The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World and The Drowned Giant

2567 Words6 Pages

Write a comparison of The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World and

The Drowned Giant, commenting in detail on the ways in which the

authors' use language to convey their respective themes.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

and "The Drowned Giant" by J.G. Ballard are both short stories written

with similar plots but explore extremely different themes. In this

essay I am going to compare the theme, plot, setting, language choices

and stylistic effects between the two short stories and how all these

relate back to theme itself.

The themes of the stories are totally different. They are both about

how societies react to the external world and exotic things, but the

meanings are exactly opposite. In Marquez's story, an exotic drowned

giant was found on the beach next to a poor, small village, but soon

accepted into their homes and loved by the people with respect and

pride. Since the village men had no knowledge to anything beyond their

small area of nearby villages, their horizons were extremely narrow

and had never seen such a beautiful man before, so he was treated as

God and even gave him identity and buried him in the nicest way they

could offer. Because of the large drowned man, the village men had

realized the ugliness of their own society and how simple and plain

lives they lived. The drowned man here brought inspiration and change

to the village with no ambition, no dreams and no knowledge about the

outside world-and motivated them, bringing 'colour' to their lives and

making them realize how simple, plain and uncivilized they lived and

gave them faith and hope and inspiration to a brighter future and a

way to civilize themselves and their society. In contrast, in

B...

... middle of paper ...

...,

the village people even took him as an absolute alive being:

"so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished". The

drowned giant was treated like God as he made the village changed from

now on:

"wider doors, higher ceilings, stronger floors", etc, etc.

Referring back to the theme, the drowned giant in Marquez's story

brought a hundred percent change, as he gave the people the power to

imagine and motivation. He deserved to be treated as God as society

needs something to have faith in, otherwise, nothing will motivate,

inspire and give hope. Here, 'Esteban', "The Handsomest Drowned Man in

the World" brought change faith and hope to the once simple, small and

poor society.

In this essay, I have compared the different types of language choices

and how they conveyed their two similar plots but extremely different

respective themes.

Show More
Related

  • Constitutional Arguments Against Gun Control

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the inception of the Brady Act, over 118 million applications for firearm transfers or permits were subject to background checks. About 2.1 million applications, or 1.8%, were denied.

    Read More

  • The Perfect Hero In Beowulf

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the study of Germanic and Viking history, the scholar often meets a problem: there are few comprehensive texts that exist from that period; mainly because oral tradition was the most common way of passing down stories. One text that is an exception to the rule is Beowulf. Beowulf is a very complete work of Old English literature, of which it is one of the oldest surviving pieces. The epic centers around a Scandinavian warrior named Beowulf, and three different battles he has throughout his life. The poem depicts Beowulf as a perfect hero, but what are the qualities of the perfect hero, and does Beowulf exemplify those qualities? A perfect hero is the balance of strength in battle, being honorable, showing valor, having wisdom, following tradition, and displaying the traits of leadership.

    Read More

  • The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. "Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that the future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's Village (Handsomest)" "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Summary" is a short story written by Gabriel Marquez based in a small fishing village somewhere in Latin America. This is a mystical, mythological story that pulls you into the story of how one man could change a whole village. In this village you had your dull women and you had the sailors who main objective was just fishing. For a while they were content in the monotony of their lives until a mystical larger than life man floated on shore, who throughout the story transforms this village from a dull gray simple village, to a vibrant and bright village that ships of the sea can see from far away; this village is known as "Esteban's Village".

    Read More

  • The Importance of Language as Expressed in “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... of language and education is the most important in this story and society. The make use of two different languages in a narrative, provides a reader a perplexing yet fascinating image of characterization and customs. Multilingual story telling pushes the reader to decelerate and acquire supplemental focus on the expressions which are in the small fragments, however as soon as the reader has figured out the foreign words, he or she acquires a priceless picture of the theme of this story. The panorama of native words and phrases, cultural perceptions, and class dispute taken from the incorporation of two different languages are helpful for the reader to obtain significance that he or she couldn't gain if exclusively one language was employed in the story. Just as the power of language is applied to unveil a society, a better comprehension is provided to the reader.

    Read More

  • Magic Realism in Marquez´s Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1949, Dana Gioia reflected on the significance of Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative style when he accurately quoted, “[it] describes the matter-of-fact combination of the fantastic and everyday in Latin American literature” (Gioia). Today, García Márquez’s work is synonymous with magical realism. In “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” the tale begins with be dramatically bleak fairytale introduction:

    Read More

  • A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Style: The typical Magical- Realistic story of García Márquez placed in a familiar environment where supernatural things take place as if they were everyday occurrences. Main use of long and simple sentences with quite a lot of detail. "There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had" (589).

