In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” author Gabriel García Márquez weaves the natural with the supernatural in an unexpected yet thought-provoking way. He leaves the reader with the question, “What would I do if I were faced with something supernatural right outside my door?” By combining the mundane and ugliest parts of life, from rainy days to selfish crowds, with the miraculous, Márquez effectively uses a creative tone and unique style to create a story that contains elements of everyday life but replaces them. His story invites the reader to take a closer look at daily events and determine one’s response to normal and not-quite-normal events that have the power to change a life.

The tone of the story is set from the beginning, with the most natural and unpleasant events: a sick child in the middle of bad weather. In the first few sentences, Márquez’s writing style immediately catches the imagination as he writes, “The world has been sad since Tuesday,” describing in detail the drab, inclement weather. In the first paragraph, he brings magical elements by introducing the surreal character of an old man with enormous wings. Marquez immediately destroys any mentality the reader has of holy and mighty angels by placing him face down in the mud and unable to get out, “hindered by his enormous wings.”

With a touch of irony, the very objects that should have empowered this man to fly over the elements of the earth, his wings, hindered him and attracted unwanted attention. The irony is part of the tone woven throughout the story. It is seen in the “wise old lady” who determined that the winged old man was an angel…and then suggested beating him to death. It shows in the wording that Márquez chose when he affirmed that the spouses “felt magnanimous” when they chose to leave the angel afloat on a raft with enough food to last him a few days “and leave him to his fate on the high seas. “

In parts of the story, the author’s tone seems to convey a sense of regret that humanity, as a whole, often fails to appreciate the “magic” that is part of life. Instead of appreciating an experience and fully living in the moment, many ask, “What’s in it for me?” When husband and wife, Pelayo and Elisenda, decide to exploit the angel by making viewers pay to see it, this sense of selfishness and greed is evident. Here again, the reader has the opportunity to imagine what his choice would be if he were faced with a similar situation. Of course, no angel is going to fall from heaven on a sad and stormy day, but in the daily run of things, how do you take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves? Gabriel García Márquez invites the reader to formulate questions like these not through a sermon but in the form of a story.

Using magical realism, Márquez also takes those natural tendencies of humanity and interweaves them with supernatural elements, creating scenes that make the reader wonder if perhaps magic can extend to the world beyond the page. For example, the angel is so real that the local priest, Father Gonzaga, notes that he is “too human.” He smells. Everything about him is the opposite of everything one might think of as angelic and holy. But when he takes a closer look, parts of the angel’s character can be glimpsed on the pages. His endless patience becomes apparent as he endures abuse: being caged with chickens, pushed, prodded, and prodded. He doesn’t defend himself. He waits…almost as if he knows it’s only for a while. This, if nothing else, is a sign of the angel’s supernatural origin: his demeanor in the midst of trauma. Perhaps despite the human and unpleasant circumstances, the reader can also manifest those same attributes of patience and perseverance. The tone of the story invites us to think that it is possible.

Finally, towards the end of the story, the angel’s patience is rewarded. With the dawn of spring, it begins to sprout new feathers on its wings. The setting of the story matches the action. The long and dreamy winter is over and a new life begins everywhere and inside. Like the rest of the angel, these new feathers are inconspicuous, “the feathers of a scarecrow, which seem more like another disgrace of decrepitude.” But they are enough. He looks up at the sky, feels the breeze and begins to fly, slowly at first but rising higher and finally disappearing over the ocean, beyond the blue.

Elisenda looks from the kitchen and “kept looking until it was no longer possible for her to see it, because then it was no longer a hindrance in her life but an imaginary point on the horizon of the sea.” The strange juxtaposition of her emotions against the clearly supernatural circumstances creates a unique effect. Elisenda is watching an angel fly, the same angel that provided her and her husband with enough money to build a two-story mansion, and she is only relieved that he is gone. In the end, just like in the beginning, a normal person is faced with a supernatural event and doesn’t see it because of how amazing it is. Elisenda is likely to return to her job, never appreciating the miracle that came into her life unexpectedly and left just as abruptly.

With the author’s tone at the end, the reader is invited to ask, “How many times do I look up for a moment, see something beyond the ordinary, and look away? How often am I confronted with something truly unbelievable?” And I don’t see it for what it is because I stop at the question, ‘What’s in it for me?'”

With his use of magical realism, Gabriel García Márquez opens the door to an interesting dialogue and invites the reader not only to enter a place of imagination and mystery, but also to observe one’s own thoughts and actions and see how they compare with the elements. . -normal and supernatural- of everyday life.