Book Reports /
"A Tale for Adults"- Comp II Tone Essay (based on A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings) [3]
"A Tale for Adults"
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a well written story about a world that behaves unearthly, and supernatural. The central idea is
about reminiscent of a fairytale due to the authors' ability to establish tone through the use of characters, setting, and symbolism. To ensure the reader's remain open to the stories central idea
. The author decides that a total omniscient narrator should reveal information about the characters. The author uses this style of narration to deliver all of the needed information to the reader for a better understand
ing on how the character is significant to the story. Tone presented in the characters feelings, thoughts and emotions help the author to control all elements that influences the reader's attitude toward the story, therefore, no one tone is dominant.
Our narrator is consistently poetic while establishing the mood of the story. A metaphor is used to describe sorrow and fear of the unknown when the narrator tells us, "The world has been sad since Tuesday." Followed by a simile, "[The] sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (Marquez). This is a pressing matter for Pelayo and his wife Elisenda. They believe the smell has brought a fever to their infant child. Pelayo symbolizes the traditional husband who loves his family and works hard to kill and clean crab to make the home a better place. The mood is eerie, but the couple is not affected by the weather. It appears that the setting is dark and
gray , foreshadowing the discovery of the old man with wings faced down in the courtyard. The unearthly feeling of the dark skies and the supernatural appearance of the man with wings is what illustrates the fictional element through tone which is often used as a device in
fairy tales .
A dominant element in the story is the authors' use of syntax to deliver a set of comments that lead to a conclusion. Onlookers arrived to make suggestions about the angels future, "The simplest among them thought that he should be named mayor of the world," which is symbolic for the naive nature of the visitors thoughts. Next, "Others of sterner mind felt that he should be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars. And the last comment was that, "Some visionaries hoped that he could be put to stud in order to implant on earth a race of winged wise men who could take charge of the universe" (Marquez) . This use of syntax is essential to understanding the villages' unconditional acceptance of the strange creature. The authors' use of diction implies the feeling that the priest has towards the angel. He describes him arriving around seven o'clock to, "...take a close look at the pitiful man who looked like a decrepit hen among fascinated chickens." The institution of religion is introduced in the form of a character Father Gonzaga. He is a pompous priest with preconceived doubts of the angel. He symbolizes the bureaucracy of church and religion. When he arrives we are told, "The parish priest had his first suspicion of an
impostor when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers" (Marquez). This is significant because the village idolizes the being, and the priest cautions that this is the devils tactic for distracting the unwary with carnival acts in a brief sermon.
Speaking of carnivals, Elisenda initiated a five cent admission fee to compensate for the market place trash brought along by all the travelers coming to see the angel. The use of triple comments leading to a conclusion is again illustrated in the syntax of the narrators mentions of sick travelers coming to see the angel, the tone at the beginning is sympathetic "The most unfortunate invalids on earth in search of health..." followed by a humorous tone, "a poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleep-walker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake" (Marquez). Pelayo and his wife have prospered from their celestial discovery even though his only supernatural virtue was patients, they are grateful. The angel received no benefit from the fortune which the couple is growing tired of managing. In one weeks time they had already stuffed their rooms with money. Soon the main attraction will switch to a girl who had been changed into a spider for having disobeyed her parents.
After all that Pelayo and Elisenda's experience with the angel, we get the sense that they are ready to go back to a normal life. One day while cutting onions, Elisenda went to the window and caught the angel in his first attempts at flight. "[She] let out a sigh of relief, for herself and for him, when she watched him pass over the last houses, holding himself up in some way with the risky flapping of a senile vulture" (Marquez). The tale stimulates discussions about religion and fiction
, b eing that they are closely related
. T he author presents them through a serious, yet humorous tones through the characters and settings taken place in the story. Overall Marquez held true to the characteristics of fiction and fairytale.
**every thing in red are my suggestions. keep up the good work. **
