A Very Old Man withEnormous Wings

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1968

Written In 1968. "Un senor muy viejo con nillsencrmes" ("A Very Old Man with EnormousWings") is typical of tI style known as "magicrealism," which is closely Ilssoclated with its lIU­thor. the Colombian novelist Gabriel GllfCillMnrquez..This imaginative style combines realistiC. everydaydetails with elements of fnnlllSY, blurring the read·er's usual distlncuons between reallly and magic.But unlike other works of the imnginnuon such asfairy lides or folk legends, stones of magic realismlend to noelear morals or Simple truths; they presentn rich and vivid world of magical possibilities.while frustratIng lind complicating the tender's ef·forts [0 fix a definite meamng to events.

Very Simply stated, this is the story of whathappens when an IIngci comes 10 town. But while itis subtitled "A Tnle for Children," it is by no meansiI Simple story. The settmg is no ordinary town, aodItS visitor is no ordinary angel-indeed, he mayvery well not be an angel at all. In most respects, heseems disappointingly ordinary and human, despitehis extroordinary appeatilnce. Because he conlrn­diets their expectations, the chatilcters we meetseem thoroughly incapable of understaoding him;their convenllonll.1 wisdom and superstitious beliefslead them into absurd explanations for his suddenvisit, aod they treat him in a mllnner that seemscruel, unjust, and ignorant.

Magic realism has been a popular and influen­tial fonn, atlrllcling a wide readership and a great

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A V~"r Old

deal of interest from literary scholars. Dl'llwing onthe stories and legends of his rural South Americanchildhood, lIS well as his study of the sophisticatedtechniques of modernist writers, Garcia Marquezcreates II rich and suggestive fictionllilandscape thatchallenges traditional modes ofthought and focusesihe reader's allentlon on the difficult, elusive workof making sense of the world.

Author Biography

Gabriel Jose Gnrem Marquez was born on March 6,1928, in Araclltaca, Colombia, a small town In afilITllmg region near the Caribbean COllS!. His birthC/UJ1e just lIS this region entered a sudden economicdecline after twenty yean: ofrdative prosperity. Hisfather, an out-of-work telegraph operator, relOCilt~

ed, leaving young Gabriel to be rlllsed by his grand.pill"Cnts for the first eight yClll'$ of his life.

These enrly circumstances are slgnificllnl, forthey seem to hll ...e had a profound influence on themnlUre writer's work. Garcia Marquez has said thnthe had learned everything Impor1ant m his life bythe time he was eight yean: old, and that nothing inhis writing is purely a product of "fantasy." As aboy, he delighted in his grandfalher's storytelling,from which.h.e heard local legends and history; fromhis gl'llndmother and the other villagers, he ab­sorbed a wealth oftl'llditions, superstitions, and folkbeliefs. Drawing heavily on such sources, GarciaMarquez. has developed an imaglllative style !iter­ary critics call "magiC realism," Many of his sto­ries, including the celebrated epic nove! CI,n (JIlosde soledad (Olle Hundred Years ofSolitude 1967),ill"C set in a fictional village named "Macondo"­which seems to be based on AAClitaca, and in someways reflects the rich, confllslllg world of childhoodas well, Like the unnamed villages III "A Very OldMan with Enonnous Wings" and "The Handsom­est Drowned Man in the World," Macondo seems10 be half-real and half-mythicnl, a place wheredre;lffi$ and the supernlltural are blended wilh thedetails of everyday life, lind where the mostelltl'llor­dinan' events are somehow accepted as "nonnal,"even if they can't be adequately explained. Oldmen, like the Winged gentleman In "A Very OldMan with Enonnous Wings," are frequent charac­ters III Garctll Marquez's writing, leading crilics tospeculate that they may all be derived, III part, fromthe author's own grandfather.

v 0 I u '" t

Garcia Marquez reJomed his family in Bogota,moving from a tropical village to It cold city high inthe Andes mountairls; he gr;'Iduated from high schoolin 1946, lind entered the National University inBogota as a law student III 1947. However, thefollowing yearmruked the beginning of /0 vloltm:la, adecade-long penod of elvil wnrfare III Colombia,which would disrupt his life in many ways. Whenviolence III Bogota caused the University to close,Garcia Marquez transferred to the University ofCartagena (near Arncataca on the northern coast) tocontinue his-law studies. While there he also took ajob as aJoumalist IUld began to write fictton senous·ly, in 1950 he dropped ouroflaw school and movedto nearby Bamlllquilla. He found newspaper workand joined a circle of local writers who admired thework of European and Amencan modermst aUlhors(includingJnmes joyce, Fnmz Kafka, Virginia Woolf,William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway), andwho sought to apply their styles and techniques toLatln American settings and themes III their ownWritings. Garda Mdrquez. has acknOWledged theparticular mOuence ofFaulknerand Hemmgway onhis own early work, and critics often comparehis fictional creation of "Macondo" to that of¥oknapatawpha County, the recumng setUng formany of Faulkner's novels and short stones.

For fifteen years, Garcta Marquez made a mod­est living lIS ajournalist and published several shortstones. His first novella, La !la/arasca, was pub.lished in 1955; it was translated into English in 1972as the title piece in ua!S,ann alld Other Stories,which llIe1uded a translatIon of the story "TheHandsomest Drowned Man in the World." ThaIsame year a Bogota newspaper, £1 uputador, semhim toSwilzerland as acorrespondent, but the paperWIIS soon shU! down by the military government,stranding Garcia Marque;z. In Europe for severalyears m relallve poverty. A second novel, £1 colondno Ii/me qultn it escriba (No Dlle lY,ifes ta tlitColonel), was pUblished Ln 1961, followed by acollection of shaft stories, Los (ul/troles de laMamd Grande (Big Momn's Funeral), in 1962. Bythis ume, his writing had received some criticalapproval but had made very little Impact outside ofColombia, and Garcia Mdrquez.lIpparenuy resolvednot to write aoy more licuon. However, three yearslater he began working on Ont Hundred Years ofSolilUde. When it was published in April, 1967, itbecame an mtemallonal sensatlOn: after years offrostmtion, Garcia Marquez was an "ovemlghtsuccess_" In the process, he not only found a vastaudience for his own writing, but helped spark a

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" I'~r:r Old if,," with Ellortno" .. IVtlll'

boom.penod for LntinAmericnn literature in genE:.r·al. Weslern critics took a new Interest in the regionand began 10 recogntle the achievements of suchwnters as Julio Connnr, Emeslo Sabato, Jorge LuisBorges, Pablo Nerudn, Carlos Fuemes, and MarioVargas Llosa-all of whom cnme 10 enJoy muchwider readership than they had found before GardaMil.rquez's breakthrough. A s~cond story collection,In i/lcrdb/e J trUte historia de 10 candida ErindiroJ dt! Jll abllda duo/modo (111e Illcredible alld SadSraryofIllnocent Erindimond Her Heartless Grand­mother), which includes "A Very Old Man withEnormous·Wings," was published in 1972, GarciaMdrquez'slaternovels include E/ otalio ddpamorco(The Allfunm of tile Patriarcfl, 1975), CrOlllca deIII/a muerte onunclado (Chronicle ofa Death Fore­laid, 1981), Ef omore/l/as li/1lepas dd colera (Lovein tlie Time ofCholera, 1985), and El gellerol ell su/nben-ma (The Genera/ ill HiJ Labyrilltli, 1989),Among his many honors Is the Nobel Prize forLiterature, which he received in 1982.

Plot Summary

While Garcia Mnrquez makes no divisions In thetext, this discussion will consider the plot In foutsepllJ1ite stages, The story begins with the "oldmnn's" arrival and ends with his depllrture, TheIIlterveningperiod, which covers several yennr, maybe divided inlO two stages: the brief sensationcaused by his appelll1lnce and a long per10d ofdeclinmg mterest in which the strange visitor IS allbut forgollen.

ArrivalThe seumg IS an unnamed coastal village, alan

unsp~cified time in the past. A long l1linstorm hllSwllShed crabs up from the beach. inlo Pelayo'shouse, creallng an odor he thinks may be affecunghis sick newborn child. DispOSing oftheir cart:asses,he sees a figure groaning on the ground in hiscourtYard; as he moves clOJ;er, he discoveG it to be"an old man, a very old man,lymg face down in themud, who, in splleofhis tremendous efforts, couldn'tget up, impeded by his enormous wings." Stanngatthls pitiful "bird-man," Pelayo and his wife Elisendnbegm to overcome their amaument, and even findhim familiar, despite Ihosemystenous wtngs. Whilethey can't understand his language, he seems to

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have "a strong sailor's VOICe," and at fiGt theydecide he IS a shipwreck~d foreign sailor, somehowmanaging to overlook the need toexplnin his wlnt!s.Butll neighbor soon "corrects" them, stating confi·dently Ihat he IS an angel, Assuming he tS nothingbut trouble.she advises them 10 kill him. Not haVingthe hean for it, Pelayo instead locks the old man III

his chicken coop, still planning to dispose of him,only now by setling him to sea on a raft. He andElisenda wake the next morning to find a crowd ofneighbon m the courtyard and a far more compti·caled situation on theirhnnds; SUddenly, "everyoneknew that a flesh-and-blood angel was held captivein Pelayo's house."

SensationThe villagers treat the old man like a "circus

animal"; Ihey foSS him food and speculate aboutwhal should be done with him. Some Ihink heshould be made "mayorofthe world," olhen wanthim 10 be a "five·star gen~ral in order fO win aUwm," and still others hope he will father Ii super·race of "winged wise men who could take charge ofthe unlvene." The village priest arrives to lOspectlhe captive, and presumably to make Ii more rea­soned judgmenl on his nalure. Father GonUigasuspects "an Impostor" at once and finds the oldman's path~tic appearance to be strongly at oddswith the church's traditional Image of heavenlymessengers. Finding the old man smelly and de·crepit. his bauered wings infesled with insects, andshOWing no knowledge of church euquette. thepriest concludes that "nothing about him measuredup to Ihe prond dignity of nngels." Despite hisskeplicism, he refuses to give a definitive ruling onthe old man, choosing instead to write leiters to hischurch superiors and walt for n written verdict fromscholm III the Vatican. in the meanllme, he warnsthe villagers against reaching any rash conclusions.

But word. of the "angel" hIlS already traveled100 far, drawing fanlastic crowds and. creating acarnival atmosphere; evenlS unfold quickly, de·scribed in language that suggests the cxaggernted,drenmlike world offairy'llIles.

Surrounded by all this het:tlc IIclivity, the oldman U1kes "no pi\fl. In his own act," keeping 10himself and lolerating the abuses and indignities ofhis treatment wilh a pali~nce thaI seems to be "[hUsonly supernatural vtnue," Drawn by the crowds,lraveling Circuses and carnivals arrive III town--

mcluding one that provides fonnidable competitionforthe puuling auraclion of "a haughty angel whoscarcely deigned to look at monab."

DeclineThe new sensation is "the spider-woman,"

whose fanlllSlic nature includes none of the majestywe associate with angels; she represents a kind of"magic" familiar from fairy-tales and folk legends.When Slilla girl, she once disobeyed her parents bygoing danCing; later. on the way home, she WllSstruck by lightning and changed into a giant taranlu­la, relaining her human head. As a speclacle, sheappeals 10 the crowd in ways the old man cannot,and even charges a lower admission price. Signifi­cllntly, she speaks to her visitors, explaining themeamng ofher monstrous appelll"llnce; hersad StoryIs easy to understand, and points to a cl~ar mornl(children should obey their parents), one h~r audi·ence already believes to be truc. tn contrast, the oldman does nothing to explain himself. leaches noth·tng, and doesn't even entertain people; rather thanconfirming their beliefs, his mysterious naturecltal­lenges all the expectallons it creates, He does per­fonn some miracles, but they arc equally pUzzling,seeming to be either practicnljokc:s or Ihe result ofsome "menlll1 dison:lu," These disappoiOung mira­cles "had already ruined the angel's- n:putaUon,when the woman who had been changed into aspider finally crushed him completely." The crowdsdisappear from Pelayo and Elisenda's counyard lISsuddenly lIS they had come, and the unt:Xplain~d

mystery of the "bird-mnn" is- quickly forgollen.

Still, thanks 10 the now.departed paying cus·tamers, Pelayo and Elisenda an: now wealthy. Theyrebuild theIr home as "a two·stol}' mansion withbalconies and gardens and high netung so that cl1lbswouldn't get tn during the wmter, and with iron bnrson the windows so thaI angels: wouldn't gel in," andsetde into a life of luxury. BUllhe ruined chickencoop and its ancienl captive remain; as the yempllSS, the couple's growtng child plays in the eourt·yard with the old man, who stubbornly surviVesdespite his infinnilies and neglect. When a doclorcomes 10 eXlimine him, he is mazed that the oldman is still alive, and also by "the logiC of hisWings;' which seem so natural that the doctorwonders why cveryone doesn't have them. Even thebinl·man's mystery and wonder grow so familiarthat he eventually becomes a simple nUisance: II

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

disagreeable old man, "dragging himself abouthere and there," always underfoot. Elisenda seems10 find him everywhere In the house, lIS if he wereduplicating himself just to annoy her; alone pointshe grows 50 "exasperated and unhinged" shescreams that she is living in 1I "hell full of angels."Finally lhe old man's health deteriorates even fur·ther, and he seems to be near death.

