Marquez

Marquez
“The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” are two short stories with a common thread to two different audiences. Both short stories deal with the theme of the objectification of beauty. Marquez tries to convey to his audience that what we see is not necessarily what the truth is. For example, in “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” the village people see a man who is beautiful and imagine him to be the perfect husband, lover, and son; while in “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” the people expect the angel to be beautiful and are disappointed and do not believe that he is an angel because he is not good to look upon. Both views are wrong and extremist and this is Marquez’s point.
The people that see the drowned man do not see the reality of the fact that he is covered in mud and scales; the people that see the angel do not see the reality of the fact that, although he is not beautiful in their eyes, that does not discredit him from being an angel. My favorite sentence in the two stories is “The Handsomest Drowned Man. ” “But it was a vain illusion.” This sentence sums up all of Marquez’s work. He is striving to shed some light on the reality and not what people have come to believe is reality.
This theme of mixing the reality and what people have come to call reality is confusing, so to better understand it, we can look at some real life examples. For instance, to me personally, I am a very straight-forward thinker; I am not an abstract-minded person. When I see a piece of art such as this:
I do not see naturally see past a swirl and blending of colors; however, if I were with my cousin, an art major, she could see and observe the context in which it was painted, how the artist flowed with picture, etc. It is a matter of perspective. This alludes back to our study of Cortázar. He often included the theme of art in his writings, and his writings could be confusing at first, but with a proper perspective and a keen awareness, one is able to see past the literal.
The text is interesting, because Marquez is showing the relationship between religion and being accepting of the divine. I am a Christian, and one of the contraries in the Christian realm is how does God work in the lives of others today. For example, some Christians believe they can speak in tongues or if they see a certain pastor, God will use the pastor to heal a disease or illness; however, in the same spectrum, there are other Christians who believe God can still do miracles, He just does not choose to do miracles the same way today as He did in the Bible through Jesus. It all relies on the acceptance of the divine, and our ability to accept it. This text agrees with my beliefs, because I feel as if God still works today, and we must be aware of possible movements of God. Marquez’s writing applies to all religions. Do not be so narrow and close-minded, and you can see what is the true reality.
Another point which I found interesting is a minor one, but it caught my attention. The following quote from “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” proves this point:
“Father Gonzaga held back the crowd's frivolity with formulas of maidservant inspiration while awaiting the arrival of a final judgment on the nature of the captive. But the mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency. They spent their time finding out in the prisoner had a navel, if his dialect had any connection with Aramaic, how many times he could fit on the head of a pin, or whether he wasn't just a Norwegian with wings. Those meager letters might have come and gone until the end of time if a providential event had not put and end to the priest's tribulations.”
I noticed that Marquez makes a point to emphasize how much time was wasted by Father Gonzaga and the people. Perhaps he had other intentions, but I believe that many people find this problem in several religions. There is so much regulation and discussion of points and particulars, they do not feel they can worship without being restricted. I believe that most people want the freedom to worship God as they please, without constraints.
As a work of art, I found the piece to be long and drawn out. “But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams and so that no one in the future would dare whisper the big boob finally died, too bad, the handsome fool has finally died, because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village.” All of this is one sentence emphasizing the length and monotony of the story. Once the story was explained to me, I began to see its value as a piece of art, but I do not feel as if that part of the story was to be easily understood.
Overall, I enjoyed the text, but I benefited from it once it was explained to me. This story has given me a greater motivation to not classify and judge as quickly, but also to have a greater understanding of the world around me without limitations of normality and ideals.