This book was filled with fables that all told a story that would have some useful life meaning behind it. Whether it was crystal clear or I had to have my mother explain it to me, there was some sort of lesson. To me, this is one of those times where I had to look a little deeper into the meaning behind the story.
Aesop's fables - link to a page full of them!
The moral of the story is not one that is simply put.
The family in the story, to me, is portrayed as one without many funds and isn't living the ideal life. Which I found to be very ironic that they would try to make money off of the poor man's misfortunes. In the beginning of the story, the old woman is very sure that the man is an angel but has been roughed up. But as the story goes on, it says how they pluck his wings and is left to burrow in the mud looking no more majestic than a bat. This poor man is stripped of what could have been a beautiful set of wings had the villagers taken care of them and was then left to be roomies with the chickens.
As the story goes on, Marquez tells us that the man becomes very ill and was not expected to live much longer. However, he survived through the winter and to my surprise, started to grow strong and beautiful feathers.
And this is where it all came together for me. Even though this man (who we think is sent from heaven) is put through a living hell and is stripped of his dignity, was able to persevere and take flight. Not only did he have perseverance and patience, he sacrificed himself for a family who had nothing to their name, sold his pride, and were never thankful for the money they were "given" even though if it weren't for him, they would be worse off.
I guess you could call them morals, but to me, this is what I felt the story was trying to portray.
1. You never know when or how you will be blessed, but when you are, be thankful.
2. Don't let others try and determine your fate. ( plucking his feathers and leaving him to die)
3. How quick are you to benefit off of someone's misfortunes?
In search of images to put up here, I found a trailer for a production of the tale on youtube.
I hadn't thought about it before, but this story does remind me of Aesop's fables. I also like the morals you listed, because I hadn't really considered those. Perhaps in because we've been discussing racial conflict in class, I read it as portraying people's tendencies to judge others without considering them at all. Everyone assumed that he was an angel and he would bring miracles to them, but to me he just seemed tired, like all he wanted was to be left in peace while he recovered.
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