DepartureAs winter gIVes way to Ihe sunny days of

spnng, the old man's- conditiun begins 10 improve.He seems to sense II change tnking place In himself,and 10 know whalit means. He tries to stay outofthefamily's sighl, sill!ng motionless for days In thecomer of the courtyard; at night, he qUietly singssailor's songs 10 himself. Stiff new feathers begin rogrow from his wings, and one morning Ellscndasees him LtYing them OUlln the eourtyard. His firslefforts to fly arc clumsy, consIsting of "ungainlyflapping that slipped on the light and couldn't get IIgrip on the air," hut he finally manages to lake off.Elisenda sighs with relief, "for herself and forhim," as she walches him disappear, "no longer anannoyance in her life but an tmaglnary dot on thehorizon of the sea."

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A V~~. Old Man "I'h EnDrmD" WI "J:"'

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Characters

Bird-mallSu Very old mlln with enormous wmgs

ElisendaIn her ffillrrlllge 10 Pelayo, Elisenda lakes an

aCllve piUt in decision-milking. Her husband runs toget her llS soon as he discovers the old man. and theytry to make sense of him together, nppll.fently shnr·109 the same reacllons. It 15 she who first conceivesof chargmg the villllgers admission 10 see the "an·gel," an idea which makes lhe,coup!c wealthy. Atthe end of the story, she is the mistress of anImpressive manSIOn, dressed in the Iinest fashions.Yetlheold man seems 10 be aconslllnlllnnoyancc toher, II feeling that only intensifies over lime:. He isuseless lind infunalmg 10 her, "drngging himscJfabout here lind there like 11 stray dying ffillll"; sheseems to be constantly shoomg him 0111 oCher way.She eventually grows 50 "eJlllSpcratcd and un­hinged" Ihal shescteams that she IS liVing m II "hellfull of angels." Elisendn IS also the only witness tolhe old man's departure, watching silently from thekitchen wmdow as he !lies out his newly regrownWings. Her reaction as he disappears over the hori­ron shows n measure of sympathy for the "senilevulture," as well as her hope that her own life willrelUm to normal: she lets out a sigh of relief "forherself. and for him."

Father GOIlUlgaA former woodeutter, Father Gonznga is the

village priest whose religious tmming and standingm thecommunity make him a moml and intelieclUalaUlhorily. Of all the clJarncters, he seems uniquelyqunlified to pass ludgment on the strange visitor and[0 determine whether he is really one of God'sangels or "just II Norwegian with wmgs:' Howev­er. his understanding of church doctnne leads himto no solid conclusions. He counsels the villagers 10wilhhold their own Judgment umil he can recdve IIdefinitive answer from scholars in the Vatican.FatherGonzaga is never able to proVide an explana­tIOn, and he loses sleep over the mystery until hisparishioners eventually lose interest in the old manentirely.

Examinmg the angel-like creature. FatherGonzaga immediately suspects thnt he is "an 1m­poslor." The old man's unbearable odor, his dere­lict condilion, and his undignified appenrance allmake him seem "much too human" 10 accept lIS a

perfect Immortal or member of a diVine race,. Butmther than make a judgment from the evidence ofhis senses (and knOWing thaI the devil likes to trickpeople with IIppearances), he applies II senes oheststo the old man, pmumably based on church teach,mgs about the nature or angels. First, he greets theold man m Laun; the lnck of a response is yetanother SUSpiciOUS sign, ror it shows that the "an­gel" doesn't "undc.rstand the language of God orJrnow how to greet His ministers," A series ofletters from higher church authorilies results In

funher "tests" or divinity (Does the old man have abelly-button? Does his language seem related to thebiblical dialect of Aramaic?) but fail to lend him toany final jUdgment. Unable to provide the answerthat they seck from him, the Fnther can only warnhisllock not to Jump to any concluslons-a wamingwhich they Ignore with enthuslIISm.

As a comic authority figure Father Gonznga ISopen to a variety of interpretations. He tS c1enrlYineffective m his role as a spiritun! authority and lIS asource of wISdom lind enlightenment. His superiorsin the church hieruchy prove no more helpful andseem to be obsessed with obscure theologicaIab­stl1lctions, such as how many angels can lit on thehead of n pm. Such factors suggest atleoS! a mildlysatirical vlewofthe Catholic Church and perhaps oforganized religion In general. To some critics, Fa­ther Gonzaga's means of inqUiry nrc also II parodyof the SCientific method, while hi.s fruitless corre­spondence with church scholnrs rellects the useless­ness ofbureaucmcies everywhere. And othercritieseven see a rellectlon of themselves-the figureof the cultural nuthonty, whose profesSIOn makeshim unwilling to admit the obVIOUS limits of hisunderstanding.

OldmanSu Very old man with enormous wmgs

PelayoIt is Pelayo, the town bailifr, who discovers the

old man with Wings struggling face down in thecourtyard of his home after a stann. As the strangevisitorbegms to attract crowds, Pelnyo and his wife,EIisenda, exhibit him as n carnival al1raction. Thoughthe old man proves to be only a tempornry sensa·tion, he creates 11 highly profitable windfall ror theyoungcouple,.ln "less than a week they had crammedtheir rooms with money" from paid admtssions;they quicklY eam enough to rebuild thel'rhouse liS amansion and to live In luxury by village stllndnrds.Pelayo quits his job and sets up a rabbit warren on

SharI SfDrl~, (Dr SfuJ~nl'

the edge of town, trading II nunor administrativeposition for the leisurely life of a gamekeepmgsqUire. While Pelayo's discovery or the wmgedbeing bnngs him great forlune,lt also brings confu­sion and compliclltlon into his life. It IS not the sortof Juck he hopes to see repented. When he andElisenda design their new home, they are careful toinclude "iron bnrs on the wmdows so that angelswouldn't get in."

Spider~lVoman

The centerpiece of a tfaveling carnival, the"woman who had been changed into a spider fordisobeYing her parents" proves to be a more popu­lar attraction than the old man, caUSing the villagers10 lose interest in him and pUlling an end to Pelayoand Elisenda's profitable courtyard bUSiness. As ayoung girl. she had once gone dancing all nightagainst her parenl$' wishes; later, while walkinghome, she WIIS nllegedly struck by lightntng andtrnnsfonned inlo "II. frightful tllfill1lUla the size of aram ..• with the head or a sad maiden:' Comparedto the baffling old man, the spider-woman providesII. far more satisfying spectacle. While she is at lenstas grotesque and fantastlc as the "bird-man," shecharges a lower admission price; more imponantly,she is willing to commUnicate freely with her visi­tors, recounting her sad experience and inspiringsympathy for her fall:. The "meaning" or her SIOryIS easy to grasp and leaches a clear momllcsson_one that confirms the villagc.rs' conventional be­liefs. In contrast, the old man makes no allempt toexplllln himselfand seems to contradict all religiOUSand folk beliefs nbout the nature ofangels. His veryeXIStence raises disturbing questions, but he offc.rsno reassuring answers.

Very old man witll enormous lI'illgSThe old man is the slOry's central charncter and

its central mystery. He is given no name but isprecisely described in the lille, which mcludes eYe­rything that can be said about him with any assur·nnce: he IS an extremely old man, in failing health,with all the frailties and limitations of human oldage, and he has a huge pair of bird '5 wings growmgfrom his back. We follow the other characters intheir cOmiC efforts to explnin him. to aSStgn some"meanmg" to his sudden appenrnnce,and finally tojust put up with his annoying pmence, but when heflies away at the story's end, the mystery remainS.

The very idea or a "Winged humanoid" evokesthe image of angels, and most of the "Wise" villag­ers quickly assume that he is an ntlgel. But eYery-

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MediaAdaptations

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" wnsadapted, with some modifications, as a film withthe same title m 1988, m a Spanish produc­tion directed by Fernando Bim. Stamng DIIISYGranados, Asdrubal Melendez, and LUIS AlbertoRamiriz. the film is aYailable with English SUbtl­ties on FoxILorbcr Home Video. Facels MUlti­media. tnc.• or from Ingrum international films.

thing about him seems to contradict traditiona.lstereotypes ofheavenly power and immonal perfec.tion. When Pelayo first finds him In the courtyard,appa.n:ntly blown out of the sky by II slrong fIIm­storm, his condition IS pllthetlc: be lies "race downin the mud," "dressed like a ragpicker." nnd tan­gled in his hair-plucked, bug-mfested wmgs. Thenll.m'ltor tells us directly that this "pitiful conditionofa drenched great-gmndrather had taken llway ::mysense of grandeur he might hllye had:' and FatherGonZllga underscores the pomt Inter. when he ob­serves thlll "nothing about him measured up to theproud dignity ofangels:' Nordo the villagc.rs allowhim any dignity or respect; throughout the slory.they treat him "without the slightest reverence."He is displayed like a circus animal or sideshowfreak; poked, plucked, and prodded; branded with ahot Iron; pelted with stones and garbage; lind heldprisoner foryellts In a filthY, battered chicken coop,exposed to the elemenl$. Though he IS lhe source ofthe family's great fortune, Elisenda comes to findhim an intolerable annoyance, becoming' 'exasper­ated and unhinged" by his presence. He is under­standably "standoffish" toward people, tolerotmgonly the company of the couple's young child, andthe villagers come to think of him as "a haughtyangel who scarcely deigned to look at monllls:'Given his cruel captivity, the reader can only agreewhen the narrator observes that his "only super­natural virtue seemed to be patlence:' Even thisvlnue IS later depnved of lillY otherworldly great­ness; it becomes merely "the pauence of a dog whohad no illUSiOns:'

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A Vt~~ 014 ~t~n .. 1.lh En~r",~u, Wlnlf

The old man is described in Imagery of enrth­Iy poverty and human weakness, contt1ldieungtraditiOflal heavenly stereotypes. Even the birdswith which he is compared to are ignoble ones("buzzard wings," "a huge decrepit hen," "nsenile vulture"\. Yet there is clearly something ofthe magical about him beyond his unexphlinedwings lllId mystenous origin. He does, afler nIl,perfonn miracles-bul they, too, fail to misfyexpeclillions. The blind man's sight Isn't restored,but he suddenly grows three new teeth; the leper'ssores aren't cured, but sunflowen begin growingfrom them. These are "colUollUiofl miracles," whichshow "n cennin menial disorder," us ifsenilitY hadcaused his magic powers to misfire. Alternately,Ihey could be practical jokes, a fonn of "mockingfun" to avenge his abuse by the crowd. TheU' sickchild recovers when Pelayo and Elisendalake in theold man, but this could be COincidence, or perhapsanolher case of failed magic (if, lIS the neighborwoman believes, he IS an angel of death sent 10 takethe baby). And, despite his obviouslnfinnities, heispossessed of a surprising Inner strength. His hClllthseems to be in irreversible decline throughout; adoclor's examination finds II "impossible for him10 be nIive," and very lale In the Slory his deathappears imminent. Yet with the coming of spnng,after years of uselessness, his wings grow newfenthers and regain theU' sU'englh, allowing him toescape the village forever,

Although his wings mnke him a creature of thesk-y and he IS clearly no! at borne on hmd, the oldman also hilS some IIssocllltion with the sen. Hecomes from the sea (oral least from over it), washedup with a tide ofcrabs by a three-day stann; his firstattempts to flyaway are accompamed by "a windIhat seemed 10 come from the high. seas." Pelayoand Elisenda first take him for a foreign sailor(perhaps because they detect "a strong sailor'svOIce" m his Incomprehensible speech), nnd anearly plan called for him to be set out tosea on araItwith provisions. ~ his wings begin to regenerate,he sings "sea chnnteys" under the stllf5. Criticsdisagree in their interpretations of this connectionand in their jUdgments on its significance, But inGarcia Mlirquez's olber works, they often find thesea to be an important theme or symbol, both ns anatun! force of great power (equally capable ofbringing rich. gifts or tenible destructiOn), and M aforce associated with the supematul1l1. Sevem1 ofhis stOries Include epiSodes where unusual strangersfrom the "outside world" appear In a sma.ll town

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and have a strong effect on Its people. Very oflen,

these remarkable visilors amve by sen.

The old man .is nlso connected in some way

with Pelayo and EUsenda's child. The newborn is illwhen he flut appears, but quickly recovers whenthe "angel" lakes up residence. The "wise neigh­bor woman" believes that he wns sent to lakes thechild's life, BOlh the child and Ihe old man comedown with chicken po~ lit the same time, and the oldmnn uncharaCleristlt:ally allows the child 10 playwith and around him, tolemung "ingeniOUS infa­mies" with pauence. But beyond these delails, the

COMectiOll or bond between the two Is not developed.

Because the old man IS a misundentood outsid­er subjected to cruel mistreatment, he becomesprimarily a figure of pUy-a strange emotion for an"nngel" to inspire. He hIlS enough magicnl quail.tIes to lei the reader see him, atlenst potentially, us afigure of wonder, but his very human vulnernbUity

keeps this from being much more than nsuggesllon.Finally, there is lit lenst an equal suggestion of apOlential "dark side." Pelayo's firsl impression isthai ofhaving seenn "nightmare," nnd the "menialdisorder" of Ihe old man's miracles suggests Ihathis "magic powers" are uncontrollable, making

him dlll1gerous. When burned with II branding iron,his slaOled wmg-f1apping creates "a whirlwiod ofchicken dung and lunar dUSI," "n gale of panic thatdid not seem to be of this world." It is almost amoment of terror, when he cllims down, the villag·en regard him wllh renewed caUllon nnd fear. "hispassivity was not that of a hero laking his ease, butthat of a call1clysm in n:pose," And though his visit

brings truiy mlmculous results for Pelayo andElisenda bv making them fabUlously wealthy, Italso seems to be a frighifulllnd unnerving expen·ence for them. Elisenda comes to feel that she livesin "a hell full of angels," and when they desIgn

therr dream home, the couple make sure to "angel­

proof' it with iron bars.

