Monday, September 1, 2014

How is the overall setting in "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" important to the rest of the story?I can't find a good way to illustrate the...

The setting quite important to Marquez's story. Recall
that the full title is "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for
Children."


Marquez is writing a fairy tale and sets it
somewhere in South America, presumably Colombia as that is where he is from (much of his
writing is set in his homeland). Fairy tales are all about moral instruction, and those
who benefit from their lessons are more likely to internalize them if the surroundings
are ones with which they are familiar.


In Pelayo and
Elisenda live a marginal life on the sea shore. They catch crabs and other sea life for
their living. This sort of trade will be very familiar to native
readers.


The setting is also important because of the types
of people who come to view the angel. Colombia is largely Catholic, so it makes sense
that Father Gonzaga, the priest who comes to assess the "miracle" will be the local
parish priest (who attempts to verify the angels authenticity by speaking to him in
Latin, supposedly the language of celestial
beings.)


Colombia, like many other South American
countries, exists between two worlds: that of Catholicism and the older world of
superstition.  The tales about the spider-girl are Old World tales, every bit as
believable to superstitious people as the existence of
angels.


The traveling carnival is also a feature of South
American life, and it is this carnival which brings the spider-girl and her sad tale of
woe and warning.


These are the primary reasons setting is
important for Garcia's tale.

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