can be derived from the basis name Elizabeth, that interprets to “consecrated to God”, it's odd that she fails to examine the reality, and instead cession the epiphany to at least one of her neighbors (343). Additionally, Father Gonzaga, the non secular intellectual within the town, suspends judgment on the man’s identity. The community, on the opposite hand, puts their religion within the words of the recent lady, lighting religious ritual candles and holding vigil over the hencoop. what is more, Marquez dispenses irony within the “consolation miracles” attributed to the angel’s presence. None of the miracles really cure any of the afflicted, and therefore the arrival of the spider-woman abomination primarily “ruined the angel’s reputation” (338). The way during which Marquez recurrently devalues the iconographic that means or potential of the angel becomes laughable; so, his grand image is basically created lame. His characters realize the story of the spider-woman, “a spectacle…full of so much human truth…” to be additional likely than the arrival of the angel, despite the infinite absurdity coupled to her origin (338). Once the spider-woman wins the affections of the townsfolk, the story with success juxtaposes the human establishments of religion and truth. In his debasement of the evangelical symbols formed throughout the text, Marquez forces the reader to rigorously think about the intrinsic value of his own themes, in addition with the modalities of reader-response.

Additionally to his frequent readying of irony and pictures of the grotesque, Marquez tests the soundness of his characters’ credentials and, in doing so, successfully compels the reader to look at his or her own. Within the text, Pelayo and his partner confront the traveler from the attitude of lost convenience. His look in no approach incites either of them to assess religion, God, or the supernatural. The recent man’s wings bear no indication of either a supernatural or heavenly affiliation. However, instead of looking for immediate help from the town’s parish or elite, Pelayo and Elisenda address their neighbor, the lady of bromide “who knew everything regarding life and death,'' for her skilled consultation (336). She determines that the strange person is an angel, and was attempting to retrieve the sick kid, however couldn't overcome the vigor of the rain, and, consequently, can't be an obstinate sailor. This fast conclusion stands in distinction to Father Gonzaga's pseudo-scientific suspension of judgment concerning the man’s true nature. What is more, the town’s individuals appear to reject any formal assumption, opting to assign him impulsive identities like “mayor of the world” or the harbinger of a replacement “race of winged wise men whom might lead of the universe” (336). Nonetheless, despite the lofty expectations gleaned from his unexpected look, the characters settle for his captivity within the coop and treat him consequently. Even Rome’s response to Gonzaga fails to elicit any quite formal edict; conversely, church officers concern themselves with pseudo-scientific item. Thus, through his use of role confusion amongst his characters, Marquez once more disguises the that means behind his plot and character interaction. A proper interpretation of the matter message becomes troublesome and, what is more, appears to point that Marquez on purpose confounds the conventions of social roles, values, and mores. The ensuing conflict between the expected truths and actual truths within the text alludes to within the method of interpretation: and the reader should question the quality of his or her own perspective.

Indeed, Marquez offers very little clemency for those seeking a finite explication of “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”. The reader is forced to seek out the means among a jumble of contrastive themes, and social prescriptions. The absurd magic Marquez orchestrates throughout his story causes a rift between the expected response and selfless reader-response. The text in a very sense teaches critics that their own analytical processes are unreal. During this approach Marquez’s story is each comedy and fable, warning that we too are unable to acknowledge the arrival of the messiah text if we have a tendency to take ourselves too seriously.