A Very Old Man's Purpose

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is written from the point of view of an unknown narrator. The narrator details the events within the story from an outside perspective. Although there are some benefits to this point of view such as the knowledge of everything going on in the story, it fails to provide further detail on a character's emotions or reasoning behind an action. This blog post attempts to reimagine the events of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", but from the perspective of the supposed angel and with a focus on the angel's relationship with the child of Pelayo and Elisenda. 

It was a rainy day. The skies were filled with dark and gloomy clouds, saturated and drooping with heavy raindrops. The angel, an old man sent by the heavens, descended upon the small town by the sea. His wings towered over his tiny frame and although an angel, they appeared more buzzard-like, dirty and half-plucked. The old man's appearance was far from the typical grandiose image of an angel found in the young child's picture books. Not only were his wings aberrant, but he wore ragged clothing, had very few teeth, and little hair. The old man had disobeyed the heavens and as a consequence, he was sent to the Earth in a decrepit and feeble form to watch over the young child of the couple, Pelayo and Elisenda.

Thrown off by the new weightiness and tattered wings, the fallen angel had landed face down in the mud of the house by the sea. Unable to get up, he laid face down, helplessly waiting for someone to find him. After several hours, the angel heard muffled voices in a language unknown to him. He attempted to communicate the purpose of his visit but was met with questionable looks and muttering. In the following days, the angel was held captive in the house by the seashore. He meant no harm but despite all attempts at communication, he could not manage to tell the man watching him all afternoon with a bailiff's club in his hand. After seemingly coming to an understanding, the threatening man left the angel who immediately went in search of the child. The angel gingerly placed a hand upon the child's forehead and at once, the child was healed.

Despite his accomplishment, the angel was met with hostility and placed upon a raft set into the high sea. With the little strength he had left, the angel heaved himself back to the house by the sea and found himself in the midst of many strangers who only laughed and threw unfamiliar objects at him. In defense, the angel found shelter in an odd box of metal wires in which the family's chickens were housed. In the following days, the angel was met with gawks and stares as an evergrowing crowd came to visit the small house by the sea. He could not understand the reason for their visit but was made uncomfortable by the abundance of hands reaching out to touch him or pluck his feathers. The angel was miserable. The air around him was oven-like, created by a surplus of lamps and candles and the congregation of flames blurred his vision with orange and yellow flashes. Stones were thrown at him and when resting, he was met with immense pain by an iron burning into his skin. Despite this misery, the angel stayed for his purpose was to watch over the child. His very presence kept the child from harm and he remained determined to keep the child safe.

After some time, the crowds began thinning and the house around him began to change. The once small and homey house by the sea turned into a luxurious and grand two-story mansion with elegant balconies and luscious gardens. When the child began to walk, the couple allowed him to visit the angel in the chicken coop. The child poked and prodded around the cage and would often make more of a mess of the already uninviting wire cage. The angel found the child quite irksome but tolerated his actions for the child was his purpose of living on Earth. While the child would pull at his wings or try to climb on top of him, the angel remained silent and unmoving, careful to pay attention to the child at all times. After months of annoyance, the angel found himself warming up to the young child who visited him every day in the small chicken coop.

When the sky had finally rid itself of the dreary clouds and heavy rains, the child began school. The angel, who had become so accustomed to the child's everyday company, experienced a sense of longing and withdrawal as he felt the child's absence during the long school day. Like a puppy waiting for its owner, he paced back and forth throughout the house and moved from room to room, anticipating the arrival of the child. He could neither sleep nor eat, causing both his eyes and mind to become foggy and his already decrepit form to worsen. Eventually, as time passed and the child grew older, it became increasingly apparent that the angel was no longer needed in the household.

When the winter days were over, the angel noticed a strange development in his wings. No longer were they sparse and shabby, but he began growing the stiff, strong feathers similar to that of a scarecrow. The angel was careful that no one should notice them but he knew his time on Earth was nearing its end. One warm day with a strong breeze, the angel finally made his first attempt at flight. Although ungainly and struggling at first, the angel eventually stretched his wings and flew towards the bright sun, returning to his place in the heavens.