A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings | The Logic of Wings: Garcia Marquez, Todorov, and the Endless Resources of Fantasy
In the following excerpt, Gerlach examines ‘‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’’ as a fantasy in which Garcia Marquez employs language, similes, and satire to both destroy and evoke an appropriate reaction to a mythic subject. Gerlach also offers his interpretation of the role of the narrator, asserting that the narrator uses two levels of distortion to contrast the human folly of the villagers with the more desirable traits (such as patience) of the old man.
Is fantasy dependent on certain themes, and, if so, might these themes be exhausted? My own response to one story, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's ‘‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,’’ a story in which theme and the atmosphere of a fantasy that emerges from the theme are, if anything, negatively correlated, leads me to suspect that fantasy is not closely tied to theme, so that fantasies may be created in any age, without reference to theme.
The story might best be described by starting at the end. At the conclusion, an old man flaps like a senile vulture away from the village...
[The entire page is 4191 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
Related Topics
Tell a friend about A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings at eNotes.
