A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, Essay Example

In this short story, one learns that there had been a heavy downpour of rain. The rain had come with violent storms that brought many crabs on Pelayo’s compound (Booth et al., 269). Pelayo’s child had high temperature during the night those days. Pelayo and his wife had been worried of their child’s change of body temperature during nights.

After throwing away the crabs he had collected, Pelayo saw what later a life changing fortune for his family became. It was an old man, struggling to survive and seemed overwhelmed by the storm. The man, however, had enormous wings, which brought about the difference. The family stared at the old man and they tried speaking to him but he answered in a dialect incomprehensible to them. A neighbor, woman told the family that the man was an angel. The woman, according to the people, had knowledge about death and life (Booth et al., 270). The woman’s pronouncement that the man was an angel soon brought enormous attention from the public.

The change in Pelayo’s life all started with his locking of the old man with the chickens after dragging him out of the mud (Booth et al., 270). As they were still killing the crabs at night, the child awoke, but this time with a desire of food and without fever. The family thought to give a nice treat to the ‘angel’ at dawn, planning to leave on high seas to his fate. However, they woke up to find the whole neighborhood in their compound.

The crowd at Pelayo’s compound was so large reaching that of a large market. Elisenda, Pelayo’s wife was tired of sweeping trash because of the crowding. The crowd had become a nuisance and troops came to disperse it using fixed bayonets. It was then that Elisenda thought to fence the yard, and charge a fee, five cents, to admit those coming to see the ‘angel’ (Booth et al., 271). The crowd thronged the compound and they paid the admission fee. There were curious people coming from far away to see the old man. Many who were sick came to receive healing. The rooms of the Pelayos were full of money within a few days, just less than a week. This happened and still there was an endless line of waiting pilgrims. The angel seemed uninterested as the crowd thronged the yard. He had a lot of patience with the beginning experience of chicken pecks in search of parasites. The crowd at some point took a hot iron and burned the angel at his side. They did this thinking he was dead, but the angel awoke with tears and a loud cry (Booth et al., 271). This made the crowd to refrain from disturbing the angel any longer. This happened because the angel with pained flapped his wings bringing a whirlwind of lunar dust and chicken dung. This caused a great panic that seemed strange to the world and from that, time people became careful lest they annoyed the angel.

Father Gonzaga had written to Bishops and to the pontiff to know whether the winged old man was an angel. While waiting for the answer, he used maidservant inspiration to hold back the frivolous crowd. The bishops spent much time asking questions concerning the ‘angel’. While this was still going on, an event that shifted people’s attention took place. A woman who had turned into a spider for disobeying parents appeared in town. The travelling show featuring the woman turned the minds of the people (Booth et al., 272). This happened so because, the crowds had free access to the woman asking all sorts of questions and examining to dispel any doubt they had. The people seemed to have had some satisfaction seeing the angel. The story about the woman who had become a spider captivated the masses. The story goes that the woman went to dance without parents’ permission. While on her way from the dance, a terrific thunderclap occurred and lightning bolt brimstone converted her into a spider. The story of the woman with a fearful lesson defeated that of an angel who had no or little concern over the crowd that thronged. The miracles, which people had associated with the angel, had come with some shortcomings, for instance, a blind man received sight but had three new teeth growing. A leper had sores developing sunflowers. These had ruined the angel’s reputation.

The shift of the people’s attention to the woman brought a sigh of relief to Father Gonzaga and led to an empty Pelayo’s courtyard. The crabs came back again to Pelayo’s compound. However, there was a significant change in Pelayo’s family concerning their economic status. They had sufficient money to build a two-storey mansion having gardens and balconies and high netting to prevent crabs during winter (Booth et al., 273). Pelayo lso established near town, a rabbit warren and became a fulltime bailiff. Elisenda bought expensive dresses and high-heeled satin pumps. This shows enormous transformation of this family, which was poor before.

A time came for their child to walk and Pelayo’s family became so careful. They feared their child walking into the chicken coop where the angel was. Nevertheless, with elapsing time, the family became used to the smell from the chicken coop and one day the child entered the dreaded place. The child and the angel suffered chicken pox attack and received treatment from a doctor. The child started schooling and the angel became a nuisance. The family could drive him from one room and within a short time find him in another room. The angel seemed to be in many places simultaneously. The angel seemed to fade health wise and seemed to die soon. One day, Pelayo threw over the angel a blanket and let him sleep in the shed. The onset of sunny days saw the angel improve. With time, the angel grew stiff feathers (Booth et al., 274). This was a gradual change on his part, which culminated into his regaining strength to fly relieving Pelayo’s family.

Works Cited

Booth, Alison and Mays, Kelly J., eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature: Portable Tenth Edition. New York: Norton, 2011. Print.