The Handsomest Drowned Man Essay
Neha Gupta
The Meaning of the Appearance of the Man Magical Realism is a form of writing where readers cannot be sure if what they are reading demonstrates fantasy or reality. It remains “a literary mode rather than [a] defined genre [that] focuses on paradoxes and [the] union of opposites.” The author explores ideas of the supernatural in an otherwise “normal” scene leaving an image where fantasy becomes accepted into the reality. In the short story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez employs Magical Realism to create a metaphor for the meaning of beauty.
The setting is a village, “made up of only twenty-odd wooden houses that had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were spread about on the end of a desert like cape.” (Marquez 2). One day a drowned man washes up on their shores, the kids found him and started …show more content…
playing with him as if he was a toy.
When the adults found out about this he was brought to the women to be cleaned off. As they peeled away the algae, grass, and other substances covering him, they saw that he was, “the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen.” (Marquez 2) Magical Realism shows how the mere sight of the man’s body makes the women determine that he is “perfect.” The word perfect cannot be defined for it varies for everyone, one may even question if it exists but readers are convinced that that the idea is tangible while reading this story. Astonished by their discovery, the women went to the men who were annoyed that the women were placing this man at such high accord; nonetheless the moment they, “removed the handkerchief from the dead man’s face … the men were
left breathless too. He was Esteban” (Marquez 6). In this moment one can see that something unreal exists within his face for it has the ability to leave many people speechless. The readers know that he looks handsome in the eyes of the village but not universally. To another person the man will appear ugly since everyone does not have the same standards of beauty. The magical realism aspect, the unknown -- the appearance of the man can be created into whatever the reader sees it as. Marquez uses juxtaposition, placing opposites together to make his appearance a metaphor for what is beauty.
In the story readers see the appearance of this man because the people in the village act a different way but only after seeing his face or body. Estaban is “the tallest, strongest, best built man,” (Marquez 2) but the definition of those words is different from every point of view which is why so much is left unclear One cannot fully imagine what he looks like. In reality he may be the opposite of how he has been described since the people in the village probably have a different explanation of what makes someone “flawless” than others. The entirety of his appearance is in the eye of the beholder making it a metaphor for beauty. Magical Realism gets the idea of the unknown across, readers do not know everything and are forced to make an inference; causing the line between reality and the fantasy to disappear. Through the use of Magical Realism, Marquez creates a metaphor for the meaning of beauty?
The Meaning of the Appearance of the Man Magical Realism is a form of writing where readers cannot be sure if what they are reading demonstrates fantasy or reality. It remains “a literary mode rather than [a] defined genre [that] focuses on paradoxes and [the] union of opposites.” The author explores ideas of the supernatural in an otherwise “normal” scene leaving an image where fantasy becomes accepted into the reality. In the short story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez employs Magical Realism to create a metaphor for the meaning of beauty.
The setting is a village, “made up of only twenty-odd wooden houses that had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were spread about on the end of a desert like cape.” (Marquez 2). One day a drowned man washes up on their shores, the kids found him and started …show more content…
playing with him as if he was a toy.
When the adults found out about this he was brought to the women to be cleaned off. As they peeled away the algae, grass, and other substances covering him, they saw that he was, “the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen.” (Marquez 2) Magical Realism shows how the mere sight of the man’s body makes the women determine that he is “perfect.” The word perfect cannot be defined for it varies for everyone, one may even question if it exists but readers are convinced that that the idea is tangible while reading this story. Astonished by their discovery, the women went to the men who were annoyed that the women were placing this man at such high accord; nonetheless the moment they, “removed the handkerchief from the dead man’s face … the men were
left breathless too. He was Esteban” (Marquez 6). In this moment one can see that something unreal exists within his face for it has the ability to leave many people speechless. The readers know that he looks handsome in the eyes of the village but not universally. To another person the man will appear ugly since everyone does not have the same standards of beauty. The magical realism aspect, the unknown -- the appearance of the man can be created into whatever the reader sees it as. Marquez uses juxtaposition, placing opposites together to make his appearance a metaphor for what is beauty.
In the story readers see the appearance of this man because the people in the village act a different way but only after seeing his face or body. Estaban is “the tallest, strongest, best built man,” (Marquez 2) but the definition of those words is different from every point of view which is why so much is left unclear One cannot fully imagine what he looks like. In reality he may be the opposite of how he has been described since the people in the village probably have a different explanation of what makes someone “flawless” than others. The entirety of his appearance is in the eye of the beholder making it a metaphor for beauty. Magical Realism gets the idea of the unknown across, readers do not know everything and are forced to make an inference; causing the line between reality and the fantasy to disappear. Through the use of Magical Realism, Marquez creates a metaphor for the meaning of beauty?