Magical realism is a genre in fictional writing that incorporates the aspects of magic, supernaturalism and fantasies in a mundane setting (Faris). In the story there is the use of surrealism. The woman at the carnival that arrived near Paleyo’s home is claimed to have turned into a spider after disobeying her parents. She explained that the skies divided into two, lightening struck and changed her into a spider feeding only on meatballs.
There is the incorporation of myths in the short story and some ancient believes that the community holds dear. They believe in the teachings of the wise woman who claimed that angels are fugitives from the celestial world. Paleyo and Elisenda believed that the child’s rise in temperature was due to the stench from the dead crabs in their house. Father Gonzaga believed that Latin was the language of God and that if the old man was an angel he should communicate in Latin and prove he was not an invader. Elisenda also believed that the old man duplicated himself many times and could be seen in every room.
There is the use of hybridism element of magical realism in the story. Here the writer mixes aspects of the fictional world and the real world. The ordinary is mixed with the extraordinary (Faris). Paleyo and the wife go about their day to day life in complete disregard of the old man with enormous wings in the kitchen coop. They put up a better house.
Elisenda buys new clothes. On the other hand there is a leper whose sores sprouts into sunflowers, a blind man who grows teeth and a leper who almost won the lottery despite his incapacity. The element of time is also used in the story. Time here keeps moving forward bringing together events. The old man stayed for a period of time in Paleyos courtyard up to the time they finished building their house, got new wardrobes and their son grew teeth. Then almost suddenly the old man’s wings grow stronger again and Elisenda sees him flying above the house into the skies.
- Faris, Wendy B. Magical realism and remystification of narrative. Nashville: Vanderbilt
University Press, 2004, 2004.
