A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings was a wonderful read. This story is such a complex metaphor. I am going to be honest and say that this story is the most interesting one I have read all semester. I had to read this twice in order to understand some things that I did not pick up before.
At first, it was hard for me to believe that this old man was an angel. I was taking everything in a literal sense at first, thinking that Pelayo and Elisenda were exaggerating and misunderstanding what they were staring at. I felt very sorry for the old angel, if that is what he was. The family and the crowds of people treated him so poorly. Even the priest was disgusted, in a way, by this angel because he was not what he expected him to be. The family obtained so much money from the crowds of people that came to see him, and became even more self-centered. They did not even care this old man with the money that had made, but instead used it for themselves to build a better life. I am so glad that in the end, the old angel could fly away, maybe to somewhere where they will care for him.
One interesting thing I noticed was the relationship between the angel and their son. The parents of this child always protected him from this old man. As he grew older, though, they backed away and he would hang around him. This young boy seemed to care for him more. They even had the chickenpox together, also, when the angel first came when this boy was an infant, his sickness went away. The child understood him more than his parents. I think the last part of the title, “A Tale for Children” refers to how adults need to revert to their child like mentality and see this man as hopeful. The adults in this story did not understand him, but the child did. I think to some this all up I would have to say that the lessoned learned here is to start seeing certain things in life like a child and you will see the hope you need.
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