Lorena Sandoval

Mr. Cook
Honors ELA
29 August 2014


Magical Realism is a genre that is mostly true, but consists of moments that are
sure not to happen. Author Gabriel Garcia-Marquez is known for his work with Magical
Realism. He is known for writing stories with moments or characters that are mythical,
but are described in an ordinary way. His stories go from old men with large wings to
drowned men larger than a house. Magical Realism is clearly demonstrated in Gabriel
Garcia-Marquezs short stories The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and The
Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.
First of all, Magical Realism is shown in the short story The Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings when the author explains how the girl at the circus is turned into a
tarantula. The text says, While still practically a child she had sneaked out of her
parents house to go to a dance, and while she was coming back through the woods
after having danced all night without permission, a fearful thunderclap rent the sky in
two and through the crack came the lightning bolt of brimstone that changed her into a
spider (222). The act of a lightning bolt striking someone and changing them into a
spider exemplifies how Magical Realism is shown in Garcia-Marquezs short story. In
this story, the lady suffers the consequences of lying to her parents by becoming an 8-
legged insect.In any real life situation, no person would be able to turn into an insect,
even if they disobey their parents.
Also, Magical Realism is shown in the short story The Handsomest Drowned
Man in the World when the ladies imagine Esteban visiting them. In conveying the idea
of Magical Realism, Garcia-Marquez writes, They could see him in life, condemned to
going through doors sideways, cracking his head on cross beams, remaining on his feet
during visits, not knowing what to do with his soft, pink sea lion hands(250). This site
reveals how Magical Realism is perceived when a couple of villagers find a dead,
destitute man and act like he is alive. The people also describe him as bountiful
because of his large size, and this is also not very realistic. They believe that he is large
in size because the water got to his bones and caused his humongous size.
To conclude, Magical Realism involves fantasy moments that are described
realistically and sure to happen. He wrote make-believe stories in a way that they
seemed normal in any ordinary day. Gabriel Garcia-Marquez was able to make this
genre popular and interesting when he made stories that have old men that have wings
and huge drowned men. Magical Realism is clearly demonstrated in Gabriel Garcia-
Marquezs short stories The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and The
Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.