Fallen Angel By Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story highlights certain aspects of society in the form of a ‘fallen angel.’ Marquez reveals universal truths about the human condition and some of the negative behaviors we share, such as our sudden fascination with issues followed by our insensitivity towards the suffering. The story shows three stages of concern for the ‘supernatural creature’ and his well-being. The first stage of interest is the growing awareness of the event. In the story, Pelayo discovers the angel broken and unable to rise from his fall. Only Pelayo, his wife, and the wise neighbor woman know at first. By the next morning, everyone knows “a flesh-and-blood angel was held captive in Pelayo’s house.” To start the cycle, the people quickly become aware of the incident and rush to see the angel for themselves. However, by the end they forget about him altogether.
The winged old man holds their attention for a long period of time and even turns into a “circus animal” of sorts. At this point, despite innocent pure curiosity in the angel, the people begin to poke and prod at him, wanting action. In today’s world, we can often make victims of disasters uncomfortable by going beyond their boundaries of safety and security. The people of the community do the same to the angel. They even “burned his side with an iron for branding steers.” Sometimes people push the boundaries of what is right and wrong just for entertainment or personal gain, but we soon lose interest in the thing we are working so hard to