The opening lines of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"
"The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn't get up, impeded by his enormous wings." This excerpt appears in the first paragraph of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which we read in class last week. It introduces several notions that are repeated throughout the story, such as the initial reluctance to describe the Old Man as an angel. The context of this sentence is important. It says that "Pelayo was coming back to the houes after throwing away the crabs", during which he comes across the angel. The language used makes the angel seem mundane and like an everyday occurence. This is one way in which the angel is de...