Garcia Marquez uses magical realism to criticize how religion controls society in “Monologue of Isabel Watching It Rain in Macondo.” First of all, this story begins and ends with Sunday mass – a labyrinth there in itself. Isabel, the main character from whose point of view this story is told, clearly feels that she is trapped within this never ending religious cycle that begins and ends with mass. Rain also is a labyrinth in that the story begins and ends in rain. Isabel describes the rain as being paralyzing- causing her to be in an endless, somewhat emotionless, uneasy state of mind. Part of being paralyzed is not being able to experience all the senses and losing sense of time. For example, Isabel says, “…we lost track of meals…actually we hadn’t eaten since sunset on Monday and I think that from then on we stopped thinking” (page 92). Clearly, her senses are skewed by the rain when she describes the atmosphere as being, “colorless, odorless, and without any temperature” (page 95).
Water is usually affiliated with religion, especially Catholicism, as being something sacred and pure, like the holy water. I believe that rain symbolizes religion or a Godlike figure in a negative way. Usually, rain is thought of as being healthy and good for our environment. Here, rain represents a corrupt religion – one in which people are tricked into thinking it is good, but in actuality it forms a shadow above everyone, making them feel depressed under its power. The rain causes Isabel to feel motionless and frozen – in other words, the overwhelming presence and power of her religion that is inescapable sucks the life out of her. In fact, she describes being submerged in rain as being “covered by a thick surface of viscous, dead water” (page 93).
The difference between genders is also demonstrated in this short story. One can infer that during the time this was written women and men were not thought of as equals in society. Anytime Isabel goes to her husband or her father for words of wisdom or comfort they make it seem like what she feels and says is irrelevant and crazy. For example, Isabel, clearly disturbed and bothered by what she smells, asks her husband if he too notices a distinct smell of corpses floating in the rain. His response: “”That’s something you made up. Pregnant women are always imagining things.” A lower class is definitely also hinted at throughout this story – a class of workers that follow the order of Isabel and her family. These workers are not identified with names, but rather are referred to as “Indians” implying that they are barbaric individuals whose sole purpose is to obey their masters. Even these savages surrender to the rain, because like Isabel – the rain controls their emotions and their feelings: “….in the very diligence with which they were working, one could see the cruelty of their frustrated rebellion, of their necessary and humiliating inferiority in the rain” (page 93).
In A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, Marquez talks about human society and how we react to things we cannot explain. The man with wings who appears in this story has human characteristics but is clearly an angel. However, no one believes in him, because his existence is too incredible to be true. Although Pelayo and Elisenda, the couple whose courtyard the angel appeared in, had no problem using this man to generate money, security and new found fame for themselves they still could not understand what or who exactly this ‘angel’ was. He was too much of a mixture between something real and something imaginable that his existence was unexplainable and therefore incomprehensible for them. The angel was tortured, “especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him…the cripples pulled out feathers…even the most merciful threw stones at him” (page 207). Supernaturally, the angel sat through all of this torture, exercising patience rather than frustration– something no pure human would be able to do. This story hints at the idea that patience itself is only present in its purest form within divine beings, because no human is perfect enough to practice pure patience. From a religious standpoint, this story parallels many biblical tales that portray the allusion of angels being afflicted with things that are out of their control – all of which they patiently sustain. It also illustrates that human nature instinctively forces us to be untrusting in things we cannot comprehend and unwilling to believe things to be true even when they are literally standing right in front of us.
This story also demonstrates how jealousy is one of our worst qualities as humans and how being jealous often overrides other emotions we have. In this case, Pelayo and others, like the doctor and Father Gonzaga, were jealous of the attention that the angel was getting and therefore did everything in their power to disprove his supernatural identity.
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World focuses on the importance that the human race places on outward appearances and physicality. The main man that this story revolves around is named, by the villages, Esteban. The name Esteban has Spanish origin which literally translates into the word crown. Of course, a crown is something we assume to be worn by distinct, dominant leaders, like kings. We may also think of a crown as being the top or highest part of anything, like a mountain, or in this case, a community of people. Esteban is a complete stranger to the villagers who find him; these women have no ties to him whatsoever, and they know nothing about him besides his exterior appearance. He is dead, and therefore they cannot judge him by his personality, only by his looks. Still, they are obsessed with his glamour; his mere existence “…left them breathless” (page 230). This story suggests that women are shallow when it comes to choosing men. In fact, they are willing to trade their current husbands for this man solely because of his outward beauty.
There is an emphasis on the size and strength of Esteban, which may illustrate how men are obsessed with developing a strong, built body because society leads them to believe that that is what attracts women: “…he was the tallest, strongest, most virile and best built man they had ever seen…” (page 231). This incredible size and appearance of Esteban may resemble a God-like figure (which may also explain why they named him after the word ‘crown’ – because the women see him as their king/their savior/their God). God is often described as being more magnificent than any human, being ‘above all’ and greater than all in every aspect of life. Marquez describes what Esteban’s house would have been like if he lived in this village and emphasizes that it would be greater than any commoners’ house: “…his house would have had the widest doors, the highest ceiling, and the strongest floor” (page 232).
Mainly, the essence of this story is the message it sends across to its readers about our culture’s obsession with glamour and how sometimes our eyes fool us into believing that what we consider to be glamorous is in fact magnificent and god-like even if in someone’s else’s eyes it may just seem ordinary, or even lifeless.
