"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (Spanish:Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes) is a fictional short story by author Gabriel García Márquez. It falls within the genre of magic realism, and is one of the short stories included in the book Leaf Storm.
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Plot Summary
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story that begins with a couple finding a very old man in their courtyard during a stormy afternoon. They watch in astonishment the enormous wings attached to the body of the old man as he struggles to get up from the mud. The couple attempt to communicate with the old man but are unable to as he speaks in a different language. Their neighbor comes over and lets them know that the old man is an angel who has come to take their sick child. Pelayo locks the angel in a chicken coop overnight. Early next morning Father Gonzaga along with the rest of the community tests the angel to see whether or not the old man really is an angel. Elisenda, tired of having the community at her house, decides to charge an entrance fee to see the angel. The family becomes rich and builds a mansion with the money collected. The crowd soon loses interest in the angel as another freak who has arrived in the community. The new town attraction is a woman who disobeyed her parents when she was young and was transformed into a tarantula, and now tells her misfortunes to the audience. Meanwhile, no longer trapped in the chicken coop, the angel is free to roam around the house until one day his wings are strong again and flies away into the horizon.
References in other works
- The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Skeptic" shares the plot element of an angel that appears (although it is supposedly dead) and is put on display by a character for paying visitors.
- The music video of Losing My Religion by R.E.M. was inspired by this short-story. It was directed by Tarsem Singh and used some images related to the story. It deals as a subtext with the lost faith.
- The Greek song of "Kathreftis" by the Cypriot Alkinoos Ioannidis was also inspired of this story.
the Greek word kathreftis means "mirror" , because the Tarantula woman says, in the chorus of the song: "Never look into other's eyes, because you'll become a mirror and they will break you into pieces"
Malta 2003 dramatic performance
This story was presented as a dramatic performance in Birgu Malta in 2003 by Kneehigh Theatre from Cornwall, a Cypriot theatre company, and Maltese folk band Etnika. The main character was portrayed by Pierre Portelli. [1]. The Cal State Northridge Theatre department did a performance of it during their 2006-2007 season.
External links
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| Magic Realism | ||
| Novels: |
In Evil Hour • One Hundred Years of Solitude • The Autumn of the Patriarch • Chronicle of a Death Foretold • Love in the Time of Cholera • The General in His Labyrinth • Of Love and Other Demons • Memories of My Melancholy Whores |
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| Short stories: |
"Leaf Storm" • "No One Writes to the Colonel" • "Big Mama's Funeral" • "The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother" • "Strange Pilgrims" • "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" • "For The Sake of A Country Within Reach Of The Children" |
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| Non-fiction: |
The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor • Clandestine in Chile:The Adventures of Miguel Littin • News of a Kidnapping • Living to Tell the Tale |
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