The Handsomest Drowned Man Analysis

“The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”
By using certain ideas, authors can express messages or themes. How do you think Gabriel Garcia Marquez gets across his idea in “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World?” Marquez gets across his ideas of inspiring others and change through his use of word choice, imagery, and symbolism.
In “The Handsomest Drowned Man”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the drowned man to develop his message that even though individuals may not know someone directly, they can still have an impact on their life. For instance, after the islanders had found the drowned man and prepared him for burial, they proceeded to create an intriguing personality for him. Due to this creation of personality, the islanders noticed how drab and boring their lives and surroundings were. So, they proceeded to brighten the world around them by planting flowers, reconstructing their homes, and painting them. These islanders created a wonderful personality of the drowned man and observed

how handsome he was, so they soon began to realize that the world around them was not as great as him or the personality they had given him. Although this man was dead, he still had an impact upon them. Therefore, Marquez is showing us that even if an individual does not know a person directly, they still have an impact upon their life.
Another way authors get across their ideas is from the way they write. In "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses imagery to develop his message that one single person can alter people and how they think. The people of the village envision their surroundings and themselves more respectfully; they’re in more of a carefree mood now because of the drowned man’s actions; according to the way the islanders created him. Gabriel used imagery to explain how Esteban was enormously statuesque and impressively pulchritudinous. For example, in “The Handsomest Drowned Man” when Marquez says “Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination.”Alternatively, people of the village changed their views on the drowned man of how well Marquez described and shaped him. In other words, that's how the author uses imagery to explain how one single person can turn anyones life around.
Alternatively, authors tend to use word choice in their stories to help the reader connect with the characters. In the story, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in The World”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses specific words to explain looks, emotions, and reactions from both the villagers and the drowned man. The story is trying to pass the point that anything is enough to change how people look at life and the way you live it. Marquez ’s choice of wording effects readers by allowing them to feel what the villagers do. The reader is mentally put into the world of the drowned man. By using descriptive statements such as “The first children who saw the dark and slinky bulge approaching through the sea…” and “Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination.” Marquez gets his idea that change is something anyone can come across.
Notably, in “The Handsomest Drowned Man”, Marquez uses situational irony to develop his message that some individuals appreciate ideas that are different or strange; when in fact, they should be equal!

In the story, Marquez shows many events where he talks about how the women and men fall in love with Esteban in their own ways. This is situational irony because you would expect the islanders to bury or cremate Esteban. Instead they kept him and worshipped him. This is very strange and unusual because Esteban was not living. The islanders made him what they wanted him to be. He could have been a murderer for all they knew. Marquez showed irony by telling how the islanders worshipped Esteban, the dead man! Marquez gets his point across by showing that even though the man was dead and none of the islanders knew him, they still treated him with respect and showed that they cared. Therefore, Marquez has shown that you can be affected by someone else even if you don’t know them

directly.
With this in mind, Marquez has shared three distinct ideas and managed to grab everyone’s attention by using different styles of writing. Using imagery, symbolism, irony, and word choice, he has shown that change, inspiration, and equality are shown through anything in life. To put it briefly, this shows that specific writing styles are great assets used to get the reader's attention towards the author's message.