Themes

Doubt and AmbiguityOne of this story's difficult aspects Is Ihe senSe

of uncertainly it trcllles by leav!ng imponant facts

Sh~r' S'~rlt% (~~ SIu4tn'l

unresolved and seeming to offer severnl possibleinterpretations for its evenu. The render IS neverallowed to doubt Ihat the old rnlln and his-strangeWings lire as "renl" as anything else in theslory', yetthe reader can never be sure just what he is-aheavenly angel, n sad human who happens to haveWings, or perhaps some other, unexpillined possi.bility. This deliberate uncertainty can lenve readersfeeling II bit chCllted-pllrticullU'ly in what seems tobe a fairy tale. Stones are expected 10 have clear-cutmennings, and the author is expected to reveal litemto the reader, Ifnot,there is a tendency to feel he hasfailed in his storytelling, or that his audience hMfailed as rellden. But in works ofrenlism (and manyother formsJ, ambigUity IS often used as an ioten­1I0nai effect, to make a story seem less "story­like," lUId more like life itself. It reflects the under.5tlUlding that realllfe is far more uncertain than thestones In books, and often forces renden to chooseamong several, equally possible expllUlations ofevents. As charnclen in daily life, readers seldom

know "the whole slory"-but it is trndilional toexpect wnters to lie all tales neatly together for ourundersllUlding. While it compllcatcs the task of the~ader, the skillful, suggeslive use of ambiguity isoften admired by critics, and is USUally consideredto be one of the most appealing featu~ of "magicrealism."

Even In Slones dealing with magic orthe super.natuml, there are rules n wriler is expected tofollow-for example, thnt lItere must always be aclear distinction between magical events lUId "nor­mal" ones, lind that the nature and significance ofall charncters is eventually mnde known to literender. But as n magic realist, Garcia MarquezinSists on breaking these rules as well. WHhout itsfantllsllcelemenU,thcfC is nostory; yet the reader isnever sure just how 10 take them, lll1d how far totrust Ibe namtlor. Sometimes, he makes it obVIOUSIhat the villilgers' magical beliefs are in fact ridlcu.lous delUSions: but at other times, the reader sccnuexpected to take logically Impossible events at facevalue. The changing of a humllO inlo a giant spider,a man Who can't sleep beclluse "the nOiSe of theSIIll'S" disturbs him-are these things that "n:allyhappened7" Can they be diSmiSsed as mere halluc!_naUons7 Iuc they poetic images, meant to be inter­pn:ted on some level beyond their literal meaning7Like the old mllJ1 with his miracles, Gan:ia Mnrquezmay be suspected of haVing a kind of "mockingfun" with the reader, suggesting all SOrt!i ofmimcu­lous possibilities, then stubbornly contrndicllng all

~O,.; ITopics for

FurtherStudy

Look into other fonns of "fantllStic" lilerature,such M fairy tales, SCience liction, mythology,superhero comics, or folk legends. Choose spe.cific works of at least two different types andcompare IheU' styles and techniques to those of"magic realism" as represented by this SIOry.

Compare the manner lU which Garda Mdrque1.treats the tradilionlliidea of lUIgels in "A VeryOld Man with Enonnous Wings" with the waylUIgels are repreSented or interpreted elsewhere,in some oiber work or media, Potential sourcesinclude fealure fUms, television shows, religiousor insplnttionnlliteralure, llJ1d-advenising.

Be an amateur "magic realist," loosely follow.ing the formula Gmt:fa Mdrquez emploYed for"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," ForIbis assignment, your "village" is any otherslory you have already studied; the "angel" willbe another chanCier you Introduce from "Out.side" the slory, chosen because he or she seemstOlnlly a.lien to the sense of the story us you havecome to know it II could be a character fromoutside literature: a pop culture celebrilY, a rep­~entative from another time orcultu(C-anyonewho seems not to belong at nll in the worldconstructed by the author ofyour story. Re-wrileor outline the story, Incorpotatmg ibe View­point of your new chancter and making theother chlU'llcters respond to Iheir iII-litting newcompanion.

the expectations he creates. In appreciating such astory, it may be necessary to limil one's reliance onclear meanings and mornl lessons, and to be pre.pared 10 enjoy the sheer wealth of possibility andcomic misunderstanding that IS presented.

Tlte Problem a/InterpretationOnee((ect ofambiguity is to focus attention on

Ihe uncertain nature of all effom to assign meaningto events. The troublesome nature of illltrprttortolf

J 1 I

" V"r Old A10n .. llh Eno''''oo' Win,; " V~'r Old Hon .. "11 En"r .. "u

has been a mailer of intense Interest for literarycritics in the yeatS smce this story was wrillen­which may be one reason Gan::ia Marquezremains apopular subject of scholnrly attention. Many theoriSlSstress that oJI "readings" (whether of texts, or oflife l!sem arc strongly influenced by their context,and by the specificmterests and point of view of theperson making the jUdgmen!. While one may detectsuch mOuence in the opinions of others, it usuallyoperates unconsciously in Ihe self; the llSsumptlOnsbehind one's own thinking are so familiar thnt onetends not to even recognize them as assumptions.Some critics go so faras to suggesllhat all explana~lions are aClually illV/!fI/ioIlS, and that "true mean­mgs" can never be reliably detenmned. While onemay not choose to embrace so extreme a position,the speculation serves as a remmder Ihat confidentpronouncements aboul the world are seldom, ifever, as rational or disinterested as one believesthem 10 be. The villagers' quirky thought~patlerns

may be seen liS a parody of Ihis universal humantendency. They "talk themselves into" all kindS ofwild s?eculations, clingmg to UTlltional nOllons(such as the "fact" that mothballs are the properfood for nngels) and leapmg to Impossible conclu­sions (for example, that the old man should benamed "mayoroflhe world."l It seems thaI, oncethey get an idea into their heads, they willfullyconVince themselves of its truth and ignore anyevidence to the conlrary-unless a more appealingvefS/on of lhe truth comes along., Thetr folly ISa kind of exaggermed Ignorance, which GarciaMarquez: uses consistently for comic effect; but intheir unqucsllonmg application of''conventionalwisdom," and their stubborn faith 10 their ownideas, they renect habits of nund that can be recog~

nlzed in all cultures.

On another level, the amhor may be seen asplacmg the reader in much the same position­forcmg the reader to accept mterpretations thatseem absurd, or 10 give up any hope of understand~ing events. in this sense. it might be said that thestory's meanmg lies m the mllnner it denies anyclear meanings, complicaung the reader's efforts tounderstand, and showing usual means of detcmun­ing the truth in II strange, uncertam ligh!. Theconlext of literature may tempt one to "read into"these odd characters, looking for symbolic mean~

ings and creattvely-coded messages from the au­thor. Nothing prevents the reader from dOing so, butthere are few clues or hints to help and no obvIOUSway to confirm or deny any interpretation one mayconstruct. The reader can't be sure if he is finding

"

the story's meaning or making one up; he may evenwonder if Ihe story has a meaning at alL GarclllMarquez: presents a rich mystery, which engages thereader's thinking and seems to "make sense" in themanner of fairy tales; then he leaves Ihe reader todecide its meaning for himself. However one goesabout the job, he is never allowed to escape thesuspiCIOn that he may. in his own way, Wind upbeing as foolish and gullible as the villagers.

Style

ImageryIn establishing the characler of Ihe old man,

Garclll Marquez: plays against traditional stereo­types of angels. Angels are supernatural creaturesand are expected them to be presented in Images thatconvey grandeur, perfeclion, wisdom, and graee.By definition, angels are contrasted with humans:though they resemble humans phYSICally, they aresuper-lulI/wn in every conceivable way. But likeFather Gonzaga, the reader's first response to theold man IS like!y to be that he is "much toohuman." lnstead of presenting a majestiC, awe­mspiring figure, GarCia Marquez describes a crea­ture with mortal weaknesses and senility ("atlrenched grellt-grandfather"), tn circumstances with­out llny trace of reverence or dignity. While hisfeathered wings invite compansons with birds, eventhis Imagery is common llnd debased; he is "asenilevulture" or a "decrepit hen," not a soaring eagle oran elegant swan. While the villagers face the prob­lem of understanding an apparent"ange!" who fitsnone of theu- expectations for the type, the readerfinds himself placed by the author in the sameposition.

Also unusual is the way Gnrtlll Marquez: com­bines different types of imagery. The opemng linereveals thatil is "the third day of nun," and a fewlines later this Information is reptllted In anotherform: "The world had been sad Since Tuesday."One tS a direct statement of fact, which mightappear in a weather report; the other is a poeticImage, projectmg human emotions onto the weatherand individual feelings OniO the enllrt world. Ex­pressed in other tcrms, the reader accepts the firstversion as "real," while the second version {iftaken at face valuel is "magll:nl," mvolvmg alogicn1ly-impossibleconnccllon between human feel­ings and the weather. Both attitudes are familiar torenders, who know 10 read a factual account in a

Shorl S'orl,: ,,,. S'ud,nl'

rtltionaJ, literal frame of mmd, and to suspenddisbelief in a more imaginative story, where de­scnptlons lire expected to be used for their creative,suggestive effects. But Gnrt:ia Marque.. never al­lows the reader to settle comfortably into one attl~

tude or the other; throughout the story, realisltc andmagical details are combined, seenung to suggestthat both attitudes are valid, and Ihat neither one issuffiCient by Itself.

NarrationThe ambigUity within the story is remforced by

inconSistenCies in the namlljve VOice. The nnrralorIS, after all, the "person" presenting all this oddimagery to lherender, and readers habituany look tothe narrator for clues to help find a proper tnterpre­tation. For example, when the namtlOr states thatFather Gonzaga's letters to his church supenors"might have come and gone until the end of time"without reaching a conclusion, he confinns thereader's suspicion thnt the priest's approach is fu­tile. despite his confident IISsurnnces- to the crowd.Narrators don't just present facts: they also givedirection as 10 "how to take" the information wereceive

This narrator. however, seems to direct thereader all over the map and to be inconslstentlfl hisown attitude to events, The Villagers' wild ideasabout the old man nre often presenled as obvtollSdelusions, charactetized liS "frivolous" or "sim­ple" by the narrator. But at other times, he seems nomore skepticalthnn the villagers. For example, thestory of the spider-woman seems far more fantasticthan that of an old man with wmgs, bmthe nnrratorgives no suggestion that her transformation IS par­llcularly unusual and seems to expect the reader toacceplthis fnmkly "magical" event as ifi! present­ed no mystery al all. Though they are wise in waysthe villagers are nol, and see through the vartousfanciful interprelatlons of the visitor, readers cometo feel that the narrator may not fully understand theold man himself. Such an unreliable storytellermakes a mystery even more mysteriollS, complicat­ing efforts to fix a definile meaning to the tllle.

5istorical Context

Tile Lack ofa COlltextThe time and place of this sturY lire undeter~

mined. The characters' names suggest a Spanish­speaking couutry, and II reference to aupJanes indi-

V" I u m ,

Clites Ihal we are somewhere 10 the twentieth ccntu­ry; but beyond these mmor delails, we seem to be In

the "once-upon-a_time" world of fairy litles. Thenarrator tens of events In the past, U5mg the phrase"in those times" in a manner common to myths lindlegends. These associations help prepare the readerfor the story's "magtcal" elements by suggestmgIhat this is not a factual history to be taken literany,butll tale of the tmagmation where the usual rulesmay be suspended.

Such an "undetenmned" selling IS common mGarda Marquez's fiction. White he IS often outspo­ken m his journalism and takes a pUblic stand onmany political issues, references to contemporaryhistory In his fiction tend to be indirect and uncer­tam. Critics have{ned to trace such connections (forcxample, by suggesting that a character in one of hisnovels is modeled on a certain South Amenclllldictator), but the author's decision to wnte in thismanner Indicales that such "messages" life not hispnmary concern. By its nature, the story IS nottledto any particular lime or place; like legends from amythical golden age in the past, Ii calls our Illtenuonto timeless, Universal themes, applymg m a generalway to all times and places,

Tile Context ofReceptionWhile the story shows no direct evidence of

hisloncal context, it was. of course, wnilen m apartIcular time and place. And like all artistiC pro.ductlons, its "success" has depended not only onIts IIftISItC merits, but on its ability to attract anaudience and to gain acceptance from critics: nodscholars. Unlike the writing itself, the receptIOn of awork Involves faclors lllfgely outside the IImhor'scontrol, factors usually havlflg much to do withhistOrical and cultural context.

The extremes of popular and critical receplloncan be seen lfl the stereotype of the "sti1rVmgMist," who works without reward for years lhensuddenly (perhaps only in death) receives wide.spread,long-overduerecognitiou. This is the "trag­ic gemus," ahead of his tlme-"lhe world was notready" for the work he produced. The type does notfit Garcill Marquez exactly, but he did labor Inrelallve obscurity for many years, then suddenlybecame an mternational phenomenon: a best-sellingauthor who was also llralsed by promlueut mtellec­tuals, even bemg heralded-as the vanguard of nrevolutton In Latin Amenclln literature. Such sud­den enthusiasm, for however deserving an artIst,indicates that the world somehow war ready forGnrcia Marquez m 1967, when the publication of

" .

