... magic, sadness, mystery, greed, enchantment, religion, and wonder all in just a few pages. The main character is the very old man with enormous wings. At no time in the story is he even cared enough about to be given a name. The father of a sick child stumbles upon this man with wings lying face down in the mud during a rainy night unable to get up unsure if he is even ... alive. "He had to go very close to see that it was and old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn't get up, impeded by his enormous wings" (Marquez, 2004, 323)...

• Word Count: 1278
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... these people and treat them as if they were animals. As soon as something else comes along we forget that person even existed. "A Hunger Artist," by Franz Kafka, and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez follows the same theme of alienation, neglect and dehumanization to those who are deemed different. In "A Hunger Artist," Kafka expresses the unique aspects of the hunger ... , fasting, to his death until a member of the circus found him. The circus proceeds to restock the hunger artist's cage with a panther, which attracts huge crowds full of excitement. The hun...

• Word Count: 1008
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Marquez illustrates the exploitive nature of humankind as it uses the decrepit characters of Big Mama and the Old Man. Both stories allude to the prior greatness and glory of Big Mama and the angel characters. Though we' ... Just as Big Mama's family exploited her, Pelayo and Elisenda take advantage of the angel. The root of the exploitation begins with the weakness and easy control of the old angel. Their first clue that the angel might be a curiosity is when, "they found the whole neighborhood in front of the ... to enter still reached beyond the horizon."" Their prolonged inconsiderate use...

• Word Count: 953
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate