Titus 1

Andrew Titus ENG 102 Honors Spring 2013 Dr. Van-Slyck Morals of Mythology

Based in cultural and religious folklore, myths contain immense power. While their validity is debatable, myths serve humans the function of explaining the unexplainable. Depictions of mythologies in Gabriel Garcia Marquez short stories The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, demonstrate the possibility that formulated beliefs have to either inspire a group of people or enable the power and profit of a few based on the ignorance of many.

The Man Behind The Myth Marquez storytelling is highly influenced by his childhood. He spent his first eight years in a sad and unpaved town (Bell-Villada 41) with his grandparents. Of one of his biggest influences was his grandmother, who often told him a manner of amazing stories with a straight face, and would talk about people without distinguishing between the quick and the dead. (Bell-Villada 42) This blurred line between two states can be construed as his first experience with magical realism. Also present in his childhood

Titus 2 home were many women; aunts and cousins. Being somewhat superstitious, they were given to saying and doing certain things he would later memorialize in his stories.

Construction Of The Myth

In The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, a mysterious corpse of a man washes up onto the shore of a small seaside village. The women of the town are enchanted by his appearance. He was the tallest, strongest, most virile and best built man they had ever seen. (Marquez) Unlike anything they had seen before, these women begin their attempt to explain the unexplainable. The drowned mans physical characteristics provoke awe and wonder that inform elaborate fabrications among the women of the village. Marquez describes how these women assign the drowned man power: They thought that he would have so much authority that he could have drawn fish out of the sea by simply calling their names. One woman even goes as far as to name him Esteban which means crown.

In A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, a decrepit, injured old man with wings appears in the courtyard adjacent to a modest familys house by the sea. His tattered appearance leads the family to create conclusion that despite this mans unusual wings, he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. This reflects a departure from perception of the women from The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World. The old winged mans defeated state translates to human weakness and no supernatural quality is accounted for. A previous set of assumptions is projected onto him

Titus 3 when a woman says in a matter of fact delivery: Hes an angel. He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down. In both stories, assumptions are made based on what people see with their eyes but do not know.

Utilizing The Myth

In The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, the villagers find purpose through Esteban. They grow in their sensitivity and compassion for him and memorialize him in a profound ceremony. Their village before Esteban had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were widespread like a cape. The villagers resolve to immortalize the force that they perceived Esteban to be. To account for his size, the villagers decide that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings and stronger floors so that Estebans memory could go anywhere and that they will Paint their house fronts gay colors to make Estebans memory eternal. Esteban represents a longing for meaning, a figure to worship and supplement their lives with inspiration. The laughable element is that there is no proof whatsoever that this drowned man, who they named Esteban had been anything great. In this instance, magic is a projection, in the eyes of the beholders. Although there is no proof of Estebans glory, it does not matter.

In A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, we see a family capitalize on the myth. The winged old man is perceived to be an angel, and many come to see him so that he can cure their ills. It is through Elisenda and Pelayos decision to charge a fee to see

Titus 4 the angel that they become rich. The irony here is that he demonstrates no powers to fix the ailments of people. We suspect that Elisenda and Pelayo are aware of this fact. The winged old man represents their desire for material gain. It is possible the winged man has magical powers of a certain sort but his visitors include him into their specific religious schemata, giving in to a preconceived idea that a man with wings can only mean one thing, deliverance from their afflictions. Also among the people who come to see the angel, the attitude is also one of taking; they are only concerned about what they can possibly gain. Elisenda and Pelayo represent the catholic institution, claiming to offer salvation, when in reality they acquire wealth through the donations of the ignorant.

Marquez contrasting representations of the myth in The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings demonstrate how they function in society convey a moral message. While he acknowledges hat myths are elaborate works of fiction, an attempt at explaining the phenomenal without concrete proof, their power is undeniable. The example of the drowned man demonstrates the noble human desire for meaning and a supernatural figure to define that meaning. The winged old man exemplifies how certain institutions gain status through profiting from the beliefs of many, a lie that gives birth to inequalities. In spite of demystifying certain myths, Marquez thoughtful allegories are laced with spiritual principles that inspire great reflection.