In Gabriel Garcia Marquez' "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," a variety of themes are dominant throughout the story. Two of the focal themes are sight versus blindness and unconditional love. Both themes play a large role in the development of the story. These themes also exceed one another and provide for a story with a moral.
             The theme of sight versus blindness appears in various forms throughout the story. Through this we can uncover the effect it brings to human beings. First, the children that discover the body see him and eventually realize that he is dead, but they are blind to the fact that his lack of life separates him from them. They play with him as if he was another child. Subsequently, the women that tend to Esteban are blind, though he is soiled; they see his beauty. The reverse is true of the men in the village, given that they see his awkward size and build, but are also blind to his beauty. All of the mentioned village people are sightless to Esteban's real identity. They do not see him for who he really is, they only see and perceive what they want to.
             Another ubiquitous theme in this story is unconditional love. Seeing as many of the villagers are blind to the less positive attributes of Esteban, they are demonstrating unconditional love. This absolute love also becomes apparent through the attitudes of the women. They did not go out as was usually the case, but they "stayed behind to care for the drowned man." The women as well do not declare the fact that they know nothing about him. They acknowledge him, despite the possibility that he could have had a regretful past. By the conclusion of the story, the men also showed Esteban unconditional love. The men "fought for the privilege of carrying him on their shoulders."
             These two themes allocate the story to develop by allowing readers to relate towards the villagers' points of view. They also teach reade...