Dlle Hundred Years afSolitude brought him instnntfnme,llS wellllS Intense scrutiny,

The Oarcln Martluez "boom" WIlS fueled by nnumber of developments, both In populnr eultureI1l1d in criticnl scholarship, which mnde It easier formany readers to embrace n work of "mngic real·Ism," and l1l1author from n non~Western culture.The late 1960s are usually characterized ns n periodof intense cullUml change, in which lrlldltionalvalues of nil kinds were challenged, and nltematlveways of living were widelv explored. College cam·pu;es were a pllnlculnr focus for this controversy,most famously in OCCllSional violent confrontationsbetween law enforcement nnd student political prtrtesters. But it also found expteSslon through pas­sionate debntes within the scholarlv disciplines,debates in which the most basiC assumptions werequesuoned, and apparently radiclll changes weregIVen serious consideration. In liternture deplUt­mentS, one teSult W/IS an effort 10 expand the "can~

on"--the list of "c1115sic" works (sometimes listedin an official document, sometimes found in theunspoken, shnred ll5.51lmpliOns of faculty members Iwhose study is Irnditionally considered to fonn thenecessary bam of a libernl arts education. CriticschlU"ged that, with few if any exceptions, the canonhad excluded women and people of color from theroll of "great authors," as well as wJilers from pooror working.class backgrounds IUld those from non­European cultures. Efforts to expand the canon, 10

include n more diverse blend of cultural voicesamong the works considered wonhy of seriousscholarship, have continued for over thirty years.GlUl:la Marquez can be seen IlS nn enrly beneficlluyof this trend; Latin American writcrs had long beenneglected, nnd his work could be shown to includemanY of the elements critics had prnued in Europe·nn nnd North Amertean works. He thus made nnearly "test case" for expanding the canon, anexample of a non-Western Miter who deserved tobe honored on a level equal to his Western contem­poraries. His recognition encouraged the "discov­ery" of mnny more Latin Amencan authors andcontributed to an explosion of seholnrship on theregion's litenuy heritage,

Rnlllly, this story has 11 context within GarciaMnrquez's own career. Il WIl5 wntten in 1968, a yenrafter his sudden fame. One inlerpretnuon of "AVery OldMlln wlth Enonnous Wings" sees ItllS anexnggerated, satirical neeount of his own experi­ence with instant celebrity; or, in a more generalwny, ns a commentnry on the position of the crentivelUtist 10 modem culture. In this reading, the "old

J "

man" IS the artiSt, while his "wings" stlUld fortrnnscendence, greatness, lruth, beauty-whateverelusive qualities we think of lIS being vnlunble in art,The vi11.agers, in tum, nre "the public," who-aregreedy forwhalever "magic" he might bring them­bUI who instst on havmg It on thetr own terms.Rather than IIccc[lting him lIS he IS, with all hisquirks and contrndictlons, they treat him ns a carnt­vnlatlrllction and look for ways to profit from hisoddce1ebrity, They misunderstand him completely,yet confidently "explain" him with wild, illogicalspcculauons. And giVen a choice, they prefer thekind of magiC offered by sensntlonS like the spider­woman-flashy and ellSY to understand, fimng In

comfonnbly with their beliefs, presenting no awk­ward difficulties or mysteries. However "magical"they may be, such crentures as artists nnd angelsJUStaren't made for everyday life; ultimately, they arean nnnoyance nnd an emblUTItSsment to the rest ofus. This is, of course, only one of many possibleinterpretlllJOnS, for a story that seems designed toresist any stngle, clearexplanntion. But it does showanother way in which context (eultural, historiclIl,and personlll) can find its wny IOta n story whiehseems, on the surface, to have been WOllen from nopnrticulnr tIme or place.

Critical Overview

"A Very Old MlUI with Enonnous Wings" waswnllen In 1968, in the wake of its author's suddenfllme. The story's liming hns led some critics tosuggest that it mllY, lit lensl in plUt, be a comictreatment of OnIda MllIquez's own experience liS nwriter, or an allegory for the condition of creativelUtists in general. In this reading, Ihe old manrepresents the artist, and his experience In the vil­lage IS a satirical account of the way a wotk ISreceived by the public. Whilehls wings mnrkhim lISextrnordinary, in olher ways he fails to meet thevillngers' impossible expectatlons; nnd while theyfeel a need to n«ount for him, this proves to be adifficult, complex., and uncertain IlIsk. Instead, theymisinterpret him wildly, and abuse and explOit himlIS a carnival freak. By inSisting on simple, drnmallc"miracles" that fit comfortably with their beliefs,they give up /111 chance of understanding whalever"magic" he doa possess and soon lose tnterest inhim, However, 11 must be stressed thnt this is onlyone possible interpretation for this complex slory.Olher critics have argued that, howeverappealing, ittS fnr too simple, "neat," and logical to fully

Shori SI .. rlti r .. r SIII"tlll.

necQunt for a laic so neh in Invenuon llnd sugges­lion; and even diose who ndvance such a readingpOint out diat is just one of severnllevels on whichmCllning can be found.

While GlIICla Marquez's early short stories,wrillen In the Inte 19405 and enrly 19505, weregenerally considered unsuccessful for thelr overlyself-cOl15CtOUS usc of unconvenuonnl narrative tech­DIques, his later stones employ mlUlY of the samennrrntlve strntegies that have mnde GlUl:in MllIquezone of the twentieth century's most influentinlnu·thon, prompting critics to compnre him to the likesof Willinm Faulkner IUld Franz Knfkll,

Criticism

Tom FaulknerAfrulance writer and copyedltor, Fau/k1l<:T 1$

pur$uing on M,A. III Englislt at lVa)'lleState Un/I'u­sity./nth<:follow/JIC essay, he up/ores the peculiareffeCts o/maglc rea/hill as a literary sl}'le emplol'edin "A Very Old Mall lI'it1l Enonllo/lS Willgs, "

The style ofwdting referred to IlS "magic realism"is marked by Its ImagInative content, vivid effects,nnd lingering mystery. In combining fantnstic ele·ments with realistic detllils, a writer like GarciaMarquez cnn erente a fictional "world" where themime-ulous nnd the everyday Jive side·by.side­where fnetnnd iUuslon,sclence and folklore, historyand drenm, seem equally "real," and nrc often hardto distinguish. The fonn clelltly allows writers tostretch the limits of possibility and to be richlyinventive; however, it involves more than the crea­tion ofattrnctive fllntllSies. The villllge In "A VeryOld Mnn whh Enonnous Wings" may be IIppealingIn some ways, but it is nlso n complex, difficult,even disturbing fantllSY. Beyond imagination, Ihesuccessful creallon of such 11 world in the render'smind requires skillful use of the same tools andtechniques fn.milillt in more conventional, less "magt­cal" types of fiction, Garcia Marquez net onlycombines realistic details widi fnntastic ones, butseems to give them both equal weight, an ~uIII

claim to rcnlily or truth in the reader's mmd.

In the characterofthe "blrd·mnn," weean seethis style at work and experience the charming (butunseuiingj effect it often hIlS on readers. His mySle·­rious nalure IS the story's eentrnl "problem," thesoun;e of its energy nnd lenslon. We know, ofcourse, thnt human beings don't hnve wings; logi.

y 0 t 1/ .. f

clllly, such 11 character must be either a monster or amirncle-if he exiSts /It all. Yel when the doctorexamines the old mlln, whnt most impresses him IS"the logiC ofhis wings," which "seemed so natura!on that completely humnn orgnnism that hecouldn'tundel'3tnnd why other men didn't have them too."Logic nnd science insist thnt such a crealUre must hesup<:moruml, but GlltCia MllIquez presents him asenlJrely "nalUral"; much like the doctor, oncewe've "seen" him, it's as if Winged old men werecommon, even unrema.rk.llble, visitont Weseehow,despite "the inconvenience of the wings," Pelayoand EIisenda "very soon overcnme their surpnsennd In the end found him familinr," As renders, wenre guided 10 the same kind of acceplnnce. No onequestions the old man's existence. or the relllity ofhis wings, not even the nllITlltor (except, perhaps, inthe final line. when the old mnn becomes "nnimaginary dot on the hOn:/;on of die sea"). He mayor may not be an angel, but he is unquC5l1onnbly anold man with wings, lIS "real" /IS anyone else inthe story.

Several techniques contribute to Ihe old man'svivid "exlStence." Detailed sensory imagery is IIslandnrd means for writers to reinforce ncharncter's"reality" to the reader, and Garcia Marquez notonly makes us "see" the old man (rightdowntothe"few faded hall'3 left on his bald skull" and theplll1lSites picking through his ruined feathers), butalso "smell" him, "feel" the texture of his wmgs,and "henr" his whistlinghelUtbent. The rieh unllge­ry 1I1s0 works to undermine supernatural stereo­types. contrndicting our usual idCIIS about lUIgelsnnd denying the old man any of the heroiC or exaltedqualities we expect. He is described not only inhumnn, eanhly tenns, but In terms of extremewCl!kness nnd poveny ("dressed like a rngpicket,""his pitifUl eondition of a drenehed grent.grandfa­ther"). When he Is compnred to birds, lhey nee nOIexotic eagles or dtuzling pClleoeks, but commonSpCCles with less·lhan·noble reputalJons (his "buz·uurl wings," "n decrepit hen," "a senile vul­ture"). As Father GonUl-ga observes (nnd by thelIuthor's design), "nothing about him measured upto the proud dignity of IIngels." He thus becomesreal the more wesee him lIS hltman, acrenlUre closerto our own expeJienee and understlUlding-not /Ishining, mythical being but II frail, suffering, evenpathetic fellow, who hnppens 10 have a few physi­cal quirks.

The problem Gnn:la Marquez pteSents us IS notjust "Whnt if nnge1s were real?" but "What if theywere relll, lUId nothing like we expect them to be?"

JJ I

" V.r~ Old Man .. I,h Enar",au. Wlnt'

, "

WhatDo I Read

Next?Readers who enjoy this story may wish to ex­plore Garcm MilIl\uez.'s other works. Big Mo­mo'z FUlleral {19621 and TIle Incredible ondSodStory of bmocell/ Erendira and Her HeonleuGrondmOlhu (1972) ilre collections of shortstones, many of which also embody principles ofmagic realism. The novel One Hundred Yeorz ofSolillide {19671 depicts the muvelous village ofMacondo Ihrough a complex history that spansthree generations of the town's leading family.Here, as in LoVl: //I the Tillie ofChoiuo (writtenIn 1985, and sel in an unnamed town), GarciaM/Utluez. creales a dreamlike, many-layered land·scape, realized in far more detail than is possiblefor the village in this brief tale. To many critics,Dill! Hundred reorz of Solitude still representsthe highest achievement of magtc realism.

Ulb)'rtfl/hz (1962) by Jotge LUIS Borges IS acollection of short fictions, essays, and "Pllf­abies" that presents interesting parallels andcoO!rasts to the style ofGnrcia Marquez.. BorgesIS not strictly considered a "magic realist,"haVing already achieved considerable recogni­tion before Garcia Marquez's success; however,he does show many of the same influences Ilndconcerns, and indeed may have influenced theyounger writer. Borges seems fascinated by pa;.l..dox and the humlln thirst for meamng; throughShOll, tightly structured narr.l1ives, he develops avunety of inventlve contradictions, fuJI of hid­den insights and unexpected turns.

He creates a tensIOn between the old man's magicaland human qualities, leavmg us unable 10 fit thecharacter mlO a comfortable menta! category. Theold man IS far too human and decrepit to match ourcultuml image of angels: perfect, powerful, majes.tic, immortal. Nor does he appellf to be a heavenlymessenger, sent by God as a sign of momentouschanges; his presence seems to be purely lIII accI­dent of the weather, without purpose or meanmg.Nonetheless, he certainly has his magical qualities,

Since the appcara:nce of Garclll Mnrquex.'s works,writers from mMy \rllditions have conunued totest the baundunes of flUltasy and reality, mmnovative works that suggest the mfluence ofmagIc realism, or at least seem to anse fromSimilar sources and concerns. Among the milnysuch works that employ an Amencan setting areMu Apple's Tht Orang/ng ofA/IItnca{ 1976), acollection ofmodem fables that explores villiouSaspects of "the Amencan Dream" and its mod­em myths of success, andMumboJumbo (1910)by Ishmael Reed, a saliric "HooDoo detectivenovel" that is alSO an ambitious, mythical re­Imagination of the history of Africans m Arnertca.

