A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

In “A very old man with enormous wings”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez depicts humans’ reaction towards the abnormal. The word “pitiful” is mentioned twice throughout the story where it complicates the mystery of the angel’s identity. Understanding people’s behavior towards the angel, the origin of its considerations and causes bewilders readers. Choosing this word is associated with its capability to reveal the townspeople’s true essence and the way they think. Its usage goes beyond the apparently marginal description of the angel, but rather validates an important point of which the writer intends to convey.

There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had. ” And it was mentioned again in: “But Father Gonzaga, before becoming a priest, had been a robust woodcutter. Standing by the wire, he reviewed his catechism in an instant and asked them to open the door so that he could take a close look at that pitiful man who looked more like a huge decrepit hen among the fascinated chickens.

The definition of the word is: “Evoking pitying contempt; very small, poor, or meagre; paltry; inadequate, insignificant; despicable, contemptible. Cf. pitiable adj. 3. ” Before looking the word up, the reasons of which people engaged the angel with cruelty were different from the ones one comes to recognize after doing so. Despite the angel’s weakness and illness, one can’t help but to think of him as a supernatural creature. Behind his mask of imperfection lies great power and ability.

In the story, Pelayo and Elisenda’s abuse of the angel appears distinctly in: “Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with his bailiff’s club, and before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop. ”To duplicate the angel’s suffering even further, the people of the town also maltreat him which is notable in : “The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead.

The people’s reaction of the angel’s fall seems to be out of fear for that they feel threatened by the angel’s mastery. Therefore, their reaction of his sudden presence is predictable and anticipated. However, a new analysis of people’s behavior is delivered through the understanding of the word “pitiful”. Its meaning gives readers another prospective of the truth behind people’s brutality and viciousness. The usage of this specific word describing the angel’s condition refers to people’s arrogance where they look down on him for being weak and deficient.

There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had. ” This quote mirrors the way of which Pelayo and his wife think of the sick creature where they only concentrate on his appearance. Their shallowness prevents them to commiserate and sympathize with the winged man. The word “pitiful” is the key to understanding the married couple’s stance where it exposes their disgust with the angel.

The employment of such word explains people’s standpoint of the old man where they feel superior to him. At the time Father Gonzaga intervenes, one ought to suspect a change in the townsmen response of the angels’ arrival. In the story, the priest misuses the legitimate power invested in him to preach people, instruct and enlighten them. Marquez portrays an image of a helpless priest, one that shares people’s opinion and reaction towards the odd creature “while awaiting the arrival of a final judgment on the nature of the captive” from Rome. But Father Gonzaga, before becoming a priest, had been a robust woodcutter. Standing by the wire, he reviewed his catechism in an instant and asked them to open the door so that he could take a close look at that pitiful man who looked more like a huge decrepit hen among the fascinated chickens” The writer’s use of the word “pitiful” in this quote reflects the minister’s invalid faith.

The definition of the word “pitiful” portrays the writer’s attempt to criticize the shallow judgment of people on the weak, impeded and defective. The meaning of this word sheds light on the whole perspective of the consolidated manner of judging on others based on appearance. This research and analysis have helped to further develop the initial hunch that this word is significant to this story because it gives one a new understanding of the people’s spitefulness and where it is coming from.