Paper Summary:

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story, "The Old Man with Enormous Wings," might, from a plot summary, appear to be a light fantasy story. However, through closer examination, this paper shows that it is actually a very realistic piece of culturally accurate, albeit speculative, fiction. This story is very realistic because it shows the casual and reasonable way in which people are capable of accepting and integrating the absurd into their daily lives, acknowledges the lack of faith or curiosity which has perverted much of modern religion and does all this without stepping outside the lines of realistic occurrence.

From the Paper:

"The casual naturalization of the miraculous may be a modern phenomena; at least it is certain that its effects on religion are relatively new -- for this naturalization has made it so that most religions no longer expect the supernatural and that much of science treats the occurrence of the supposedly supernatural with quiet disregard and the assurance that it has "natural causes" such as fraud. In Marquez's story, the local priest Father Gonzago writes to the Vatican for their opinion on the winged man. They respond with questions, but appear to dismiss his questions generally. This might seem odd. However, if one looks at worldwide reports of miracles (such as weeping Mary statues, stigmata sufferers, the existence of a girl in a coma who can heal people, or sightings of the Virgin or Christ), then one will notice that the Catholic Church has consistently sent inquiries into the subjects with a skeptical eye, and does not generally accept the truth of these miracles."

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