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Garcia Marquez uses magical realism to criticize the amount of power religion can have over the people of a certain society in Monologue of Isabel Watching It Rain in Macondo. First of all, this story begins and ends with Sunday mass – a labyrinth there in itself. Isabel, the main character from whose point of view this story is told, clearly feels that she is trapped within this never ending religious cycle that begins and ends with mass. Similarly, rain is a symbolic labyrinth as the story begins and ends with rain. Isabel describes the rain as being paralyzing- causing her to be in an endless, somewhat emotionless, uneasy state of mind. Part of being paralyzed is not being able to experience all of one’s senses and losing sense of time. Isabel says, “…we lost track of meals…actually we hadn’t eaten since sunset on Monday and I think that from then on we stopped thinking” (92). Clearly, her senses are skewed by the rain when she describes the atmosphere as being, “colorless, odorless, and without any temperature” (95).
ReplyDeleteWater is a religious emblem, especially for Catholics, which symbolizes that which is sacred and pure such as the holy water. Usually rain is thought of as being healthy and good for our environment. Here, rain represents a corrupt religion which forms a shadow above everyone, making them feel depressed and trapped under its power. The rain causes Isabel to feel motionless and frozen – in other words, the overwhelming presence and power of her inescapable religion sucks the life out of her. In fact, she describes being submerged in rain as being “covered by a thick surface of viscous, dead water” (93).
The difference between genders is demonstrated in this short story. One can infer that during the time this was written women and men were not thought of as equals in society. In fact, in Latin American society men are still thought of has being dominant over women today. Anytime Isabel goes to her husband or her father for words of wisdom or comfort they make it seem as though what she feels and says is irrelevant and crazy. For example, Isabel, clearly disturbed and bothered by what she smells, asks her husband if he too notices a distinct smell of corpses floating in the rain. He responds by saying, “That’s something you made up. Pregnant women are always imagining things.” A lower working class is definitely also hinted at throughout this story. These workers are not identified with names, but rather are referred to as “Indians” implying that they are barbaric individuals whose sole purpose is to obey their masters. Even these savages surrender to the rain, because like Isabel, the rain controls their emotions and their feelings: “….in the very diligence with which they were working, one could see the cruelty of their frustrated rebellion, of their necessary and humiliating inferiority in the rain” (93).
In A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, Garcia Marquez mostly aims his criticism at the binary of religious verses secular by showing how religion is only good until one gets what he/she wants and then it does not matter anymore. For example, Elisenda was in desperate need of a miracle, but once she got her miracle (in the form of the angel) she was not willing to believe it nor did she have a use to believe in her religion anymore. One of the main underlying themes here is that often, people are not willing to believe what is right in front of them.
Marquez also shows how we react to things which we cannot explain. The mysterious man with wings has human characteristics but is named an angel. No one believes in him, because his existence is too incredible to be true. Although Pelayo and Elisenda had no problem using this man to generate money, security and new found fame for themselves they still could not understand what or who exactly this ‘angel’ was. He was too much of a mixture between something real and something imaginable that his existence was unexplainable and therefore incomprehensible for them. The angel was tortured, “especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him…the cripples pulled out feathers…even the most merciful threw stones at him” (207). Supernaturally, the angel sat through all of this torture, exercising patience rather than frustration– something no pure human would be able to do. This suggests that patience itself is only present in its purest form within divine beings, and that no human is perfect enough to practice pure patience.
ReplyDeleteThis story also demonstrates how jealousy is one of our worst qualities as humans and how being jealous often overrides other emotions we have. In this case, Pelayo and others, like the doctor and Father Gonzaga, were jealous of the attention that the angel got and therefore did everything in their power to disprove his supernatural identity.
In another one of Marquez’s works, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, the author again, focuses on religion and also on the binary between life and death. The drowned man is dead, but for the people of the town he is more important than those who are alive. In fact, his death brings the women of the town to life by giving them a purpose and something to obsess over. One may interpret the drowned man as a symbol of Jesus Christ. For example, he is described as a “God-like figure” (234), and as someone who is “bigger than life.” Similarly, there are also many religious references found on page 234: “…so many main-altar decorations for a stranger…nails and holy-water jars he had on him…”
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World also focuses on the importance that the human race places on outward appearance and physicality. The main character that this story revolves around is named, by the villages, Esteban. The name Esteban has Spanish origin which literally translates into the word crown. Of course, a crown is something we assume to be worn by distinct, dominant leaders, like kings. We may also think of a crown as being the top or highest part of anything such as a mountain, or in this case, a community of people. Esteban is a complete stranger to the village women who find him. All that they know is his exterior appearance. His beautiful looks are enough to impress them, so much so, that they even consider leaving their husbands for him. This story draws attention to how women in society are obsessed with the idea of this ‘perfect image’ of a man - one who is strong, big, tall and built: “…he was the tallest, strongest, most virile and best built man they had ever seen…” (231). His fantastic size and strength illustrates the obsession that men have with developing this type of body due to societal pressures. His physicality can also be linked to God as God is often described as being a figure that is more magnificent than any other man and greater than any other human. The emphasis placed on the size and strength of Esteban may be interpreted as a resemblance of a God-like figure (which may also explain why they named him after the word ‘crown’ – because the women see him as their king/their savior/their God). Marquez describes what Esteban’s house would have been like if he lived in this village and explains that it would be greater than any commoners’ house: “…his house would have had the widest doors, the highest ceiling, and the strongest floor” (232).
The main message of this story speaks to our culture’s obsession with glamour and the idea that sometimes our eyes fool us into believing that what we see as glamorous, magnificent and god-like may only seen ordinary, or even lifeless in the eyes of someone else.
ReplyDelete