preview

Old Man With Enormous Wings Vs Life Of Pi

Decent Essays

Illusion and fact, religion and science, seem equally real, and are often hard to distinguish. In combining a highly detailed, realistic setting with something magical, magical realism can create a world where mythical, miraculous and dreamlike elements of fantasy live side-by-side with the everyday life, without breaking the narrative flow. However, magical realism is not just kid’s fairy tales. It often requires the reader to think much deeper into the context to get what the writer’s real intention is. Both "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" and "Life of Pi" are works which challenge the depths of our religious faith and what we consider to be the truths when we are faced with the unknown or death. In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", …show more content…

On the edge of death, the magical realistic scene of lighting striking on the sea inspires wonder in him and he states that "Praise be to Allah, Lord of All Worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Ruler of Judgment Day!" Pi states that "I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both." He feels that agnostics may think that they are free from religious intolerance and oppression by having the liberty to believe or disbelieve anything they want, but in reality, they endures the harsh life the way an animal in the wild does. However, a religious person is like an animal in a zoo: a place of comfort and rest. Most people think of religion as a restrictive cage with no freedom. However, Pi challenges this belief and says its home and comfort for the believer. To him, agnostics who cannot make a decision in faith in any direction are like listeners who cannot appreciate the non-literal truth a fictional story might …show more content…

Marquez not only let us question the existence of angels, but he also let us question "What if the angels were real, and nothing like we expect them to be?'' When the doctor examines the old man, he was impressed by ''the logic of his wings,'' which ''seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn't understand why other men didn't have them too.’’ Garcia Marquez presents him entirely ‘‘natural’’ through the uses of magical realism and no one questions the old man's existence or the reality of his wings. The old man is far too human and weak to match our cultural image of angels, heavenly messenger of God: powerful, perfect and

Get Access