A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings and My Singular Irene (Essay Sample)

Analysis: A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings and My Singular Irene.
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Introduction
The story by Marquez (n.d.), about the old man with wings gives detailed information on various themes in that society. In addition, the story on singular Irene by Almanzar (2001) revolves around a number of themes and issues which shall be discussed in detail.
Modern repression
In the very old man with wings, the repressive nature of this society is portrayed by the interference the two couples give their new found angel. While they go against the advice of their knowledgeable neighbor woman, they imprison the old man in their chicken coop. Elisenda “got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel.” By doing so, they limit his powers to fly, a symbolized by the wings, for their own gains. Additionally, those who came to see the “imprisoned angel” also treated him with cruelty just to see the old many react. The spider woman also represents modern repression where a majority of the villagers came to test their own beliefs and to find out if the old man could really perform miracles. They then turn to the spider woman when they realize that the old many can only perform minor miracles.
On the other hand, in the story of my singular Irene, the repressive nature of society is depicted by how Charlie, her husband, treats her. Her life is filled with untold misery and challenges which they struggle to overcome. Charlie has kept Irene in her cocoon for many years and tries to control her life by limiting her freedom. Her lack of freedom is evidenced by the author’s constant use of restrictive words such as `allow, `permit, demand, `forgive ' and `forbid (Almanzar, 2001).
(2) Triumph over repression
In the very old man with wings, the main characters Pelayo and Elisenda are two couples who from the surrounding in their homestead signal their low standards of living. The society in which they live does not seem to offer a solution to the struggles of the members. When Pelayo and Elisenda see an opportunity to overcome their poverty, they seize it without regard to the cruelty towards the old man. In deed they become rich for “in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money. With the money they saved they built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens…” (Marquez, n.d.)
On the other hand, in the story on singular Irene, overcome the cruelty and repression by her husband when she became a butterfly. She persevered the bondage life for many years because of her desire to be with her husband in the hope that this suffering would end and she would eventually attain her freedom.
(3)Human need to belong
The story about Pelayo and Elisenda describes the need for human beings to correlate in the right way. The sickly old man who happens to sleep on Pelayos homestead is a good example of the human need to belong. Despite their neighbor’s sentiment of isolating the old man, they go ahead and care for him until he recovers. In spite of the powers possessed by the old man, as symbolized by the wings, he is reluctant to escape arguable because of his need to belong to this new found nest, the Pelayo family and homestead.
In the story of Irene, the human need to belong is portrayed by her efforts and patience to stay with her husband, Charlie despite the repression and suffering he inflicts to her. She stack on because she wanted to belong to him and no to be a “single Irene.” As the story goes on, they eventually evade from the authorities and she changes into a butterfly and escapes from all the repression and bad treatment (Almanzar, 2001).
(4)Human need for personal freedom
The need for personal freedom is portrayed by Elisenda’s desire to charge visitors a small fee for visiting the old man in the hope that this would not only give them money but also limit the number of visitors to their homestead. Additionally, the spider woman portrays the need fro human freedom. “While still prac...