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Plot Summary
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a short story that begins with a couple, Pelayo and Elisenda, finding a very old man in their courtyard during a stormy afternoon. They watch in astonishment the enormous wings attached to the body of the old man as he struggles to get up from the mud. The couple attempt to communicate with the old man but are unable to as he speaks in a different language. Their neighbor comes over and lets them know that the old man is an angel who has come to take their sick child. Pelayo locks the angel in a chicken coop overnight. Early next morning the local priest, Father Gonzaga, with the rest of the community in tow, tests the old man to determine whether he is really an angel, with debated results. Elisenda, tired of having the community at her house, decides to charge an entrance fee to see the angel. The family becomes rich and builds a mansion with the money collected. The crowd soon loses interest in the angel as another freak has arrived in the community. The new town attraction is a woman who disobeyed her parents when she was young and was transformed into a tarantula, and now tells her misfortunes to the audience. In order for her to continue telling her stories, the people of the town feed her homemade meals. Meanwhile, no longer trapped in the chicken coop, the angel is free to roam around the house until one day he leaves the house and flies off away into the distance.
References in other works
- The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Skeptic" shares the plot element of an angel that appears (although it is supposedly dead) and is put on display by a character for paying visitors.
- The music video of Losing My Religion by R.E.M. was inspired by this short-story. It was directed by Tarsem Singh and used some images related to the story. It deals as a subtext with the lost faith.
- The Greek song of "Kathreftis" by the Cypriot Alkinoos Ioannidis was also inspired of this story. The Greek word kathreftis means "mirror" , because the Tarantula woman says, in the chorus of the song: "Never look into other's eyes, because you'll become a mirror and they will break you into pieces"
- Susanna Hoffs and Mark Linkous wrote a song, "Enormous Wings", based on the short story; it appears on Hoffs' self-titled second solo album. [1]
Malta 2003 dramatic performance
This story was presented as a dramatic performance in Birgu Malta in 2003 by Kneehigh Theatre from Cornwall, a Cypriot theatre company, and Maltese folk band Etnika. The main character was portrayed by Pierre Portelli. [2].
The Cal State Northridge Theatre department did a performance of it during their 2006-2007 season.
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