Magical Realism Essay
Ian Scott
Mr. McDonough
English II 4th pd
4/8/13
The Flaw of Truth The truth to a writer who uses magical realism is like a sunshade over a blooming flower. The flower may still live, but its beauty isn’t as magnificent. Truth needs to be somewhat apparent in a work, but a writer using magical realism needs creativity. Magical realism may not create a truthful story, but one with meaning. The movie Big Fish offers sagaciousness into how a writer or a storyteller can use magical realism to show the reader something that the truth makes commonplace. Towards the end of the movie Big Fish, a son tells his dying father how he will die and be remembered through this elaborate tale, which couldn’t possibly happen, of giants, Siamese twins, and other tall tale characters from the dying father’s past (Big Fish). In that piece of evidence, it doesn’t matter how truthful or possible the story is. It is about how magical realism acts a vessel for a writer to emphasize something. It allows the reader to see the meaning the writer wants to convey when the truth is not enough. Another example from Big Fish is the giant. In real life the man may be more like seven feet tall, but the father, to emphasize it, tells the story so that the man seems to be close to fifteen feet tall. He does this to show the people who are listening to his story how tall he feels the man is. The short story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings can show how magical realism can open a window into things that were unapparent before. In the second paragraph of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings it says, “He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth left in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had.” (Marquez 1) The characters in the story expected an angel to look more clean and pure, and it is this expectation that leads them to doubt that the angel is an actual
Mr. McDonough
English II 4th pd
4/8/13
The Flaw of Truth The truth to a writer who uses magical realism is like a sunshade over a blooming flower. The flower may still live, but its beauty isn’t as magnificent. Truth needs to be somewhat apparent in a work, but a writer using magical realism needs creativity. Magical realism may not create a truthful story, but one with meaning. The movie Big Fish offers sagaciousness into how a writer or a storyteller can use magical realism to show the reader something that the truth makes commonplace. Towards the end of the movie Big Fish, a son tells his dying father how he will die and be remembered through this elaborate tale, which couldn’t possibly happen, of giants, Siamese twins, and other tall tale characters from the dying father’s past (Big Fish). In that piece of evidence, it doesn’t matter how truthful or possible the story is. It is about how magical realism acts a vessel for a writer to emphasize something. It allows the reader to see the meaning the writer wants to convey when the truth is not enough. Another example from Big Fish is the giant. In real life the man may be more like seven feet tall, but the father, to emphasize it, tells the story so that the man seems to be close to fifteen feet tall. He does this to show the people who are listening to his story how tall he feels the man is. The short story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings can show how magical realism can open a window into things that were unapparent before. In the second paragraph of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings it says, “He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth left in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had.” (Marquez 1) The characters in the story expected an angel to look more clean and pure, and it is this expectation that leads them to doubt that the angel is an actual