Readers might be interested in a novel which isqUllesimiliU" in theme 10 "A Very Old Man withEnormous Wings": that work of ficHon is T7leWonderjill Vizlt {l89S}, by H. G. Wells, authorofTIle Time Machine, TIle hland ofDr. Moreon,The Invizible Mon, and other distinguished worksof the Imagination. The Wonderfill Viz;', whichconcerns the wounding and capture of an IUIgelby IUral English villagers, has been described bycritic Kenneth Young as "an IronIcal study oflife m the English countryside. ... The Salire­on ownership, on the ugliness ofpeople's lives-isgentle, though there IS a dark passage on 'thereadiness of you Human Beings to inflict pam'."

and is even credited with nuracles (though, likeeverything else aboul him, they ilre disturbing, andfail to satisfy expectalionsl. However mlmcu[oUshis nature,origms, orabiHties may be, he is strandedhere, Ilnd relallve1y powerless-an exile from hisfOlmer life, at the merey of s\rllngers. The villagersmust somehow Ilccounl for him, and because no oneunderstands his Janguage, he IS ullable (lind appar­ently unwilling) to explrlln himself. Several pOSSI­ble mterpretations anse, but most of them are clear-

Sh<l'f SI""" t<lr Slud~n"

ly absurd, telling us more about the Villagers'superstitions and beliefs than about the old man's"true nature." They are rendered with playful hu­mor, ensunng that the reader will apprecl/lte theirrational and illusory basIS ofsuch "folk Wisdom."Yet our "supcnor," conventlonal methods oflogicand reason don't seem any more useful in reaching asecure explanation. The old man remains a stub­born, mtngumg mystery, both magIcal and ordl­nllf)', impossible to decipher but undeniably tllere.

This uncertainty (or ambigl/iry) applies not justto the old man. but evidently to life itself, as it tslived in Ihis Umeiess, nameless village. It seems tobe a place where lUSt about anything can happen (forexample, a young woman can be changed into aspider for disobeYing her parents}--Or at least, it is aplace where everyone is quile willing 10 beliel'esuch things happen and to act as though they dohappen. This impression is partly a result of GarciaMarquez:'s use of narrative VOICe. For the most part,the Siory seems to be told by the standard "omms·clent observer" of third person fiction-a narratorwho knows all the neeessary facts, and can betrusted to present them reliably. When such narra­lion expresses an opinton, the reader tends to acceptit as acom:ctinlerpretallon. This narrntormay seemto lit the type at firsl, but later appears to change hispoint of View, and even his opiniOns of events. Thenarrator seems to endorse the villagers' thinking atlimes (for example, reporting without comment thatthe old man has a "strong sailor's vOice," eventhough we have no evidence for this assumption ofPelayo and E1isenda's), but at other times, he seemsnlmosl contemptuous of their irrational ideas. (Afew lines later, when he describes how the cOLlple"skipped overthe Inconvenience ofthe wings" and"quite intelligently" decided thlll he was nothingbut a sailor, the mtent seems to be strongly sarcas­tic.) We might entertain hope that FntherGonuga'sconts-pondence with church leaders will eventuallyproduce an explanation-until the n!llTlltor com­ments Ihat tllOse "meager letters might have comeand gone until the end of lime" without result. insuch ways, readers come to rely on the narrator forclues about "how to take" elements in the story thatmay be unclear. But this narrator seems detenninedto be untrustworthy, and lenves us uncertain nboutimportant events. Without telling us how, he treatseverything that happens as though it "makes sense."Though he is habitually iromc In his view of the"Wise" villagers' beliefs, he describes the super­natuml expenence of the "spider-woman" in slm·pie factual telmS, seeming to accept It as readily as

Y <I I " m :

his chllTilcters do. Are we to conclude that thisfantllStic transformation from human to spider actu­ally happened? Or that the nlllTlltor IS now asdeluded lIS the villagers? Oreven that he is purpose­ly lymg to us1 At such moments, the nanntlonseems to parody the slyle oftraditional fairy taJes; asthe label "magiC realism" suggests, some elementsof the story seem meant to be approached with thesJmplistlc "logic" of fantasy, while others aredepicted with alilhe complexity lind imperfectIOnthat mark "real life."

Garcia Marquez: not only combines realisticdetails with fantas(Jc ones, bllt seems to give themboth equal weight, an equal claim to "reality" or"truth" in the reader's mind. Dreamlike, poeticdescriptions are presemed maller·of-factly; likeWinged old men who fall from Ihe sky, they liretrealed more as everyday realities than as biz:arTeImpossibilities. When we ieam that a ChllrllCler ISdepnvcd of sleep "because the nOise of the stllfSdisturbed him," il seems 10 be merely a symptomquoted from his medical chart, perhaps even acommon cause of insomnia, not an obVIOUS delll·slon or a feat of supernatural heanng. As m theSimilar case of the "poor woman who sHlce child·hood had been countmg her heartbeats and had runout of numbers," the narrator gives no mdicaliollthat any particular explanallon IS reqllired, almostassummg that the reader will accept these oddriddles without question. Traditionally, we aren'tmeant to take such language literally (as a descnp­tion of factuat events), but poelically (orjigllraflw!­i)'), as a creative key to some idea or stale of mmd,which we must Interpret for ourselves. (The IIIsom_mac, for example. might be said to "really" beexperiencmg hallucmatlons due to mental illness, orperhaps a feeling of isoJallon /lnd inSIgnificance inthe cosmos-but nOlactually listentng to stars.) Buthere, such "magical" descriptions seem to be of­fered as straightforward accounts of "nolmal" (ifrare and unuSllal) occurrences (his ears are senSI­tive, and those stars are JUS! too loudll-eventswhose "real meaning" need not, or cannot, bedetemllned. but which must nonetheless be accept­ed as "reaL"

The mixture of different kinds of imagery, anddilTerent narrative attitudes, serves 10 heighlen thereader's uncertainty. Realistic and magIca.l descnp.lions a.re oflen combined, as if they a.re IIIsepilfableaspects of the same events. Thus, we are not onlvtold that It IS "the third day of rain," but abo, a fewlines iater, that ''It}he world had been Slid smceTuesda}'." Dy combinIng factual and imaginatlve

" ,

A v=~~ 01" AI~n "'I'" En~'''~''J lVlntJ A Vr" 01" M~n wIth En~c .. ~". IVln,J

iidescnptions, and seeming to-trelltthem wiih equalcredibility, the author suggests that both "ways ofIrnowmg" are valid, perhaps even necessary toachievmg II balanced understanding. MagiC seemsto lieJust beneath the surfllceofthe story, wlliting tobreak through, almost beyond the nlltTUtor's con­trol. For example, a description of the old mnn'sundignified captivity Iingel'S over factual, everydaydetails (his diet of eggplnnt mush, the crowd tossingstones to get him to relict, the hens pecking throughhis feathers); but the insects ,infesting his Wings aresuddenly described liS "stellar pnrnsites' '-II poeticImllge, not a "faclUlll" one (lit least until there isooy evidence of insects liVing on starn!. If weapproach the Story expecting to be chnrmed by afairy lale, the factual descnpllons seem "too real;"they Slloil the "magical" effect we hope for, byallowing the unpleasoot and inconvenient details ofeveryday life to inl!\lde on our iffiagmative land­sCllpe. But if we read with a "realistic" frame of!lUnd, looking for solid facts nnd logical explana­tions, the strange poetIC Images only frustrate us,and may cause us to question other IIpparent "facts:'The mllglCllltouches lOlly dazzle us, but they canIIlso make us feel like the old man In his ellJlyeffortsto fly: thllt we are "slip[pingJ on the light," unableto "geu gnp on the air," WemuSl somehow acceptthe events our nanntor presents (at least temporari­ly), m order to continue teading at all, and have nnyhope of making sense of the tnle. But we llJe neversure wheiher to "accept" them as real events, mllSshallUCinations, symbolic stand-ins for some "oth­er" story the author has in mind, or the unreal"magic" of legends and fairy tales. We <:annatchoose between reality and magic; GllJCia Martjuezinsists on givmg us both, even In the most minordetails. When the slanled bird·man suddenly flapshis wmgs, he crelltcs a "whirlWInd" in the court·yard, with a dustcloud composed of both (enrthly)chicken dung and (heavenly) "lunar dust": eventhe dirt on the ground is shown to be both humbleand marvelous Ilt once.

Typical of the style, this Story's tone seemsbOlh playful and serious. The striking images andsudden surpnses stimulale the reader's senses andtmaglnation, but also frustmte and complicate ourefforts to fix a definite meamng to events. Works ofmagiC realism are both praised and critiCized fortheir "childlike wonder," their depiCtiOn of a worldof almost-infinite possibilities, where the super­natural and the everyday tnke on the SIl-me vividIntensily. But they Me not fairy tales or Iwo-dimen­slonnl fllnl1tSies; they offer no cleM lessons, SImple

,"

events, or sharp distinctions between relllity oodmllgic. "Wondering" includes both delight andconfusion, the stroggle to comprehend experiencesthat challenge our understl1llding, and don't fit our'accustomed map of reality. Far more things arepossible in the world of magic realism, includingmuncles, contradictIons, and logical ImpossibiJi­ties-but this also means thaI more meanings arepossible, and that aU meanings will be elLUive nnduncertain.

Source: Tom Faulkner, Ovuview of "A Verv Old Man withEmlrlnous Wing$," for SIIGt'f SIGntS (GrSlUdtl1U, The GaleGroup. 1999.

Mark MillillgtonMillington is UCtllrlr III Larill AmlrtCan Sflld·

iu or rhe UniverslryofNot/lngham, Engfand.In rhlfollowing UClrpt, Ite provides an overview of thesymmetrical stnlCfllre af lite staries in The fncred­ible aod Sad Story of the Innocent Erendiraand herHeartless Grandmother, including "A Vtry OldMatlWirh Ellomrous Wings, "dtrail/ng Iht optningof tach story willt tht orrival ofall lIlI'oding pres­ence which callus widlJprlod changl ill the li/tpatttnrs oftlu characters, oud tlte COIlc/IWOII witha depllrture which completes the /lotl/rof C}'Clt.MiJlingtoll also focuses 011 the norrollvt stnlc/Ure oftlte SlorilS, II'lJich illcorporolls culll/ral knowltdglfralllts olld partiolnarrotor ollthonry to lmphasizttlte rtlo/iall berWetl1 tht Ilarralfve world tlnd thlaClllal world.

j am gOIng to begin with beginnings. Each story in[The ftlcudlble and Sad StOry of thl IllIlOCtlltEl'llldim and !ler Htartless Gralldmotlrtr (ISS»)begins with on nrrival-a spO-ce or a consciousnessIS invaded by an unknown presence. But the natureoflbe invading presence differs: m "Constant Death"and "B1acam4n" it is human (Onesimo S4nchez.lind Bhlcllm4n respectively}; in "Vert OldMan" itIS pan-human (the bird-manj; in "Drowned Moo"it was formerly human (Esteban's c0rtJsej; in "Sea"and "Incredible Story" it is 1I natural phenomenon{the smell of roses and 0. wmd respectively}; and in"Last Journey" it is an object (the ghost ship;. Butin four of the stones the source of the invadingpresence is the same: in one way or another, the seaIs Ilssocialed with the arrival in "Very Old Man,""Sea," "Drowned Man" and "LastJoumey," andIn the first two of these the Invading presencereturns to the sea at the end. And in all oflhe stotiesthe IIfTival has the same extrnordina.ry effect-itbecomes the focus of widespread, sometimes all-

Sh~r, SlDrl~I (D' SIU"tn'I

absorbing, atlenUon-and in ellch case the Ilmvalrepresents the inception of a series of events thatwill occupy the remainder of the story. Theeffect ofthe Ilmval is to disrupt-lt introduces Instabilityinto a preexistent silUlItion, I1Ild Ihllt tnstability pro­duces interest and also movement. The mlerestStimulated by the new amval centres on a commonreacUon in severnl stories: the need to discover themcamng of Ihe disruption. BUI the mvading pres­ence also seems to produce a release ofencrgy in thechlU11clers and 50 to create a new plltlem of life. fnboth respects the nmval is a beginning-a pOint ofmceplion.

The fact that in certliin stories the chll1'llctersneed to interpret the amval, to eslablish the mean­Ing of the invading presence, IS a sign of thedestabiliZing cha.racler ofthe event. The diversity ofthe interpretations and the confUSIOn felt is mostgrnphically apparent III "Very Old Man:' Here thedesire to understand is powerful but the capacity tocomprehend minimal: Ihe bird·man Is vlI.nouslyseen by the villagers as a nighlmare, a shipwreckedsailor. an IIngel lind a cireus animal; I1Ild theirconfusron is shared by Ihe chain of eccleSiasticalinterpreters exlending up to the Vallcan, which ISnolable for its failure to produce- even a conjecturnlrntel1lretatlon, The same overloading of interpreta_tive skills IS evident In "Drowned Man," where thedestre to establish whether Esteban Is human isSimply swept aside by unquestIOning awe in the fllceof his extrnordinary belluty. In both of these c:ases{and in the other stories with inantmate invasions}Ihe new arrIvllI sets up no dialogue with the commu­nity that is invaded-ihe bird·man and EslebanSimply arrive nnd are observed. They provide noself-explanation, and thllt accounts, in pllrt, for thedisputes that Mse as to their nature and even eXISt­ence (examples ofthe laller are in "Sea" and "LastJourney"). fn ellch CllSe, the inlel1lretallons areattempts to accommodate tbe unknown within eve·ryday frames oflrnowledge. Given tbe nature of thenew IIfflVa!s, the interpremtions are not surprising,though they are cenainly not definitive either. Theyalso provide II valuable mellns of assessing theworkings ofcha.racters' mind5,thalis, their capacityfor rational thought, and this factor is crucial for thereader's response, In polClltinily stimulating I1IllIOnlCview of cha.racters.

