A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
In the story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", Gabriel Marquez presents to the reader the theme of folklore through the use of key elements. Folklore is a traditional story or custom preserved by a specific culture to communicate that culture's beliefs, values, history, and myths from generation to generation (p 1784). Marquez conveys this theme by using the key elements of monsters, animals talking and flat characters. One major element of folklore Marquez uses to convey the theme in the story is through the use of monsters. The monster that appears in the story is not the typical type of monster found in folklores. The angel in this story is presented to the reader to be a monster and not a heavenly being as most angels are portrayed. Usually, when one thinks about an angel they would associate very radiant images with its physical appearance. Angels often have very full and flowing heads of hair, along with glowing smiles. Also, one would also expect an angel to have a very pleasant and soft voice. Marquez uses very dark imagery to show the angel as a monster. One quote that truly embodies the appearance of the angel is when the author describes the angel as being "dressed like a ragpicker" (p 570). The angel h
She snuck out one night to a dance after she was forbidden to go. He performs numerous tests to confirm whether or not the creature is actually an angel. However, the lacking information about the priest and the parents is an element of a folklore which Marquez had to infuse into the story in order to successfully convey the theme. The angel's wings look like buzzards wings and the feathers are scarce. Even though they remain throughout the entire story, little or nothing is known about these characters. According to Marquez, "in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon" (p 572). To remain alive the spider girl would travel with a carnival show and charge admission for people to marvel in her misfortunes. The final key element in this story that conveys the theme of folklore is that all of the characters are flat. Marquez also says that the angel's voice was like a sailor's, which could be described as raspy and deep (p 570). Another character that has no background and leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions is the parents of the sick child. The spider girl tells her visitors her story to try to teach them a lesson and receives her nourishment from people throwing meatballs into her mouth (p573). In folklores many times talking animals are used to keep the story interesting or to infuse an element of fantasy. The spider girl came to be because she disobeyed her parents. According to her recounts of the night, a loud thunderclap split the sky in two and the girl was struck by lightning.
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