Allegory for immigration

Allegory for Immigration

An author often uses symbolic and allegorical meanings through the actions and physical description of a character to show something more than suggested on the surface. The symbols are shown in the characters appearance, name, and actions these characteristics give the story a second meaning beneath the surface. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel García Márquez is an allegory for immigration because the “old man” and “spider-woman” are symbols of immigrants. The old man symbolizes the hard working and lower class immigrant while spider-woman symbolizes the medium class immigrant. The old man is the lower class immigrant because he gets mistreated and abused, while spider-woman symbolizes the medium class because she can amuse people and is more popular than the old man. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Centers on an old man with huge wings that is found hurt on the floor. The people argue where he may come from but later get annoyed of him and they start to mistreat him. There is also a spider-woman that is a circus freak but is liked by the people. Finally when the old man flies away the people that abused him start to miss him. The story exposes an allegory for immigration by the actions and physical description of the characters. This story is an allegory for the low class immigrants that often get abused because they are defenseless and weak, also for the medium class immigrants that are treated like freaks but manage to be popular and liked by people because she can talk and answer questions about her condition.

The old man’s actions symbolize the lower class immigrant because the old man does not talk or defend himself against the village people when he is being mistreated. For exam...

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...d down so that no one would ever doubt the truth of her horror”. This is an example that she is examined as a freak and as evil for all the bad that she has done even though it is not serious.

Different types of immigrants are exploited different type of ways even though they may share the same pains they are treated differently. The old man is physically abused because he is the lower class immigrant he shows sighs of weakness, filth, and diseases he is disliked and tortured by people. Unlike, Spider-woman is treated like a freak and unusual person but manages to work for cheaper than the old man and is liked by the village people because she can amuse them. This short story is an allegory for the lower class and medium class immigrants because the author uses symbolic meanings in the characters actions and physical description to show how immigrants are treated.