More Important than Ihe question ofchllrllcters'lnterpretlltions is the new direction that their livestake. Thechange results from the instability lhat thenew amvals produce, since chllJllcters are S1imulllt·

tt... Th. b1rd-m.n'.

a.rrival involves Pelayo and

Elisende. willy nilly in

trying to cope with the sheer

physical problem of crowds of

onlookers, and tha.t problem

leads to their fina.ncial

triumph. the building of a

luxurious hOllee and e. new

job for Pelayo: life is

transformed••••"

ed to undel1ake IIction, and acUon means change. IIis not that any specific response IS demanded, anyinesc/lpnble action fort:ed upon them, but ihilt a fieldofpossibility is opened up.... In "Very Old Man"the bird-mnn's arrival involves Pelayo and Elisendawilly nilly·in trying to cope with the sheer phYSicalproblem of crowds of onlookers, and thai problemleads 10 their financial triumph, the building of aluxunous house nnd a new job for Pelayo: life istnutsfonned...•

The structure so far Isolated, therefore, m.volves various kinds of invllSton or arrival, whichsomellmes stimulate inlerpretation but which, aboveaU, destabilize a preeXistent situation and lead to theinception of new movement, new courses of Ilclion.And the remarkable feature of the new movement inISS is that the mdividuals involved, who first per­ceive Ihe inl!\lding presence, are frequently joinedby the whole community-a brolld expansion takesplace, which mnkes the disequilibrium a shared andfestive evenL There is II multiplication of interestwhich often exlends beYond the bounds of the locnlpopulation. The fair motif is central to this expan­sion. In "Very Old Man" the bird-man's Ilntvalinitially affects only Pelayo and Elisendn, but over­night there is a large mllux of people from theneighbourhood lind subsequently ofhuge crowds ofpeople from far and wide who stretch In aline overthe hori:wn wailing to see the prodigy. This influxbongs with il II variety of fairground performersfrom around the Caribbelln who tempomnlY lrans-

I J ;

A \"'f Old M~Jl .. llh £"."rm"u, WIlli'

" .

Iiil~

fonn the eommunity-life undergoes a pro>:essof carmvaJizallon..

111is move mto expansion and camlVali1.lltionamplifies the localized effetts of new arrivals; It IS atOn$lstent structural motif throughout ISS, but theretS no precise repetition of detail in each story; 11 is ngeneral rhythm and developmelllai slr-Itegr..•.

Given that some of the stories do not relyheavily on strong >:ausal links to sUSlain forwardmovement, it IS interesting to consider how endingsare achieved. If there tslittle causal emphaSIS, whatrel:l1lon can an ending have with what precedes it7Is there any evidence 10 suggest that the endings IIIISS aCI as pOInts of tulmlmmon or resolullon7 And,if not, how does each story create II "sense of anending"? The key faclOr here is departure. Mosl ofthe slones rely on departures to proVide II "sense ofan ending," thllt is to create an ImpresSion that a"natural" cycle has been >:ompleted: the depanUIetennmates what the amval inaugurated, which issomething thllt readers can accept by drawmg oncultural knOWledge and wilhout needing an expla­nation of how or why it came abouL "Very OldMan" ends with the growth of the bird·mlln'sfeathers which treates the possibility of flight anddeparture.

mle( ending of "Very Old Man" (notuntyplcally) seems to be undenktennmed; 11 ispomtless to ask why the bird-man's feathers growand why he flies IIway, smce there IS no cause otherthan the need to proVide II narrative ending.

This type of ending leaves us with a globalstructure as II basiS for most of the stories: amvnl­reaCllon and expanslOn-depa.rture. But the sym­melry of this structure IS deceptively lIttractive. It isdeceptive becau,e it provides anent representlltionwhich fnils to take mto account an tmpOl1ant aspectof the stones: their elusiveness. II is not that thisstructure is wrong, simply that it does not tell usenough. Above "n, this pattern seems "closed,"where the stories are teaSingly "open" -that IS,they are thematically reticent while foregroundingelements of a highly imaginallve and problematic,ort. There is II need. therefore, to question IInySImple, closed representlllion. One way to modifythe neatness of the first representation is by lookingat the reversllis which contribute-to the instability ofthe stones; and one WilY 10 begin trying 10 makesense of their openness-without reducmg the StO­nes to statements of what they are "about," whichwould impose closure from "outside"-is to exam­me the fair motif. ...

The fair motif is. or accompanies, lin Intn"loninto the narrative space mISS-it conslUutes orreinforces a rIldiclll disequilibnum In life plltterns;III Ihis WilY it represents a potential opemng or·tmnsfoonation. And III that connection the fairmotifcan be examined in Ihe light of what [Mikhail1Bnkhlin [in Prob/tlns ofDoslotl'sJ..y's Pot/ICS. trans-­lated by R. W. ROlSel, 19731 calls popular-festiveroons or carnivals. Bakhtin's theori1.lltion is useful:

CarnivatlJ • pageant without a sllige and wilhoutlldivillan IntO ptnonnelS and lpecmon. in Ihe c:.ml­vat everyone II an uUVC pll1lielpanl, eVerytlne com·munl:! In the earnlval act. CllIlllyal isnol conlempl~l­ed, il IS, ltricily Ipeaking, nOI even playw OUI; il!p;l,T\lcipllnl! live In II, thev !lye il«ording 10 llstawl, aslong as Ihole lzw) lU'e in force, I.e. lhey live ac"",i...diJlIc life. The cunivallllic life iJ life dtllwnOUI of ill 'm"'/ nn, il II III a dellrl'e "life IUmedinlide OUI:' "life Ihe wrong WilY round" {"mondeArenyen"l.

The laws, prohibitions and restnCtlOns whichdetennme the system and orrler of normal. I.e. non·carnival. life are for the period of carnival suspend.ed; above all, the hiemrchical system and all Iheconnecled forms of fear, awe. piety, ellquelte, etc.are suspended, I.e. everything Ihatis determined bysocial·hiem.rchical inequality among people, or anyother form of inequalilY, mcluding age.•.. Car­nival celebrates thange Itself, the very processof replaceability....

The stress here IS on newness, on Ihe potentialfor change, on living in a radi>:ally different wayfrom before, ifonly for the dUrIltlon of the: festivity.In that perspecllve the fairs or carnivals of ISS arerecognizable as stimuli for change ("Sea" and"Very Old Man") or as wllys of life ("Blacam~n"

and "Incredible Slory"l.

But the key question IS: "How much reallychanges or ts tronsfonned in ISS!" ... In "VeryOld Man" there IS real tmnsfonnation; the fairbuilds on and exceeds the IIfbitrnry nmva[ of thebird-mlln and it helps Pelayo and Elisenda to gamnew social status by allowmg lhem to earn moneyfrom the cunosity the bird·man is. Here the changeoutlaslS Ihe feslivity...

I will end by lI11emptlng to analyse the structureof Ihe narrauve spate created In ISS. 1 wllnt tosuggest a WilY of understanding the kind ofnarrativeworld that exists in ISS; Ihat is, by trymg to establishlhe nature and consistency of the relations thllt holdbetween the actual world and the narrative world, Iwant to propose an IInalytlcal approach to the com­prehension of the stones' nilITiltlve space.

Sh"" 51",1:. r", Sludtlll'

In distUssing the WilY all dis~ourse is com­prehended [in "Semantic macro·Structures andKnoWledged Frames m Discourse COmprehenSiOn,"In Coglfitil·t Proctsses III Comprehension, ed. M.A.lust lind P. A. Carpenter, 1977]. Teun van Dijkhas stressed the importance of knowledge frames.He defines these as follows:

Frames ~te knowledge Rprelentnllonl aboul the"world" whicll enable Ul 10 penonn ludt bUlecognili~e aen lIS pam:pHon. aclIon, and tanguagecomprl'lIenSilln.

We propose that frames define units or chunks ofconteprs which are not essentially, but t)'picalf)'.related. Some Intuitive examples may clnrify thispoinl. Conceptually, there is no Immediate oressen·tial relallon between the concept of "table" lind theconcept of "ceTenl," nor between "soap" and·'water." nor between "waitress" and "menu."They are distinct and do not presuppose each other.Yel, they are organized by the frames of "break­fasl." "washing" and "restaurant," respetlively.They usually denote certam nonnal CQurses of eventsor tourses of aCllons mvolvmg several objects,persons, properties, relations, and facts.... It is inthis sense thllt frames life higher-level organizingprinciples. They unify concepts ofvllflous types andat vnnous levels of representation under Ihe con­stramr of typicality and nonnality, ... Frames ••.are conventlonlll lind general. Most members of asociety or culture have approXimately the same setof frames.

Van Dijk POints out that these frames act as acrucial part of our honzan of expectation lind tom­prehension in processing all discourse (includingliterature), and it IS clear that they complementwhatever conventions may hold within any specificdiscourse. The reliance of discourse on knOWledgeframes is evident in ils capacity to be comprehendedwithout recoUrse to totalizing explanation. Dis·course IS efficient lind concise; it can elide informa­lion precisely because it can rely on mggenngknowledge frames in its audience-it can rely onshared expenente. This IS n bastc assumption whi>:his operIltive In discourse processing by default; thatIS, unless there IS any indicallon to the contrary, Itseems that nonnal knowledge frames lire operative.

This basic assumption is apparent in innumer­able details of ISS: Ihe reader can be relied upon tolIt1l1th Ihe appropnate frame to Single IIClIons that mglobal tenus form pan of, for mstance, haVingbreakfast, making love, orattempung murder. Simi­larly. globalacllon need only be alluded to for aknOWledge frame to fill it oUt: playing droughts,

V" I u m •

selling II patent medicme, attcmptmg to COfTllpt IIpolitician. TIlese bilS of knowledge lire trivial be­clluse they correspond to a possible or actual worldof e;l;perienCe, and the IIlput of informatIon by thereader IS, therefore, effortless, even unconSCIOUS,whatever the specific detail of the narrallve.

But the key point is that much of the force ofISS derives from the deviation from knowledgeframes. If one defines II "possible world" iIS oneIhat IS constructed and comprehended in lerms ofknowledge frames of the actual world (in specificcombination or permutatton), then it IS evident thatISS tonSU1!cts only panially possible worlds; it

blurs or subvel1s Ihe normal SU1!ctures of the attualworld. Some eXllmples of blumng or subvemvephenomena or aCHons which nre "facts" within thestones will make Ihe pomt more clearly. In "VeryOld Man" the spider-woman has lin e;l;planauon forher condition: she IS nOla fairground cunoslty; hercondition IS real just as that of the bird·man himselfIS real, and this blurs the normal distincllon betweenIhe fair ground and the real world.... In "Very OldMan," II cultuml knowledge frome IS subvertedwhen it becomes obVioUS that the supposcd angeldisplays only one feature ChilnltterlSUC of all angel:he has wmgs. Otherwise he is phYSically ulllmpres·sive. withdrawn, pasSive, fails to undersland Launand is ultimately a domestic nUisance...

[Often I the knOWledge frames of the actualworld a.re indispensable III rending. but there ilI"C

also Significant deViations from ortrunsgresslons ofthis ensemble of structured knowledge. So, lJ1 part,ISS aligned with lind, in Pilrt, sits athwllIt actualknowledge frames. And the area of discrepancydoes sometimes extend to the conscIous aC!tons andthe mindsof thllIilClers. Not only IS Ihere no rallonalcritique of events by characlers from within thestones-that IS a vlewpomt potentially eqUIvalentto that of the Tender-but the chilnltters frequenllYadd 10 the number of devialions..

In this WilY the narr:tllve spate seems fillheridiosyncrallc. And so a final questIOn must be posedconcemmg Ihe position of narralors. 111e nillTlltors'position could theore.tlcally provide il gauge ofevents or behaviour; it could align the global POIntof view with IhM of the render and hislller knowl·edge frnmes; It could constitute an internal refer­ence point of critital distance. In fatl. the quesuonof the narrators' position IS quite complex. In thefirst place the authority and mediation of the nilITlltorsIn ISS is more or less unifonn. This IS the casereganlless of whether the narrator speaks with a first

I ; r

or a third person voice., though the latter is morecommon.... This authority and mediating pow­er--plus the capacity to name and classify, and thecontrol ofchronological progress-doubiless createa cellain conSistency and clnrity. But the question isto see how that authority and m~iation are used. Dothey can)' out the task of distancing critique? ThelUlSwer IS that they do not The narrators' authontyis partial~ it is used to regmer scenes and 10 fill incertain contexlunl gaps, but it is not used to justify,explain or question what the characters do or whatphenomena are.•.. (The! narrators' silence, thelack of authomalive, rational discourse, IS an Impor·tant feature. The narrators do not ralionnlize; theydo not analyse; they mther present events as if theywere "Simple facts," even if these "facts" deviatesubstantially from our knowledge fmmes, This IScunous in so far as their authority seems to imply acapacity for rallonalizing distance; but, to fact, thenarrators' viewpoint is closer to the chnrncters thanto the reader. Very often Ihe "seeing eye" ofnarration is that of one aligned with a chnrncter'sViewpoint or with an amalgamation of chnrnclers'viewpoints. And Ihis is hardlY sUtprising since thennmltive structure, the relations between nllmlliVeworld and actual world, would be inconsistent andsimplified if the narrntors cut through the complexi.ties of the other features I have described. The gapsand uncenlunues an; crucial and exist in termS oftherelBllon actuaUnllITllUve worlds. To have recourse10 such labels as fairy stories or children's stones todescribe ISS would be to seek security and closureby remOVing tile stories Into an unworldly, "purelyliterary" fmme of reference (if such a concept IS

anything more than wishful thinking). The fissuresin our knOWledge frames that are created, and theconsequent uncertainty potentililly stimulated in ourreading, ate surely conSIStent with the basiC thrustof the fair or cllffiival motif: namelY,to open up andtn1IIsform.

