art-icle on A piece of writing,

Gabriel Garcia Marquez entices the reader in this short story by creating a sense of reality, utilizing the reader’s senses to relate the atmosphere that Pelayo (the main character) is in. Marquez has a very direct manner of approaching the reader with the situation. Pelayo encounters the Old Man in the very beginning of the story, thus giving the reader no choice but to read on and find out what is happening. Marquez uses a different arrangement of descriptive elements that is refreshing the entire read. The characters are given dimension, and some are very unique such as the main attraction with “huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked” (Marquez, 261). This old man that falls into a couple’s yard and changes their entire life, and after their sick infant is cured his existence becomes a charity cause to be studied. Where Pelayo finds a way to profit from the assumed abilities that this ragged old man has, Marquez finds a very effective way to set up the story without having allowing it to become mundane, and the introduction of what Pelayo and Elisenda ( Pelayo’s wife) have done with the Old Man is very surprising. It shows a certain level of understanding the human mind, or human condition. Marquez goes in-depth into the fickleness, and materialistic mindset that many fall into when they come across something unfamiliar to the world. It is a very impacting story, and portrays the events of the Old Man in a way that leads you to shake your head but continue on with interest.
In the time that Pelayo and Elisenda spent charging people to visit the old man it is obvious that they care little for him. Pelayo goes to buy something for himself and Elisenda too. They gain a lot of wealth while the old man suffers through endless visits from people trying to heal themselves. They poke and prod at him, burn him, tear his feathers, “and even the most merciful threw stones at him” (Marquez, 263). This complete disregard leads the reader to believe that those people are hypocrites, and creates a certain perpetual mindset towards the old man. The inclination that the old man portrays is what controls the reader from putting the book down. The reader cannot regret the people’s wrongs enough to forsake the story, because Marquez creates an element of intrigue brought on by the progressive speed of the novel. There are many elements of good and evil in this story, and the actions of characters emphasize the flaws in society that Marquez gives negative connotations to. Marquez does a fine job of integrating those messages into his story in a very subtle, yet powerful way. The old man’s passiveness is a figurative passiveness that exists in the world, and while he is not doing anything wrong to those that are foul; the lack of action on his part is what allows those wrongs to continue. It is overpowering the lack of compassion that Pelayo and Elisenda feel for the old man, and this is after all the revenue that they acquired from his existence in their backyard. The old man can represent many things, but Marquez makes it a point to insinuate that he is an angel, thus he is good. The lack of consideration for what is good is something that Marquez felt needed special attention, and the deep rooted feeling of unjust for the old man is a portal for that reality. Marquez allows the reader to continue on in hopes of some reform in society around the angel, but instead what greets them is the reality that the old man is not only imprisoned for being an angel, but that he is disregarded by Rome, and eventually thrown aside for carnival spider-women. One woman in particular steals the people’s eyes away from the old man with the “sincere affliction with which she recounted the details of her misfortune” (Marquez, 264). The unsettling truth of the town’s reaction to the old man, and their compassionate hearts for the spider woman is very disquieting, and while the old man suffers in the old hen cage that collapses she receives words of consolation. Once again Marquez finds another way to further create reality by delivering a more dreadful truth instead of the happy turning point.
Despite the ongoing angel slaughter that takes place in the story, Marquez changes the mood of the story by the last two pages. The reader now begins to explore the life of the angel. Marquez creates a story that lets the reader feel only half fulfilled while they read, and it is not until they begin to see the old man struggle on his own that they feel a more conclusive ending approaching. There is a series of events which the reader has to pass in order to appreciate the development of the old man by the end of the story. And Marquez finds the most intriguing ways of depicting the old man, because he portrays him with a certain level humanity that is absent everywhere else in the story, and he does this successfully.
Marquez created a way of sending so many feelings through a story, and as a storyteller he sends the reader off into a reality that is questioning, alive, powerful, and he delves deeper into issues through those stories. If there is one short story to read this year, then I know any great literary buff would not pass up this story. The dynamic approach to telling this cultured tale of small town social views and happenings is masterful to say the least.