A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Questions
Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- The subtitle of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" is "A Tale for Children". Why do you think García Márquez directs his story to children? What might be the differences between an adult reader's take and a child's?
- What's the role of poverty in this story? Who is poor? How does being poor change their role?
- What if the Very Old Man had been a Very Little Baby? How would the story be different?
- This story is one of the most famous examples of magical realism. How does García Márquez insert the fantastic into the realistic setting?
- García Márquez claimed that magical realism is actually just realism for Latin Americans, who live with crazy, fantastic events every day. What do you think about that idea?
- What role does religion play in the people's acceptance of this extraordinary event? What do you think the story's attitude toward religion is?
- Would you consider this story comic or tragic? Why?
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