Summary of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - LearnNote

The short story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez takes place in an unnamed Latin American town during an unspecified period. The story tells the tale of Elisenda and Pelayo, husband and wife who encounter an old man with enormous wings who just fell from the sky.

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Summary of the story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The story begins at Elisenda and Pelayo's house. Elisenda and Pelayo are husband and wife. They live in a small house near the courtyard. They have a newborn baby. The baby was sick and thus needs special care. It was raining outside for the past three days. Since the baby was sick, Pelayo and Elisenda are worried about their child’s health. As their house was near the sea (courtyard) many crabs were killed due to rain and some of them were also in Pelayo's home. 

Pelayo thought that the baby was sick because of those crabs. So, Pelayo began to throw those crabs into the sea. When Pelayo was returning from the sea, he found a suspicious thing crawling in the mud. Pelayo went closer to the suspicious thing. As he went nearer, he found an old man with unnatural wings on his back lying in a miserable condition. He was covered with mud and his wings were also torn up. He was in very bad condition. 

Pelayo thought it was unreal so he called his wife Elisenda from home to see the strange-looking old man. Pelayo tried to talk with the old man. Pelayo's neighbor, who knew about life and death, was called to identify the old man. The neighbor came to the old man and told Elisenda that the old man was an angel and he is here to save the child from negative power. After they kept the old man in their home the next day the baby was also no sick and he also ate food. 

Pelayo and Elisenda took pity upon the old man, especially after their child’s recovery. They thought that the old man was an angel because their baby was completely fine. Father Gonzaga, the local priest, told the people that the old man was possibly not an angel because he was untidy and didn't speak Latin. Father Gonzaga decided to ask his bishop for guidance.

The old man’s existence spread quickly and pilgrims from all over came to seek advice and healing from him.  

Now the news was spread all over the village people had different beliefs about the old man some told that he was a devil some told that he was an angel. Not only in the village but the news was spread in other villages too. People from many villages came to see the old man and every day Elisenda would get tired. Elisenda now told Pelayo that they should charge money to the visitors to see the old man. Pelayo was convinced by Elisenda and they charged 5 cents to each visitor. They made a fence so that visitors could see the old man nicely. 

The old man, ignored the people even when they pluck his feathers and hit him with stones to make him stand up. The old man lay motionless for so many hours that visitors thought he was dead. He became furious when the visitors sear him with a branding iron to see whether he was alive. The only supernatural power old man had was patience. He was in pain but he didn't show any sign of pain to people. He sat in a corner. After a few hours, he was awake but with tears in his eyes. He was not able to even walk he was crawling all day.

The visitors started to disperse when a carnival was organized and a suspicious woman, whose half body was a spider and the half body was of human, was brought into that carnival. It was said that she had disobeyed her parents and thus she became a spider. The sad tale of the spider woman was so popular that people forgot the old man. Now the center of the attraction of that village was that spider woman but not the old man. 

Pelayo and Elissenda have grown quite rich from the money they collected as admission fees. Pelayo quit his job and built a new and larger house. The old man continued to stay with the couple, still in the chicken coop. He stayed there for several years till the boy grew older to go to school. Once the chicken coop eventually collapsed and the old man moved into the adjacent shed. The old man often moved from room to room inside the new house. Elisenda was annoyed with the old man.

As the days passed, the old man’s health was seen deteriorating. He could scarcely eat and his eyes had also become so unclear that he went about bumping into posts. Pelayo and Elisenda were convinced that the old man would die. Just then, he began to regain his strength. His feathers began to grow on his wings and he began to sing sea chanteys to himself at night. One morning Elisenda was cutting some bunches of onions for lunch, the old man stretched his wings and took off into the air and she watched him disappear over the horizon.

Major Characters in the story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

The Old Man: An old man with enormous wings appeared in the yard of Pelayo and Elisenda. The old man was dirty and bedraggled (soiled and stained). The old man spoke a foreign language that nobody could understand. His body looked like a human but had unnatural wings on his back. When a doctor examined him, he was shocked that such an unhealthy man was still alive.

His unintelligible language made some people believe that he is an angel. The church considered him to be a Norwegian. The old man’s wings were damaged when he was found lying in the mud at first. However, by the end of the story, the old man has recovered enough to fly away.

