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Man with enormous wings

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Man with enormous wings
Wrt 102 Prospectus Symbolism and Magical Realism of Gabriel Marquez In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," I intend to explore how Gabriel Marquez applies symbolism and utilizes magical realism to confront religious beliefs along with an allegory style of writing to reflect his views on religion and society. This story may not be meant by Marquez to be a direct threat to religion, but it does reflect the challenges of the world against things related to religion. So firstly I need to define allegory and how Marquez uses it as a method in his writings, in relation to characters and events in order to symbolize ideas and concepts in seemingly ironic situations. To be more specific, allegory is described as a way of explaining concepts which cannot be easily explained, by telling a story which has a deeper meaning; Marquez’s unique use of allegory is the catalyst that drew me to this topic. Gabriel Marquez was quoted as saying “Style is determined by subject, by the mood of the times.” What did he mean by this in relation to this story, and what religious message was he trying to convey to the reader. Furthermore with more research I hope to determine that there was an underlying meaning to his writing which was either based on his mood at the time or possibly based on the moral, religious, social, political views of his time. This line of thinking also helps me to take this short story and explore a secondary topic for my paper where I can delve into our human nature in regard to how we judge others based on their surface features, and then determine morally whether they have the right to be treated with respect or given our disdain. Eventually, this can lead into Marquez’s use of symbolism where I can focus on supporting details from the story, in relation to specific characters even implied situations, for example, How an angel symbolizes the unfamiliar to people in this small town and how this angel is not just a

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