Jessica Perry

Mr. Ritchey
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Harkness Questions
2 October 2014


2. Consider the symbolism in the story. What does the old man and his wings
represent? The villagers?
The wings of the man represent power. Even though they were filthy and half-plucked
(Marquez 1) he was still able to make the villagers pay attention. Crowds gathered around of
curiosity. He was not treated very well at first. He had his feathers pulled out, he was pecked at
by hens, and he had rocks thrown at him (Marquez 3). This relates to the power of strength
because he was able to stay strong physically and emotionally. In saying this, I think the old man
came to give power to the child. Throughout the story the old man gets weaker as the child gets
stronger. The old mans healed once the child came back to his full health.

4. How does (in what way) the reader occupy a position superior to that of the
storys characters?
We occupy a position superior because of the ability to interpret the story in different
ways from different points of view. After we know how each character involved feels, we can
form our own opinion or thesis. We can interpret each characters emotion depending on which
point of view the story was told from. It is our job as the reader to interpret the story how we
desire to. The author convinces the reader how they should feel about the characters based on
their actions, words, and emotions.

5. What are some of the imaginative excesses that distract the reader from the plot
of the story? Are these distractions important and/or are they of design?
Everything an author writes will be important. If it werent important in developing their
concept then they wouldnt use it. For example, on page four, our narrator is talking of the spider
woman and the circus, but then, the few miracles attributed to the angel showed a certain mental
disorder, like the blind man who did not recover his sight, but grew three new teeth. Then, there
is the paralytic who didnt get to walk but almost won the lottery. Also, the leaper who soars
sprouted sunflowers. These examples from the text show how sentences that look simple can
have a distracting and confusing meaning.

6. Think a moment about the narrator. From what point-of view is the narrator
telling the story? Why would one consider the narrator to be obtrusive
The narrator is telling the story from third person point of view. This is considered
obtrusive because the narrator is projecting each characters emotion and point of views. The
narrator will also infer the theme that the author is trying to convey. The author portrays it
through his or her narrator. Another reason that our narrator is considered to be obtrusive is
because multiple times in the story, the narrator distracts us.

8. Does this enigmatic old man exist? Is his existence purely imaginative or simply
another element of magic realism.






Jessica Perry
Mr. Ritchey
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Harkness Questions
2 October 2014
Magic realism is a literary genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique
come together with surreal elements of fantasy or dream. The old man is an element of magic
realism. Other than the old man and spider woman, the other events that take place are realistic.
Logically speaking, the man only exists in the story. Also, the way the text demonstrates many
aspects of fantasy. Seas and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sand of the beach, which
on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish.
This description is obviously a made up place. Against the judgment of the wise neighbor
woman, for whom angels in those times were the fugitive survivors of a spiritual conspiracy, they
did not have the heart to club him to death.