Pelayo: Pelayo was the one who first saw the old man lying in his courtyard. He rushed to call his wife when he encountered the mysterious old man. Throughout the story, Pelayo was kinder to the old man. Despite his neighbor woman’s suggestion, he didn’t club the old man. But he put the supposed angel (old man) in his chicken coop and charge money to the crowds who went to see the old man. 

Elisenda: Elisenda is wife of Pelayo. She initiated the idea to charge money for the curious visitors. Elisenda’s attitude towards the old man was primarily one of irritation and anger. Elisenda considered him only as trouble. The old man, in fact, helped the poor couple generate enough money and made them capable to buy a new house. The couple built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens and high netting so that crabs wouldn't get in during the winter, and with iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldn't get in. But Elisenda never credited the old man for their financial rise. In the end, Elisenda watched the old man fly away.

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Class 12 Exercise and Question Answer

Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions

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

The narrator describes the weather as sad and gloomy, with rain that lasted for three days, making the world seem ash-gray and the beach covered in mud and rotten shellfish.

 

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

Palayo and his wife find a very old man with enormous wings lying face down in the mud in their courtyard. He has huge, dirty wings that are tangled in the mud, and he looks weak and pitiful.

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

Pelayo and Elisenda imprison the old man in the chicken coop because they think he might be an angel who came for their sick child but got knocked down by the rain. They are unsure about what to do with him and want to keep him away from the curious crowd.

 

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

Father Gonzaga is not sure about the old man being a celestial messenger because the old man doesn't understand Latin, the language of God, and he seems too human, with a bad smell and damaged wings.

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

Many people gathered at Pelayo's house to see the strange old man because they believed he was an angel. They were curious and wanted to witness something extraordinary.

 

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

Some miracles that happened include a blind man growing three new teeth instead of recovering his sight, a paralytic almost winning the lottery, and a leper's sores sprouting sunflowers. These miracles were strange and not typical.

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

The people did irritating things like pecking at the old man's wings, pulling out his feathers, and throwing stones at him, trying to make him stand up.

 

How and why was the woman changed into a spider?

The woman was changed into a spider because she disobeyed her parents and sneaked out to go to a dance. A lightning bolt of brimstone struck her during a thunderstorm, transforming her into a frightful tarantula.

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

Elisenda saw the strange man flying over the houses when he finally attempted to fly. At first, he was clumsy and almost knocked down the shed, but eventually, he gained altitude and flew away, relieving Elisenda and herself.

Reference to the context

The arrival of a strange old man at Palayo’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?

The neighbor woman, Father Gonzaga, and the doctor all have different interpretations of the strange old man. The neighbor woman thinks he's an angel, Father Gonzaga is unsure and thinks he might be an imposter, and the doctor hears strange sounds in his heart and kidneys. These three people give different interpretations because they have different perspectives and beliefs. The neighbor woman is superstitious and believes in angels, Father Gonzaga is skeptical and cautious, while the doctor approaches the situation scientifically, listening for unusual sounds in the old man's body.

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 story-teller narrates the common place 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.

Five magical realist happenings in the story are the arrival of the old man with enormous wings, the miracles attributed to him (like the blind man growing teeth and the leper's sores sprouting sunflowers), the strange illnesses of the people who come to see him (counting heartbeats, disturbed by the noise of stars, sleepwalking to undo things), the spider woman's existence, and the old man's attempt to fly. These events seem magical because they defy the laws of nature and blend fantastical elements with everyday life.

 

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?

The purpose of introducing the episode of the woman who became a spider is to shift people's attention from the strange old man, creating a contrast and adding another layer of magical realism to the story. It also highlights the theme of human curiosity and the tendency to be fascinated by the unusual, diverting attention away from the old man to another mysterious element.

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

Pelayo and his wife take advantage of common people's whim by charging admission to see the old man with enormous wings. They build a two-story mansion with the money they earn and set up a rabbit warren. Elisenda even buys luxurious items like satin pumps and dresses. The couple capitalizes on the curiosity and gullibility of the people who come to see the old man, turning it into a profitable venture.