SOIlI"C:Cl MlUk Mllling!on. "Alpe<:1J or NlImlll\'l' SlnJCIUmtn 17lt IIlr;udi/11t <lIIdSa.dsl/JI}'o!fht iml/Jctll/ ErtlJdlF'll andIltr ff,artJrss OF'lllllh'l/Jfllu" in Oabrld Oarr;la MaN/Il'Z:Nr'~ Rt/Jdlngr, edllcd by BCfTIIII'tI McGlIlrk lind R!clllUdCMdwcll, Cambridge Univmhy Press. t987, pp. 117-33.

John Gerlach111 th~fallawillg uc~rp(, Gerlach uallllll~S "A

Yeo' Old Mall with Enonuous Wings" as afamoS}'/IllI'!lidl Garcia Marquez,elllploys Irl1lguag~, Similes,afld satlr~ tobotlld~stroyalld evokt: 011 appropriateuocttOlltO a IIIY1hic subject. Gerlach also off~rsltisinUrputatloll ofthe role oflhe lIarro10r, ossertiflgllror Ihe Illlrraror liSt'S- IWO lel'els of dislortlOn 10

; J «

cantrast tire hl/lllan folly of tile vii/agers wilh Ihemore deJ'irob/e traits (such as patiencel of tire

oldman.

Is fantllSY dependent on certllln themes, and, if so,might these themes be exhausted? My own responscto one story, Gabriel G.arc:ia Marquez's "A VeryOld Man with Enormous Wings." n story In whichtheme and the atmosphere of a fantasy that emergesfrom the theme~, if anything, negalively correlat­ed, leads me to suspect that fantasy is not closelylied to theme, so thatfantllSles maybe created in anynge, without reference to theme,

The story might best be described by starting atthe end. AI the conchlslon, nn old man flaps like asenile vulture away from the village where for yearshe has been held captive, The womlll1 who hasgrodglngly taken care of him watches him ooen afurrow in the vegelable palch with his fingernails inhis first attempt to rise. She sees him nearly knockdown a shed with his "ungainly flapping." As hegains altitude and begins to disappear, she watches"until it WllS no longer possible fot her to see him,because lhen he was no longer an annoyance In herlife but an tmagtnary dot" George McMurrny, In

his recent study of Gahriel Gmia Marquez {Gabn.t:I Garcia Marquet. 1977], focuses on this finalImage and concludes that for the rcader (and thevillagers) Ihe story is a "cathltl11C destrucllon ofantiquated mYths," My own reacllon WllS quitedifferent: I had the prescribed catharsis, but I cameIlway with my taste for myth and the supernaturalintacl. i could see how McMurray nmved lit hisconclUSion, because this partIcular Icarus, with his"few faded hairs left on his bald skull" and toe airof a "drenched great.grandfather," would hardlyseem to tnspifc wonder. But i felt lIS If I hadwitnessed the beginmng of a myth, not its end, Ilndthe story had evoked for me Ihe sense ofwonder andmarvel that one IISsOCIales with myth lit its inception.

Whether the story IS best designated lIS a mythor as It fantasy is anolher matter. Myths present"supernatuml episodes as a means of interprelingnatu'ral cvents in an effort to make concretc andparticular a special perception of man or Il cosmiCview," lIS re. Hugh Holman, in his 19721 A HOlld­book to Uleral!lrt: would have it. The old mlln ofGmia Marquez's story does not stimulate the vil­lagers to tnterpretlll1}l\hing. He is dropped into theirexiStence untXplained, and leo.ves unexpillilltd, clan·fying nothing. It would bemore accumte loconsiderIhe work a fantMy on the grounds that the storydeals, to use the handbook's terms agllln, with an

"incredible and unreal characler." I will eventuallyapply a more contemporary definition of fantasy tothe Story, [Tzvetanl Todorov's definition [in· 77leFoll/astic: A Stn/l:mmt Approach 10 a UtemryGt:nre, tmns. Richard Hown.rd, 1973J, but for themoment I prefer to pursue funherthe consequencesof McMurray's approach, His view implies that thesubject of myth, or, llS I will have it, fanlasy,determines our reacllons. If the lext parodies amythic subject, then the reader would appropriatelyrespond, not with an elevated sense of wonder, butwilh amusement at the exposure of nonsense, Sincelhe subject mailer in GlllCili Marquez's story doesnot diminish my own appreclattOn oflhe marvelous,i am left 10 conclude either that McMurrny hasmisread the text or that the effect of a fantasy IS notdependent on the sUbject. I have concluded that bothpropositions are true. McMulTllY has misrepresent·ed the text, and, even so, somelhing other thantheme or subject mailer creates what the readerresponds to m n fantasy. "A VeIY Old Man wilhEnormous Wings" can be used to show that, asTodorov hllS predicted, the manner of lelling, notthe matter, creates the fantasy.

McMurray'S points should first be dealt with inmore detail. His interpretation is brief, but hisIIfgumenttsea.silyextended, PIll1 ofGarcia Marquez'sslfntegy, as McMurrnv suggests, WIIS undeniably todiminish the grandeur of this unellrthly wmgedcreature. Similes used to describe him do not evengmnt him human allrihules: matched with the vil·lagers who stood around his cage he looked "like ahuge decrepit hen among fascinaled chickens."Later illS said lhnt he tolerates a child's "ingeniousmfllmies with Ihe patlencc of 11 dog who had nolIluskns." A complex simile, to be sure, for thenarrator IS saymg not onlv that lhe old man IS like II

dog, but also Ihllt the dog with his patience and lackoflllusions is like a human being. Nevertheless, theeffect of the simile is to emphasize the analogy 10 ananimal. The syntllX of the sentence which revealsthe old man's wmgs also diminishes mther thanennobles him. Pelayo, the man who found him,heard something moving and groanmg in the coun·yl1l1:lthat he had recently cleaned of crabs and thestench they left behind. Pelayo "had to go veryclose to see thai it was an old man, 1I vefY old man,lying fnce down in the mud. who, in splie of histremendous efforts, couldn'lget up, Impeded by hisenOrmous wings." The long sentence, with itshesitations that duplicate in lhe render tbe efforts ofIhe old man, relegates the marvel of his wings to theterminal subordinate clause. Rhelolical decisions

tfT,e n.rrator', mntive in

telling t.he story would sesm

to be satiric rather than

inspirational. The credulity

of mankind and greed~~

Pelayo's wife begins to Charge

admission to see the old man­

are a.pparently the narrator'a

targets."

such lIS these have JUSt as much effect on us 11$ thecontent. It would seem that bolh the language andthe content~ pushing the reader in the direCtionlhat McMurray hllS outlined. The supernatuml isdescribed llS something ordinlll)' or, even moreprecisely, foul and repellent

McMurray's Ilnnlysis can be extended fUllher.The nnrrator's mauve in telling the story wouldseem to be satiric mther than inspimtlonal. Thecredulity of mankind and greed-PelllYo's wifebegins to charge ndmission 10 see the old man-areapparently Ihe nnrrator's tnrgets. The church IS 100,for the attempts of ecclesillStical bureaucl1l!s' todiscover through correspondence with the residentpoest whether or not the wingedcfelllUfe is nn angelare hogged down by theIr destn: to find out "if theprisoner had n navel, ifhis dialect had any connec­lion with AramaiC, how many times he could fit onthe head of a pm. or whether he wasn't just II

Norwegian with wings," Furthermore, the nllITll'tor's exaggeraled mnnner of descriplion seems toundercut even funher our respOllSc to the old man.When Pelayo and his wife Elisendn firsl spenk to theold man, "he answered III an incomprehensibledialect with a strong sailor's voice." What it IS thatmakes the VOice sound like that of a sailor IS notquestioned by the narrator, who Simply mirrorswhat is presumably the illogic of Pelayo and EUsenda.TIle nnrralor's compliCity in this fabrication extendsbeyond mirroring. He notes thai Pelayo and Elisenda"skipped over the inconventence of lhe wings lindquite Intelligently concluded that he was Il. lonelycastaway." Since wings are cenalnly more than an"inconvenience," and the 10gicrtl processes ofPelayo

J ; g

;\ !'.,~ Old Man .. (.k Ena,noa~ .. Win,. ;\ Vtrr Old Man "'/111 En",,,,,,u, Wfn,.

I,·

" ,

tt The winged m.n',

humanity is underlined by a

foil the nnrrator craatas--a

'/loman '/Iho has been changed

into a spider."

and 8isendn Me therefore something It:Ss thanIntelligent, we have a narrator who, instead ofstriving to establish the credibilily ofIhis supernatu­ral crenture, IS emphasiting the credulity of thevillagers,

Similt:S Ihat demean, satIre, playful logiC-itwould seem Ihat Garcia Marquez is not aboul tohonor a myth, Yet none of tht:Se deVICes totallycancels out the mystery_ The diminishing suggt:Stedby these devices does not represent all of the truthabout the old man and his wings. However decrepitthe old man is, he does renew himself. When hearrived he seemed close 10 death, and seveml yearslater a doctor listening to the old ronn's heal1concludt:S that it is impossible for him to be alive;yelaner his release from his cage and with the onsetof sunny days, stiff feathers begm to grow on hiswings. Although the narrator contmues 10 demgrate,calling the new growth "scarecrow feathers" thatlook like "another misfortune of decrepliude," thefeathers do allow the old man 10 flyaway, Some­thing lIbOlit the old roan IS greater than Ihe narrator'sestImatIOn of him.

Other deVICes that the narrator used 10 increasemtherthtm decrease our respect for the old man alsoneed to be considered. When compared 10 thosearound him the old man becomt:S the model ofpatience, trvmg the best he can 10 "get comfortablein his borrowed nest, befuddled by Ihe hellish helltof the oil lamps and sacrnmental candles that hadbeen placed along Ihe wire." He refuses to eat Ihemothballs that one of lhe villagers thinks is the"food prescribed for angels," and subSISts on egg­tJlant mush, If he is "befuddled," that term haslromc value, for It IS those Ihat regard him who areconfused.

Contmsl with what seems 10 be even the sanestof mortals IS illustrative, Father Gonzaga is thefigure presented by the nam:ltor llS the most sane, He

is nol, as his parishioners are, ready to make Ihe oldman the mayor of the world or a "five-star genemlm order to win all WllrS," nor does he want to puthimoulto stud 10 crente' 'a race ofwinged wise menwho could take charge of the universe." FlltherGonzaga "had been arobust wOodcullcr" and so byimplication is more realislic. He soberly approachesIhe old mnn and says good morning m Latin. FatherGonzaga has "his first suspiCIOn of an Imposter"when he saw Ihat the old man "did not understandthe language of God or know how to greet HisminISters," lind il is at Ihis point we realize thaiFalher Gonzaga IS the one who fails the test, not theold mnn. Father Gonzaga noltces that "seen closeup" Ihe old man "was much too human," nnd sothe poest warns his parishioners not to be taken in,In Ihe light of Father Gonzaga's response, thecomment Ihlll the old man IS "too human" isparticularly telling. Gonzaga's mtlonalism obscureshis realization that although the wmged gentlemanmllY not meet doctnnni specifications, he still ismiraculous, What begins to emerge is an Image ofthe old man liS someone possibly more human nndreasonable than members of the wingless species.

The wmged man's humanity is underlined by afoil the narrator creates-a woman who hIlS beenchanged into 1I spider. Her preseoce dislracts thevillagers, and they cease to pay Ilttenllon to the oldman. Her exhibit costs It:Ss, and unlike the old mnn,she talks about her affliction. Where the old manrefused, she encoumges responses, rendily accept­mg melllbnlls lossed into her mouth. There is noth­ing ambiguous or SUbmerged nbout our percepltonof her. The old man's wmgs were slowly revcaled;we are told bluntly that this womlln IS "a frightfultamnlulathe sizc of a mm ... wilh Ihe head of a sadmaiden." Though the narrator does not e;l;lIggeralethe catalogue of her strangeness, she tS In fnct moregrotesque than the old man.

The narnllor's descnptlOn of the villagers' re­sponse to her IS familiar: once ngllillthe logiC of thevillagers IS suspecl; the crowd regards her a spectll­cle full of "human truth," n "fearful lesson," Thefacts of the lesson, however, arc Ihese: II lightmngbolt ofbrimstone changed her form because she hadbeen dancing all night without her parents' permis­Sion, The narrator's Indirect ex.posure of the triviali­ty of what the crowd considers a baSIC truth allersour respollse to the old man. We begm to admiremore his silence and even his diet.

The way the villagers treat him is ultimately thebest clue to how we should regard him. They poke,

Shari S,,,rf~T r"r S."dtn/i

they prod, and at one pomt they bum him with nbmnding iron. Up until Ihis point pain itself hnsseemed unreal. Those with ailmenls who come to becured have only Ihe most fanciful of afflictions,such os thai of on old man "who couldn't sleepbecaose lhe noise of the Stllrs disturbed him" lindthat of "a poor woman who since childhood hadbeen countmg her heartbeats and hnd run out ofnumbers." But the old man with Wtngs respondswith true pam, ranting in his "hermelic language,"tentS in his eyes, flapping his wings to create "awhirlwmd of chicken dung and lunnr dust." Thevillagers take the old man ns no more Ihan a creatureof fiction, hence not subjecr to pam. They may nOIsee the old man's humanity, but the reader should.