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Gun Control

    224 Words  | 1 Pages

    Car crashes kill over 32,885 people, guns kill 31,672 people. The issue is that the

    Read More

  • Argument Against Gun Control

    2444 Words  | 5 Pages

    The fact of the matter is that it is already illegal to own an assault rifle; an assault rifle is defined as a rapid-fire, magazine-fed automatic rifle designed for infantry use, which is not what an AR-15 is. The AR-15 rifle is a semi-automatic rifle meant for the common citizen to use in sport shooting, hunting, and to keep unwanted things off of one’s property, such as coyotes and other animals. Semi-automatic firearms are not fully-automatic military machine guns. Gun control supporters say that semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 are “military-style assault weapons” designed for war on battlefields. The military uses fully-automatic rifles, which are regulated as machine guns by the National Firearms Act of 1934. A fully-automatic firearm

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Gun Control

    369 Words  | 1 Pages

    Weapons are used in our everyday life for military, self- defense, or hunting, but gun control has caused an outcry among the public. Many our questioning are we safe with guns in our society because of the many mass murders, numerous suicides, and loopholes in the already present laws. Others are saying deaths have actually decreased, laws will not change suicides, and the mental state of murders. and Candidates are also taking charge in this issue such as the democratic candidate Bernie Sanders who is pro for gun control. On the other side of the spectrum, the republican candidate, Donald Trump, is against gun control.

    Read More

  • Gun Ownership Arguments

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    Some people think that owning a gun is unconstitutional, but if your life was on the line then would you think its constitutional? My grandmother lives in a city where being robbed is something everyone should be used to by now, but while some citizens were being robbed their lives were also taken. Her 2 story house was robbed 4 years ago and her life was threatened , she lives alone and is physically weak. The man who attempted to rob her pointed a gun 6 feet away from her head and told her to give him all of her valuables. If she didn't take her licensed gun and shot him in the arm, her life would have been taken. I believe that private gun ownership is constitutional and helps save lives.

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Gun Control

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” wrote James Madison into the constitution of the United States. However, compared to that of Japan, whom allow no guns to be held by citizens, the United States allowed and perceived constitution in such a way that allows thousands of people to die yearly. Some argue that gun control is against the constitution in their perception, yet it clearly states that guns should be “well-regulated,” firstly. Even though guns may prevent assaults and robberies, it is imperative that the conditions of firearm possession be impeded beyond current means because the availability of guns correlates with an increase of homicide, yet the United States currently has the highest rate of gun violence, and over 50% of the world’s guns.

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Gun Control

    288 Words  | 1 Pages

    They say guns don't kill people, but people kill people failing to realize that people are only able to commit violent crimes because they are armed. The United States has the highest gun ownership rates with a whopping 88.8 guns per 100 people, which is a total of 270,000,000 guns. This number seems unnecessary and is the reason there are a profuse amount of deaths. President Donald Trump states that he is going to “ enforce the law of the books” in opposition to gun control and pledges to uphold the Second Amendment. Although gun ownership is our right, unless there are reductions and more regulations there will continue to be more deaths. There needs to be an increase in the quantity of background checks, mental health test, and gun safety

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Gun Control

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    How would you feel if your best friend shot you? BANG! It may sound like a cliche but it is a reality. In a single year there have been over 350 mass shootings . According to a BBC article 60% of the US’s murders are a result of firearms (Guns in the US). Most states’ laws state that handguns can be bought by anyone over the age of 21, but long guns, including assault rifles, the legal age to buy is 18. Thomas Jefferson was quoted saying,“For an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” To almost everyone that makes gun laws seem somewhat reasonable, but do you think we need high magazine assault rifles to protect our homes our ourselves?

    Read More

  • Gun Ownership: A Risk-Return Analysis

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gun violence in our nation is at an all-time high and still many citizens in our country want to purchase firearms. Most America’s gun owners purchase firearms for self-defense, whereas research as shown that the gun owners are 22 times more likely to be involved in accidental shootings, homicides, and suicide attempts. It is estimated that for every one time a gun owner uses his or her firearm to protect themselves, there were 4 unintentional shootings, 7 criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides. It is easy to see there are many disadvantages of owning firearms, but with the rising threats of domestic and foreign terrorism against our homeland many people ask the question if our right to own guns are revoked

    Read More

  • The Mighty Hero Beowulf

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, here is some history and background information on Beowulf. Beowulf was written in the Anglo Saxon time period. These people had a different outlook on life and how you should act. They had much respect for anyone that was older than you. They felt before you die, you needed to have some kind of glory for others to remember you by. If you had something good, people would forever remember you, like a last name that will last forever if you are lucky. Beowulf is the nephew of King Hygelac in the land of the Geats. He has never been to Denmark, or the land of the Danes. When Beowulf hears about the monster, Grendel, in the land of the Danes, he feels an obligation to go and defend these people. However, why? He doesn’t know these people. They do not even know he exists, he is a nobody. So why would he risk his life to save people that don’t even live in his land? Well isn’t this the million dollar question. In this essay I will be discussing why Beowulf traveled across the ocean to fight Grendel, Grendel’s Mother and the dragon.

    Read More

More about The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World and The Drowned Giant

Open Document