Human nature between Marquez and Kafka
Human nature between Marquez and Kafka“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “A Hunger Artist” both show a negative and pessimistic outlook on human nature. In Marquez’ story the angel doesn’t seem to fit in with society and the people reject the angel, while in Kafka’s story, the hunger artist is in society, no one really rejects the artist though people don’t seem to appreciate him. The two stories compliment each other greatly and that is also why they have so many differences. The two stories may be compared by, what people in society think of the angel and the hunger artist, how they aren‘t respected, and how they are looked on as a joke by society.
The people in society see the angel in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” as a threat, because he didn’t seem angelic. They thought of him as a devil. In the story, Marquez wrote “His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience,” even the most merciful would throw stones at him trying to get a rise out of him. When he was trapped in the cage for others to view, he became very panicked not of rage but of pain. The people saw that the angel was “full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson, was bound to defeat without even trying that of a haughty angel who scarcely deigned to look at mortals.” While in “ A Hunger Artist” everyone thought that he was cheating. They thought that he simply could not be able to go without eating for forty days. Everyone was anxious to watch him for about forty days and then magically lost interest in him. The watchers were constantly there trying to get him to cheat. The first group of night watchers would sit far away and play cards, giving him the opportunity to cheat, while the second group of night watchers would sit close up to the bars, so they could catch every little thing he did, they wanted him to cheat. In general, both the angel and the hunger artist were seen by the public as bad, and weren’t given enough credit for their work and doing. It shows some important aspects of human nature such as narrow-mindedness, egotism, and selfishness.
Along the same lines, they both can be compared on a standard basis of respect. In Marquez’ story, the angel didn’t fit the normal standard. He was very dirty, he smelled and had parasites that had proliferated in his wings, and unusually he had feathers, which the crippled would try to pull out. He had wings of an angel but didn’t seem very angelic. Most angels are honored and respected, yet this angel had been exploited...
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