Religion:
2. When Pelayo and Elisenda go to the neighbor woman for answers she responds to them with total faith. Whereas, Father Gonzaga needs to confirm with the Pope. The woman doesn’t need to go to higher authorities and double check, she believes in herself and her relationship with her religion. The fact that Gongaza doesn’t seem confident enough in his knowledge and relationship to God shows that the figures we, as a society, believe to be the “holiest” may not be. It also hints towards the fact that organized religion can be twisted to be more literal-based than faith-based.
4. Father Gongaza is one of the major symbols of religion in the story. When searching for answers his superiors ask him to do what seem like tests to find out the validity of the old man just to come to the absurd conclusion he is a stranded Norwegian sailor. This conclusion shows that Gongaza’s superiors seem to be out of touch with reality and in the end, when the old man flies away, prove that the insight of the church was never needed.
Suffering:
1. While the old man suffers immensely, he is not the only one. Everyone is suffering, but they don’t realize until it’s too late. For example, Elisenda is more focused on keeping her home free of angels than she is on her peculiar intruder. However, come the end she has a moment of realization and almost seems to regret her ignorance of the old man when he leaves. People, in general, are suffering because they fail to acknowledge the small, significant things in life. The old man suffers differently. Our first encounter with him is a “moving and groanin [pile] in the of the courtyard.” He is trapped in a chicken coop, put on display to the townspeople, eats scraps of food people throw at him, gets poked at; it’s almost like torture. His suffering isn’t one of deep philosophical thinking but just pure human emotion.
Supernatural:
1. I think the old man with wings is an angel, this is because the old man has several moments in which he is similar to Christ. The first act is the act of healing, Jesus is known for curing the sick and suffering, when the old man falls into the family’s backyard their son is healed. Then, like how Jesus was tortured by a society of nonbelievers, the man is mistreated by the false believers in the story. Another notable characteristic is that Jesus was also good with children, and as the story develops the man and child form a bond. The old man with enormous wings has too many characteristics of Christ to not be a supernatural religious figure.
3. If the old man with wings were to land in my backyard I feel as though most things would be different than the story. First of all, my family and I wouldn’t run to our crazy neighbor lady asking for guidance, we’d contact authorities. Then, that’d be the end. Granted, in this day and age, it would be on news outlets and social media, but I don’t believe my family would try to make a profit from the old man’s misfortune. My family may end up on Ellen, but I feel as though greed wouldn’t overcome us like it did to Pelayo and Elisenda.
Foreignness:
3. When we look at the history of immigration we can follow a certain culture that was put on display and mocked by natives/settlers of the countries; the Rromani people, most commonly known as g*psies. The Rromani people were considered outcasts and lesser people in every country they attempted to migrate to, settlers wouldn’t allow them to work, go to school, etc., they hurled slurs at them like the common term “g*psy” and were forgotten about. The Rromani people found a way to survive, the circus. Forced to put their own people and culture on display to be accepted was an embarrassment. The old man with wings was almost forced to do the same. The only way that he was allowed to be humanized was through dehumanization, no one would have given him a second of attention were it not for his abilities and wings. The townspeople turned him to a freak show and exploited his situation with no remorse, like the Rromani people. To this day, we see things like what happened to the Rromani people happen to any and all people of color. Black culture is stolen and sold by non-black people while blacks are ridiculed for the same thing. Latino culture is just a trend for a period of time. Society only cares about foreigners if they have something to offer it.