Gabriel Marquez's tone that evolves
throughout "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" conveys the ultimately
detrimental effects of big expectations. The initially pitying tone of the work
expresses a dreary setting in which Marquez depicts
the people as compassionate, and the tone becomes judgmental when evaluating
the excessively poor condition of the unfortunate angel. The increasing cruelty
and artificiality of the people toward the angel, which Marquez expresses in a
somber voice, suggest that human nature and its extreme stereotypes and
expectations never allow for satisfaction or fulfillment. Marquez points out
through his pitying, judgmental, and somber tones that individuals have
unrealistic expectations and an insatiable desire for tangible results that can
only culminate in disappointment and blindness to the reality of given
circumstances.
Initially
in the work, a sympathetic tone depicts a gloomy environment and the seemingly considerate
people who inhabit it to introduce an egocentric setting. In the very beginning
of the story, the narrator states that, “the world [has] been sad since
Tuesday. Sea and sky [are] a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the
beach... have become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (Marquez 327).
The degree of dreariness described in the depressing imagery of ash-gray sights
and rotten smells invites readers to feel compassion for the characters in the
work who must endure the dull environment. The tone calls for sympathy, and it
prefaces the susceptibility of the people to obsess over and expect miracles
that can potentially improve their lives. Next, when the main characters Pelayo
and Elisenda discover the angel in their courtyard, “they [do] not have the
heart to club him to death” (328), despite their neighbor’s in-put. The tone
present when describing the couple’s decision not to kill the angel praises the
characters as if sparing the lives of ethereal, godly figures is a commendable
feat. This exaggeration of compassion suggests that the people in “A Very Old
Man with Enormous Wings” think highly of themselves for doing little and that
they don’t typically practice empathy. The tone pities and praises the people
in the short story, indicating their self-serving tendencies and prefacing
their impractical expectations.
While the tone is praiseful and
forgiving of the people, it becomes judgmental when regarding the pathetic
condition of the angel by emphasizing his imperfections and his features that
contrast those of a stereotypical angel, highlighting the ability of people to
apply unrealistic expectations to their realities. When Pelayo and Elisenda
first discover the angel, they believe that, “his pitiful condition of a
drenched great-grandfather [has] taken away any sense of grandeur he might have
had… That [is] how they [skip] over the inconvenience of the wings and quite
intelligently [conclude] that he [is] a lonely castaway.” (328). They believe that
the old man could not possibly be an angel and even allow themselves to overlook
his wildly inhuman wings because he does not meet the physical description of
an angel that they have in mind. The influence of the stereotype on the couple
illustrates their ability to find disappointment in miracles such as the
presence of angels. When the priest examines the old man, he notices unkempt
physical features and determines that, “nothing about him [measures] up to the
proud dignity of angels” (329). Marquez makes a statement through his critical
tone that not even priests can overcome artificiality and overlook physical
imperfections to appreciate the presence of an angel. The critical tone that
the narrator takes on to encompass the general opinions of the people in the
work implies the inability of people to see past stereotypes and the disappointment
that results from it.
Ultimately,
Marquez effectively conveys with his somber tone the tendency of human nature
to always want more and never achieve satisfaction. As people interested in the
angel try to observe him, “even the most merciful [throw] stones at him, trying
to get him to rise so they can see him standing” (330). The fact that even the
most merciful of people try hurting the angel for personal amusement suggests
that all people have a relentless dissatisfaction with the reality of given
circumstances; the solemn tone implies this truth matter-of-factly to suggest the
ability of people to justify hurting an angel with the lack of excitement in
its unexpected appearance and temperament. As Elisenda is chopping onions
toward the end of the work, she, “[lets] out a sigh of relief, for herself and
for [the angel] when she [sees] him pass over the last houses, holding himself
up” (332). Her sigh of relief
mostly pertains to her newfound freedom as a result of
the angel’s flying away and leaving her house at last; she could never find
satisfaction coexisting with the angel because he did not meet her
stereotypically romantic expectations of how an angel should look and act, and
the tone excludes remorse, illustrating the nature of people to shamelessly
judge others without applying the same degree of judgment to themselves. The
tone that retains solemnity toward the end of the work expresses a lack of
appreciation resulting from unrealistic standards.
In
conclusion, the evolution of tone in Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous
Wings” from sympathetic to critical to solemn makes the statement about human
nature that individuals build up too high of expectations, and as a result,
they can find fault and disappointment in miracles such as the presence of
angels. Perhaps Marquez means to suggest that we should not blind ourselves to
wonderful realities by forming extraordinary yet impractical ideals in our
minds. Instead, when we see an angel or its equivalent in magnificence, we must
appreciate it without comparing it to impossible standards. By not forming
impractical ideals or comparing reality to impossible standards, we can avoid
disappointment and appreciate things that deserve appreciation.
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