🪽 A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

📖 Understanding the Text

a. How does the narrator describe the weather and its effects in the exposition of the story?

=> Answer: The opening is set during a period of continuous heavy rain. The rainfall has persisted for three days, leaving the area waterlogged and turning the surroundings into a muddy mess. The sea and sky seem grey and lifeless, while the beach is scattered with rotten shellfish. The poor visibility and gloomy surroundings establish an unpleasant mood at the beginning of the story.

b. Describe the strange old man as Pelayo and his wife first encounter within their courtyard.

=> Answer: The stranger looks like a poor and exhausted elderly man when Pelayo and his wife first discover him. His head is almost completely bald, and he has very few teeth. His enormous wings immediately distinguish him from an ordinary person. They resemble the wings of a buzzard and are covered in dirt and mud, with many feathers missing.

c. Why did Pelayo and Elisenda imprison the old man in the chicken coop?

=> Answer: Pelayo and Elisenda are unsure about the stranger's identity and become frightened by his unusual appearance. Because their child is ill, they imagine that the winged man could be an angel who has come for the child. They therefore lock him inside the chicken coop so that they can keep him contained while trying to understand the strange situation.

d. Why was Father Gonzaga not sure about the old man being a celestial messenger?

=> Answer: Father Gonzaga notices several details that contradict the image of a heavenly messenger. The old man cannot respond properly when the priest addresses him in Latin, instead speaking in an unfamiliar dialect. He also has a dirty body, an unpleasant smell, and parasites living among his wings. These human and unattractive qualities make the priest doubt that the stranger is truly an angel.

e. Many people gathered at Pelayo’s house to see the strange old man. Why do you think the crowd assembled to see him?

=> Answer: The appearance of a man with enormous wings becomes a sensational event in the community. After hearing that he might be an angel, people become eager to see him with their own eyes. The crowd is drawn by curiosity, superstition, excitement, and the possibility of witnessing something miraculous.

f. Some miracles happened while the crowd gathers to see the strange man. What are these miracles?

=> Answer: Several strange occurrences are considered miracles by the crowd. A blind man remains unable to see but grows three new teeth. A paralyzed person does not recover the ability to walk but almost wins the lottery. A leper's sores become covered with sunflowers. Although these incidents do not result in conventional cures, the people still regard them as signs of supernatural power.

g. State the irritating things that the people did with the strange old man.

=> Answer: The people repeatedly mistreat and humiliate the helpless stranger. They throw stones at him, pull feathers from his wings, and even use a branding iron to force him to move. Their actions show that their curiosity has overcome their sense of compassion. After suffering their treatment for a long time, the old man eventually wakes with tears in his eyes.

h. How and why was the woman changed into a spider?

=> Answer: The woman is transformed into a spider after going against her parents' wishes. She secretly leaves home to attend a dance and stays away all night. During her journey home through the forest, a violent thunderclap occurs, followed by lightning that changes her into a giant spider. Her transformation becomes another remarkable supernatural event in the story.

i. Describe how Elisenda saw the strange man flying over the houses?

=> Answer: Elisenda happens to witness the old man's final flight while she is cutting vegetables in the kitchen. A breeze makes her look outside, where she notices him making repeated attempts to take off. Eventually, he succeeds in lifting himself into the air and flies above the houses. He continues farther away until he finally disappears from her sight.

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📚 Reference to the Text

a. The arrival of a strange old man at Pelayo’s courtyard arouses many suspicions and explanations. Explain how the neighbour woman, Father Gonzaga and the doctor speak of the strange man. Why do you think these three people give three different kinds of interpretations?

=> Answer: The three characters interpret the stranger differently because they approach the mysterious situation according to their own beliefs and areas of understanding.

The neighbour woman gives the quickest supernatural explanation. She is convinced that the old man is an angel who has come to take Pelayo's sick child. She believes that his weak condition is caused by his old age and the severe rain.

Father Gonzaga is more doubtful. He speaks to the stranger in Latin, but the old man responds in a language that the priest does not understand. Father Gonzaga is also disturbed by the man's dirty appearance, foul smell, and parasites on his wings. These characteristics prevent him from accepting the visitor as a genuine celestial messenger.

The doctor studies the old man physically rather than judging him through religious belief or superstition. He is astonished by the man's unusual ability to remain alive despite his weak condition. Although the body appears largely human, the doctor cannot explain the presence of the wings.

The three interpretations therefore reflect three different perspectives: superstition from the neighbour, religion from Father Gonzaga, and science from the doctor.

b. This story belongs to the genre of ‘magical realism’, a genre perfected by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his novels and short stories. Magical realism is a narrative technique in which the storyteller narrates the commonplace things with magical colour and the events look both magical and real at the same time. Collect five magic realist happenings from the story and argue why they seem magical to you.

=> Answer: ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’** is a clear example of magical realism because impossible happenings are incorporated into ordinary village life. Five magical elements are:

1. •

   The arrival of the winged old man is the main supernatural event. He has the ordinary appearance of an elderly man but possesses enormous wings, making his existence impossible under normal circumstances.

2. •

   His unfamiliar speech adds mystery to his character. Nobody around him can understand his language, so his identity remains uncertain.

3. •

   The belief that he is an angel introduces a supernatural possibility into the ordinary household of Pelayo and Elisenda. The villagers treat this possibility as something worth investigating.

4. •

   The transformation of the woman into a spider is another extraordinary event. Her disobedience is followed by a lightning strike that changes her into a giant spider.

5. •

   The old man's return to flight is also magical. His wings gradually recover despite his advanced age and poor physical condition, eventually allowing him to fly away.

These incidents seem magical because they contradict normal experience. However, the narrator describes them with a straightforward and realistic tone, making the impossible appear almost ordinary.

c. The author introduces the episode of a woman who became a spider for having disobeyed her parents. This episode at once shifts people’s concentration from the strange old man to the spider woman. What do you think is the purpose of the author to bring this shift in the story?

=> Answer: The spider woman is introduced as a fresh source of fascination, and the villagers quickly transfer their attention from the old man to her. The new spectacle appears more interesting to them, causing the previous attraction to lose its importance.

This shift demonstrates the fickleness of human curiosity. The crowd never develops genuine sympathy for the old man; instead, people are interested in him because he is strange. When another extraordinary event appears, they simply forget the earlier one.

The episode also shows that public attention is temporary and easily influenced by novelty. Pelayo and Elisenda had profited from the old man's popularity, but the spider woman proves that the crowd can abandon one attraction as soon as another appears.

d. The story deals with the common people’s gullibility. How do Pelayo and his wife take advantage of common people’s whim?

=> Answer: Pelayo and Elisenda take advantage of the community's readiness to believe in supernatural explanations. The neighbour's claim that the old man is an angel quickly becomes popular, even though his identity is never established.

As the number of visitors increases, the couple realizes that the stranger can become a source of income. They begin charging people to see him, turning the public's fascination into a profitable business.

The money they collect eventually improves their living conditions and helps them build a luxurious home. In this way, they exploit the villagers' curiosity, superstition, and desire to witness something extraordinary for their own financial benefit.
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