Magic Pictures

Look at the illustrations in your textbook on pages 356, 359, and 361. Choose one, or write about all three. Describe the picture(s) using specific sensory details. Then explain what elements of magical realism are in them (if any). Can you relate anything in the pictures to the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”?

In one of the images, there is an ostrich (which appears to be fake) in a doorway on an open street corner, and several young children are sneaking peaks at the ostrich from behind the corner. The ostrich is what any ostrich would look like - a tall, slender, pink neck that barely clears the height of the door, black body feathers, and long, pink legs that look rather strongly built.  The children, who are looking at the ostrich from behind the street corner, seem young - all preteens - and are watching the ostrich with a mix of humor and vivid interest, and though they seem to want to approach the ostrich, they hold back the temptation.

Apart from the ostrich and the children, the street is oddly empty, save for a few background objects (buildings, lampposts, and cars). It seems as though the street is rather old, with decaying buildings, but are relatively tall.

The image isn't exactly sunlit; although it is light enough to see the image clearly, it is obvious the sun is not shining bright.

The children behave the same way the main characters of "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" reacted when they saw the old man with wings in their courtyard: a sense of vivid interest, surprise, and were tempted to approach and examine the figure.  In addition, though the old man was thought to be an "angel" due to his appearance, the priest warned that this figure probably was not an angel from the heavens because other factors about his outward appearance seemed to contradict the splendors of the angels that is depicted in the Bible. In the same way, the ostrich is lifelike in its outward appearance, but something about it makes it seem fake.

In addition, the weather of the image also matches that of the short story: cloudy.