World Lit. II
Prof. Benander
24 January 2011
Marquez: Magical Realism
Originating in Colombia, Gabriel Marquez heavily favors the writing style of magical realism. Throughout his literary works, Marquez seeks to shake individuals from their ordinary way of thinking. He force readers to accept possibilities outside societies limiting view points. While reading several of his short stories, I found Marquez to be rather frustrated with the lack of backbone that individuals had when faced with abnormal circumstances. It is evident to me that Marquez view the majority of individuals as a leaf in the wind. Meaning that people often simply act upon and think whatever society deems appropriate or acceptable. Proof of this I have found in both "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World", and "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings."
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," is a short story in which an angel is found sitting in the mud in the courtyard of house within a small town. The town concludes that because the being didn't fit the type concept or idealist image of an angel, the being could not possible be an angel. This I believe drove Marques crazy; he couldn't understand how narrow minded society had become. Through this short story Marques sought to show that things aren't always as they seem. Blessings come in all different shapes and size, not all blessings will be presented with glamor and beauty.
Similarly, "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," seeks to show how society holds the beauty and glamor with the utmost importance. I feel that Marques wishes for people to just step back and recognized that is beauty all around; there is no need to idealize someone for something that society has deem beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not in the narrow views of society.
Through these two stories, I see Marques trying desperately trying to shake society out of their perceptions and ideal. Marques is tired of people preceive limitations (weather too much or not enough), their sense of normalcy, and ideals of a closed minded society. In my opinion, I feel that Marques would have people be more open to the possiblities of divine influance. This would then force people to maintain an open mind when faced with abnormal situations and circumstances.
Thanks to magical realism, Marques is able to give his readers a taste of how trapped within society they have become. By used his literary devices and bring faniticy to the real world, reads can understand how Marques wishes for them to remain open to a wide realm of possibilities.
Personally I truly enjoyed Marques' works, his short stories challenged the mind and forced me to uncover the hidden message.
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," is a short story in which an angel is found sitting in the mud in the courtyard of house within a small town. The town concludes that because the being didn't fit the type concept or idealist image of an angel, the being could not possible be an angel. This I believe drove Marques crazy; he couldn't understand how narrow minded society had become. Through this short story Marques sought to show that things aren't always as they seem. Blessings come in all different shapes and size, not all blessings will be presented with glamor and beauty.
Similarly, "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," seeks to show how society holds the beauty and glamor with the utmost importance. I feel that Marques wishes for people to just step back and recognized that is beauty all around; there is no need to idealize someone for something that society has deem beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not in the narrow views of society.
Through these two stories, I see Marques trying desperately trying to shake society out of their perceptions and ideal. Marques is tired of people preceive limitations (weather too much or not enough), their sense of normalcy, and ideals of a closed minded society. In my opinion, I feel that Marques would have people be more open to the possiblities of divine influance. This would then force people to maintain an open mind when faced with abnormal situations and circumstances.
Thanks to magical realism, Marques is able to give his readers a taste of how trapped within society they have become. By used his literary devices and bring faniticy to the real world, reads can understand how Marques wishes for them to remain open to a wide realm of possibilities.
Personally I truly enjoyed Marques' works, his short stories challenged the mind and forced me to uncover the hidden message.
I like how you make the point that Marquez wants to encourage people to have a more open mind. It is interesting that he seems to recommend this to people to help them not becomes trapped by norms and expectations. Do you think we can do that? I mean, escape that trap?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that its possible to escape society's trap. However it requires us as individuals to break away from soceity and think outside the box. We need to be able to allow ourselves to accept the possibles beyond what we can fathom and understand.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds crazy and would seem rather impossible. In fact this is a rather troublemsome task. This requires us to first accept the fact that we are human, that our knowledge and existance is extremely limited. In order to accomplish what Marquez wish for, people will need to have open minds. Marquez realized that we limit ourselves by our expectations and sense normalcy. I believe that in order to break this trend of limitation, we need to accept that there is something greater and more powerful than us as humans.
This is often the toughest concept for the individual to grasp. Many people look upon this acceptance as a sign of weakness and are unwilling to summit to the possibilies of a higher authority.
However, if we are able to grasp this concept, we have broken the crest of deeper thought. By accpeting the possibilies of high authority or the supernatural, we have entered into a relm of greater possiblity.
From this point, the battle becomes a contunious war for understand as soceity seeks to explain events that occur from day-to-day.
It is left to us as the individual to challenge society, to question the answers and reasoning of other people. We cant be led blindly; it is important that we search for our own answers and that we think for ourselves. We must not allow the influences of soceity to govern our thinking or decision making.