Summarize the story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Gabriel
Garcia Marquezs story exemplifies the blend ofand illusion.  Magical realism describes a
story that appears true-to-life but has the element of whimsy or fantasy. 

A
poor fisherman works in his yard killing crabs after a rainstorm.  He finds a dirty, old man
with enormous wings lying in the yard. The old man tries to speak but cannot be
understood. 

The familys child has been sick, and they wonder if he is an
angel that has come to get their son.  Told by his neighbor to kill the old man, Pelayo and his
wife Elisenda pity the old man and place him in their chicken coop.

The child
revives. The doctor examines the man and finds it hard to believe that he is alive.  He views
the wings as probably real.  This makes the interest of the people build toward the angel.
 The old man begins to draw interested crowds of people.  The priest comes and tells everyone
that the old man cannot be an angel because he is too dirty and does not speak Latin.

Many people come to receive healing from the angel. Word spreads, and there are so
many people wanting to see the old man that Pelayos wife charges admission to see him.

Ignoring the people, the old man has rocks thrown at him; in addition, the feathers are
pulled from his wings. Some burn him with hot irons to see if he is alive which angers the old
man.

The old man was the only one who took no part in his
own act. He spent his time trying to get comfortable in his borrowed nest, befuddled by the
hellish heat of the old lamps and sacramental candles...when they burned his side...with tears
in his eyes, he flapped his wings a couple of times.

After a time, the crowd goes away to see a freak show featuring a spider woman. The old
man and his wings are forgotten.  However, the couple becomes rich on the admission to see him.
 Caught somewhere between humanity the supernatural, the old man stays with the
couple. 

For several years, the old man stays in the chicken coop until it
collapses.  He moves to the adjacent shed, and even, to the distraction of the wife, wanders
through the house at times.  The old man begins to build his strength and his feathers begin to
grow in.  He begins to sing sea shanties to himself.

Soon after, the wife
works in the yard and the old man spreads his wings and flies off into the skies.

Commentary

The story illustrates mans inhumanity to man. From the
beginning, the old man is poorly treated.  No compassion comes from the family that becomes
wealthy by using the old man as a side show.  He stays in the dirty chicken coop, eating poorly
with really no kind human contact.  How can these people treat this unique individual with such
disdain?

Obviously, there is a reason that the angel remains with the
couple.  Even the wife feels a moment of regret while she watches the angel fly away. 

The priest does a disservice to the people, the angel, and the couple when he does not
remind them of the Biblical verse which states: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels."

This should have been the
mantra that the villagers and the couple lived by. This was an opportunity to take care of an
angel. Instead, he is treated as though he were an animal. Pelayo shows the most compassion
and demonstrates his love for his family.