preview

Similarities Between A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings And The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World

Decent Essays

Although both short stories, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”, were written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there are many other differences between the two tales. Both stories were about men who arrived in foreign places and how these men were treated by the people who found them. The old man from the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and Esteban from the story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” are apparently opposites of each other.
First, everything about the men's appearances was different. The first most obvious difference was that the old man was alive and the drowned man was dead. The winged man was old and ugly, while the drowned man was young and handsome. The old man had …show more content…

The old man who is an angel, was portrayed as an ugly old man who doesn’t even resemble an angel. “He was dressed like a rag picker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth…” (Márquez 525). While Esteban who is a only a dead guy was portrayed as a good looking guy. “Not only was he the tallest and strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination” (Márquez 10).
They also have different effects on the story. The old man, has a positive effect on the story. Since he appeared in the story, Pelayo’s family got lucky. Several events can prove this, “the child woke up without a fever and with a desire to eat” (Márquez 526) and “with the money they saved they built a two-story mansion…” (Márquez 527). On the other hand, Esteban has quite a negative effect in the story. Since he appeared in the story, the women started comparing their husbands to him and because of this the women started to view their husbands as …show more content…

The old man and Jesus Christ are very much alike. They are both doubted by the people around them even though they had already performed many miracles that no ordinary human can do. They are also both mistreated by people despite of their power. “Tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal” (Márquez 259). It is concluded that the angel was treated like a freak show by the people. The same as Jesus Christ, he was tortured by the soldiers even though it is clear to them that he is a supernatural

Get Access