Reader Response

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

            Gabriel Marquez wrote many short stories, two of which are “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. They are both very interesting stories, but my favorite was “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”

            Marquez does critique the Catholic Church in his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. When the priest in town has to go to the pope about the angel it represents hierarchy.  When the pope keeps asking the priest questions about the angel it represents judgment. I agree with Marquez’s critique on the Catholic Church. It is a pretty accurate representation of how the Catholic Church is set up. This made the story very interesting and I ended up liking this story the most.

            “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” was kind of a boring story to me. A handsome dead man ends up washing ashore. No one knows who the man is, but he is treated like a celebrity. They wonder what he did in his previous life. They act like they know this handsome man. They almost worship him. This is the critique in the story. We worship these beautiful celebrities that we don’t even know and we act like we know them. It was interesting, but I liked “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” more.

            “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” relates to me because I know the Catholic religion and what Marquez is saying is exactly true. There is a hierarchy and there is a lot of judgment. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” relates to me because I do like to know what celebrities are doing. I do fallow gossip magazines and I wouldn’t say I worship them, but it’s just interesting to watch them and see who they really are. These stories really didn’t change my opinion or views on anything.

            Religion is important in my life so “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” interested me the most. I just really liked this story.

            I would defiantly suggest these stories to anyone. Really anyone could read these stories and relate to them in some way.  I enjoyed reading these stories very much.