1. In The Old Man With Enormous Wings, I decided to focus on one of the scenes that most confused me. The part I focused my attention was the scene where the Pelayo and his wife Elisenda first discovered the winged man. In this first scene Pelayo was spending much of his time throwing away crabs that had been stinking up his yard. The rain had been falling for three days and the town they lived in had become very dark and dreary. It is obvious in this scene that Elisenda was caring for their child who was very ill, when Pelayo found an old winged man lying face down in the mud. Frightened by what he just discovered Pelayo ran to get his wife to show her what he had come across. After making many assumptions about what the man was doing in their yard and what creature the man actually was the couple decided to call the neighbor woman to tell them what was wrong. When the neighbor saw the man she knew instantly that the man was an angel.
2. I decided to interpret this particular text in order to gain a better understanding of the story as a whole. When I first read The Old Man With Enormous Wings, I was not sure what to think of it. I especially never understood the first scene. I truly believe that this scene holds many secrets to the understanding of the entire writing. That is why I would like to dissect this portion of the story in order to gain a better understanding of the meaning of the story as a whole. I believe Marquez hid most of the true meaning of this story and that is why when reading the story for the first time I was unable to think of any deeper meanings that may have been hidden throughout the text.
3. I believe the work as a whole has a very general meaning, or moral that is simple to understand after one read. It is apparent that the couple did not treat this creature with respect and one day the creature just got up and left. I wonder if the creature had given its life for the sick child. In which case it would have represented the sacrifice that this creature made for someone who didn’t necessarily deserve it. The moral of the story would be to treat others the way you would want to be treated. However, the particular passage that I chose was a little more unsettling to comprehend. The scene begins on a very dark and dreary day. Pelayo is most likely exhausted from working on cleaning up their yard and his wife Elisenda is probably stressed from caring for their sick child. Both husband and wife are probably physically and emotionally drained. It may seem to them like God has forsaken them. The weather combined with their child’s illness is causing them to probably forget about a higher power. I believe God sent them this angel to test them. To remind them that he is real and he is with them. To remind them about what is important. However, I believe God as a sacrifice sent the angel for the child.
4. I believe this is the what the author meant when writing the story because of the obvious insinuations towards it throughout the plot. When the couple began to think about what this man could be they decided to skip over the wings. They wanted to pretend like the wings weren’t even there. I believe this is an obvious sign that the couple has lost their belief in the unseen. The mystery of a spiritual world. They are so concerned with the now that they can’t even pay attention to the giant white wings that were taking over the man lying in their yard.
5. I believe my interpretation of the story matters to me or any other readers because it helps to remind us of the beliefs we should have. We should have a childlike faith and we need to believe the unseen. We also need to stop getting so caught up in the here and now. We should remember to keep our eyes open so we don’t miss out on a miracle from God himself. We should be able to look at a man with wings and see him for what he is. An angel. We shouldn’t pretend as if there is nothing unusual with that picture. Instead we should think to ourselves if this is truly something that God may be trying to tell me. I also believe the way the town treated the old man shows how we treat God a lot of the time. As a Christian I know first hand that it is hard to live above the influences of this tempting world. It is hard to not get distracted by something more interesting (spider girl). However as a Christian I know how important it is to follow God in everything you do. To not put him on the back burner and ignore him when he’s not interesting or when God is no longer benefiting you. We should look at ourselves and make sure that we aren’t treating God like this. If Jesus fell into you’re front yard, helpless, and wounded would you show him the same decency that he has shown us?
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