What I hope is emerging IS a more complelesense of the role of the namllor. His delllgmtions ofthe protagonist have been systematiC but not e;p;clu­SlVe. He distorts by alternately t:Xa~gemtlng andunderstallng. What could be called the outer orsecondnrv level of distortion IS the produci of thenarralor's supposcd sympathy with the vleWpOtnl ofthe villagers,1lJis level, whose function is basicallysatiric, leads the narralor to cal! wings "inconven­ient" or to e;p;aggemte thechureh's concern in lennsof the medieval problem of calculating the numberof angels on the head ofII pin,TIle narrator takes Ihevtewpoint ofIhe villagers themselves, pretending tobe alternalely detached or supporttve, but every­where he ex.poses irrationality and superstition.Underneath Ihis levcl, however, IS another, an mneror pomary level of distortion, which grows fromone centml fact-there IS an old man with enormouswings. That conception embodies even In ils gram­mallcal form a pnrndox m the contrast belween"old" and "enormous," for we would not e;l;pectanYlhing so powerfuUy endowed to be so decrepit.Beyond Ihis parndox. is II kind of stmplicity andunarguable solidity. The nature oflhe wmgs them­selves docs not change; whal changes is our percep+110n of their naturalness. By the end of the Story, adoclor exammes the old man nnd is surprised. by"the logiC of his wmgs, ,. and Ihe reader IS preparedfor a stmilar realiznllon. These Wings, as the doctorputs iI, seem "100 natural on Ihat completely humanorgamsm that he couldn't understand why othermen didn'l have them 100," This old man. with hismllleness, his pallence, IS m some ways more hu­man, more natuml, and evcn more believable, thananyone else In the stor)'. The secondary level ofdistortIOn playfully e;l;pOSeS human folly; the pnma­ry level by conlrasl defines mOle desirable hu­man tmits.

I' " I u no t

At this poml it is appropnate 10 define the genreof Ihe work more precisely. The definition willallow us tosee how the IWO levels ofdistortion worktogether 10 create the effects we lISsoclllte withfantasy. Within the lasl few years, severnl critics, inparticulnrW. R_Irwm [17le G(lJlle of/ht! Impossible:A Rlfe/onr: a/Fantasy, 1976J, Eric S. Rabkin m,eFan/astir: //I Ulemture, 1976], and Tzvetan Todorov,haveallempted to describe fllnlasy llS a genre, Oflhethree. Todorev's analYSIS provides the most mstruc+ttve standards 10 apply to Garcia Marquez's story.The fit is not perfecl; Todorov, I believe, concludesthai "fnnlllSY" nlUTOwly defined 15 h::lrdly bemgwrillen anymore. But even the divergence between"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" alldTodorov's principles IS in itself enlightemng.

Todorov assumes that, first, fantllSles producethe effeci of hesttation. The reader IS never whollysure whether he is confronting a sUJlematuml eventor something that can be rallOna!ly explained. If thereader IS able 10 conclude the event is ex.plicablesolely on the supemalllrallevel, the story belongs (0another genre, Ihe marvelous, and, if the readerchoost:S the rational e;l;planalion, Ihe slOry falls imothe genre of the "unCllnny," Secoad, the readerusually particlpales in the storv Ihrough Ihe mediumof a chamcter who believes m reason and order, sothai the render upenenct:S the hesitlillon throughthe characler's eyes, Third, the reader mUSI not beable to ex.plain away the supernatural events byconsideong them allegoncal or pOCIlC. In this cllsethe reader would conclude Ihat the supernatural ismerely ashorthand foran iden, hence not to be takenliterally. One of the clues to allegory is that no onein the Storv IlIkes an abemlllon to be unusual. and soIhere IS no sense of hesttllllon,

In the case of the Garclll Marquez story, it ISsimpler to denl with the second pomt first, There ISno chamcter recountmg for us his expenences,There ts an implied nlllTIllor, llnd this narrator IS adirect mversion of the sort ofcharacter that Todorovhas posiled. This IS no ratIOnal human, bUia creatorof eltaggemllons. The hesitation that Todorov speaksof lIS his first pomt, then, deoves in this story notfrom the doubts of a charncter, but from our doubtsabout whllt the nltITlltor is saying. Todorov's nnaly­sis Illlows us to see the mgenuity of what GarciaMarquez: has done. GafCm Marquez has tilken whatwould normally be Ihe mdex of normality, thevillage folk, and made lhem the grealest of ex.ag­gerators. The unreal chamcter, in comrast, begms toappear normal and harmless. Garcia Marquez has

" ,

'" V." 014 AlQ" ... 111: En"'OIQuf Wlnt. Vo" Old Jian ... 1111 En"r.,QlI, II'Jn,>

I':!

managed to make his centrol contrary-to-fllct silUa­lion, the old man with wmgs (what I have beencalling the primary level of distortion), seems alto­gether more rational and ordinary than the villagers.Those who follow Rabkin's definition of fantllSyshould be pleased, for the effect that I have de­scribed is replete with what Rabkin calls ISO-degreeIUrns in pen;pective, the undennlll1ng of establishedexpectations, As for the malter of allego!}', It ISpossible that the wings themselves might be takenlIS allegoncal evidence of the lnle dignity of man,What prevents us from toong the wings as allego!}'IS the very insistence on the decrepitUde of the oldman, and elaboration of the reality of the Wings, the"stellnr parasites" in them. In the SllJne way, thechllI'llcters both nrc and nre not taking the old man llSunusual, so that the wings both nee and nre notallegOrical. It is notlhat Garcia Mlll'Ciuez is makinghash ofTodorov's categories. What he is dOing byhis e:lD.ggerollons is creatmg the maximum doubtand hesilauon about not only the supernatural butthe nalUralas well.

We should now be nble to reconsider some ofthe queslions originally raised by McMurray's in­lerpretntion. Although it might be possible to con­tend that McMurray's reading of the text failed tomke into account the double role of the narrntor andthe two levels of distortion, and hence hedid not seethe extent to which Garcia MllI'Q.uez hilS shifted oursympathies toward the old man and located theantiquated, exhausted View in the perceptlon of thevillagers, such 0. view does not fully nccoun! for theenergy of the story. Arriving lit the truth ofthe storyand feeling its impnct do not o.utomatlcally resultfrom peeling off the secondary layer of distortionand gelling o.t the primnry, It IS not possible to tnkeeither level as the ultimate truth. The positive vnluesmay seem to be vested in the pnmary level, forGllrtia Marquez. hllS made muteness lind patienceseem lnlly supemo.lUtlll virtues, nnd by Implico.tionexnggernlton the expression of humnn fnllibility,But the center of the story is still an exnggetlluon.Men do not hnve wings. The process of distortionitself is the vehicle of our approach to the story. Thevery act of reading and interpreting the story restsnot on muteness and plltience, but on the apprecia­tion of exaggerntlon. In rending the Story the renderdoes not respond only to the lnlth of n pilrtlcularidea, In the cIIse of Ihis slory, for insto.nce, the ideo.thllt there tS nn mdeslnlctible, Winged IISpect of mnnthat cnn fly despite its own aging or the lack ofnppreciauon from ordin.llJ}' men, The story IS awhole, notnset oflevels, lind what causes the reader

, "

to respond, in the terms that Todorov hIlS estllb­Hsherl, is the reader's hesitation over whllt tS real.

This hesitation is built up from Ihe minutestdelni1s,1l5 cnn be shown inone isolated segment, theending. Even slight distortions In lnngullge nresignificnnl, The conclUding phrase Sltttes !hilt theold man "Wll5 no longer an annoyance in [Elisenda'sllife but an imagmary dot on the horizon of the sea...The antithesis of "annoyance" and "dot," con­trasting an nbstrncllon wilh something IItlellSt bare­ly visible, mlght make us grnmmatlcally uncomfort­IIble, but the mJSmlltch reproduces the Q,ulliity oflhesto!}' itself. It is 115 if there were a rather ec.sy flowbetween our feelings nnd the things we find nboutus, 50 that a thought might suddenly take a sub­stnnce as real lIS our own, or just llS suddenlydisappear. The energy created by unusual phrasesworks In the same wny. The idea of modifying"dot" by the ndjectlve "imaginary" is plnusible inthat the dot mny be 50 small thn! it is nenrlyImnginnry. but the conjunction of the twO tenns ISnlso implausible; it has something of the force of anoxymoron, for Elisendo. is simultaneously seeingo.nd merely Imagining, "Imaginary" is also apt inthat the old mnn is hy our standards rightly consid­ered imaginary. Structurally the close IS effecuvebeco.use it complements the opentng-the characterWIlS visually constructed piece by piece for us, nndnow visunlly rttedes into nothingness, Viewed fromone perspective, humankind is relieved of a burden.Viewed fromanother, n creature more perfcet. morelogicalthnn mlln has achieved his freedom. The factthat the old man has escaped from the perspectlveofthe characlers means to !he characters that he doesnot extst, he mny be Ignored, But we have seen himendure over a period of time nnd can imngtne himperhaps going back to whatever imagmnry place itIS Ihnl he l\ves in, one tho.t has ilS much vnlidity to itlIS this imllginnry town into which he hIlS fo.Uen.

The cluster of possibilities here mntches thepossibilities advanced in the rest of the story. Clus­ters such o.s this give the sto!}' Its power and treo.tethe effects we identify with fnntnsy; the clusterswork much the snme wo.y o.s the hesitation over thenatuml nnd the supernntuml. Btenuse the effect ofthe SIO!}', the sense in which it ts n fantasy, is createdby the treatment, not by the subject or theme, thenumber of fantasies that cnn still be written shouldbe endless. At one time myths mllY hnve been mo.n'sway of imagimng the ummllginable, but now, eventhough literal mythmaking is no longer used toexplain the world around us, the sense of wonderthat mylh bnngs with it need not tn consequence be

Sharr Slario. (or Slud.alz

,....'.;-

abandoned, It does not matter !hnt we cnnnot tIlkethe fanciful as liternlly as man might once have, nordoes it matter that the subject of a myth is decrepit,toothless, nnd featherless. The sense of wonder thatn mylh or n fnntllSy evokes inheres not in the subject,but III the telling, Fnntasy IS more Ihe how thanthe wlult.

Put In teons ofTodorov's discuss ton, fantasy iscrented initio.1iy by something Significantly contraryto the ordinllI}', The tnsk of the reader is to nnturnl­IU, to recupemte, tho.t is, to make intelligible, thisbreak from the nonns of the reader's experience.The most significllOlthing about the genre IS that thebrenk should not readily be bridged; the circuitsmust be kept open nslong 115 possible. InTcdorov'swords, the hesililtion musl continue. Whnt the read­er ends up recupenltlng is ultimately the process, thebroken cin::uit itself. It is not whntthe brenk is nbout,it IS that there is a continuous break thai makes 0.

fltntllSY, Since fantasy is n process, nota result, itsresoun::es are endless, and it is in no way dependenton the fashion of the conventions it adapts.

The finnl mnlter to consider is the effect ofparody in the genre. Does the parody of n myth orfnntllSY make the story a last gllSp, 115 the Russinnformalists have assened in other cilSes, of a genrethnt is nbout toexplre or assume n new fonn? I thinknot. Parody is not centntJ to this story, The mentionof stellar bugs nnd scratehings 15 only a way for themuntor to make the mystery of Ihe old mnn mon:,

not less, incredible. There Me parodic elements, butIhis is not a parody ilS such, Wilnt one ultimntelygrasps in II fantasy is the potential of lnnguage 10

construct n world pnnly, but not Wholly, like ourown, Fo.ntasy is the logicul extenSion, the wings, ofhlllgUo.ge itself. Uternture III general lind fantasy inplll1iculnr an: the magic which our customllI}' lnn~gunge 50 dimly represents.

SOllml:lll1mGeri&clJ, ''The LogIC ofWingcG=I~ M1lnl.ucz,TodctDv.and tho Endleu ReJOUlUS ofFanwy:' in 8ridgutt:J Ft:J!lIasy, Oeo/ie E. Sluuer, ErIc S. Rabkin, and RobenScholeJ, ed$.• Southern I!Ilncls Unlv=ily Pren, 1982. pp.121-19,

Further Reading

Bell.vilhula, Oene H. GlI~llI MlIrquee Th. Mml tUrd Hi,Work. UniversllV ofNonh Carolina Preu, 1984.

Bell_Vmada elplarcs varlous .npecu of GarciaMlU'1juc:z.'s wO"" wllh chaplers fCCilsing on his shortficlion, hIs Cll/ly <!eveiopmeni U ~ wriler, and hbnovels.

WillialllJ, Raymond. Gabrit1Go~lnMlIrqutl. Twayne Pub­Ibhen:, 1984,

A vctume of crltleilm <;-cvCling Gan:i~ Marquu'sc:u:ur up 10 llIe lime of iu publlnllon, !neludingchJptert. ana!Yring each o(hls nnvels .nd mon of lbeslton sterieJ. WitUams abe includes a blogl'llph!calIntroduction, tIJld a survey of llIe aUlhor's wor!;; as •loumll1l1L

, "