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Alternate Story of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: by Jenna Smith

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Alternate Story of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: by Jenna Smith

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Lucifer presents his form in many ways. He bends and shapes his body to elicit the worst in God's so-called worshipers.  His goal is to send all of God's creatures, who God loved more than him, straight to the firefly pit of Hell. Unlike the tales of peaceful angels our parents told us about in our youth, angels are warriors forged as such to protect heaven from any outside threats. They are not beautiful or peaceful, they are terrifying. The angels, however, are powerful enough to change their true form at will. Angels never fall unless they disobey and are cast out.

A particular angel, different from the rest, desired to be more than a servant.  Instead, he wanted to test the vermin of the earth and send them where they belong, with him. However evil his desires maybe, he also deals in fairness since the souls pure enough to resist corruption will be rewarded in health.

The falling from heaven damages an angel's wings, this much is known to any devout Christian. However, when an old man with enormous wings appeared in an unknown, desolate town the worshipers flocked to see this anomaly. He did not speak for he had no need, for his point could be proven without. His only goal was to test the people of this old, worthless town. The pure would be rewarded and the weak would prove him right. He would be honored to send their souls towards damnation where they belong. Once he arrived all he needed to do was wait. Humans are malicious and cruel towards those who are different. This creature, who no longer identified as an angel but the complete opposite, laid out his plan long before touching down on the ill soil beneath this town. First, he would change form into a man resembling their own kind, then to gain innocence and wisdom, he would age himself. However, to prove his point he needed to be different, as uniqueness breeds hatred, so he added wings: an inspiration from his past. If he would be able to pretend to be one of God's own whilst uncovering the dark nature of the beasts that roam the earth… well, that would be for his own pleasure.

When he washed up on shore  he encountered the Pelayo household. Yes, he was muddy, and disgusting that much is true. Nonetheless, he knew from his father's teachings that real Christians would have shown hospitality, however, he was placed in a cage.

“Ha, the irony”, he thought to himself, for it wasn't his first time in a cage. After his first act of disobedience he was placed in a cage deep in a pit, in a place so hot the fire turns to ice. The town was in shock as they thought he was an angel. A priest even visited and the putrid stench of this holy man was almost too hard to bear. However, he still had work to do so he stayed. He was tortured but as a devout sadist, he was used to giving pain, as well as receiving it from others.

During his time in this town people gawked at him, plucked out his feathers, made money off of his pain, then forgot about him just as soon as he came. When the townspeople had shown all of their true colors he smiled in secret. He was always able to escape, and after winter he did. The only one untouched by his presence was the newborn babe who he granted health when he landed, not so graciously, on the first day.

The Rationale:

In this alternative story, I wanted to change the perception of the old man. As we discussed in class, they never truly confirmed whether or not the old man was, in actuality, an angel. I had a theory that he was actually something worse because the story focuses on the cruelty of the townspeople.

Another factor that connects the two literary pieces is that they both draw allusions from the Bible. I actually did not realize the connection between the old man and the cage until I started to write this story. I think that if this were an argumentative essay it would be quite easy to prove that the old man was actually a bad guy.

I wanted to explore the theme of isolation and persuasion which also can be connected back to the original story. I did not remove the cruelly and innate malicious intent of the townspeople as was present in the original telling of the story. I, however, did highlight the mysteries behind the old man in order to give a new perspective of the tale.

To elaborate more on the themes present, human suffering is a central theme. It is present throughout my work and the original author’s work as well. There is a focus on how pain makes others feel joy and connects back to human nature, a point that we were both highlighting in these stories; that humans are malicious and deviant and sometimes deserve no God. There is also a connection to ostracization and separation between the usual and the unusual; humans will take anything that is different is something that can be exploited. I made this work my own by adding my own style of writing into it as well as a more modern approach in my opinion. A factor that was not present in my work but was present in Marquez’s is magic realism. I don't believe that my story has as many elements if any, and this is another reason that sets our works apart.

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The brother and sister rarely left the house. It is for this very reason that they had been cursed. Something paranormal seemed to be creeping its way over the house inch by inch. When the brother found out. he was not surprised as it was something inevitable. He decided to tell his sibling and move to the area that was not inhabited instead of confronting the being on the other side of the house. In fact, a deep fear crawled through his chest. He knew that confrontation would certainly mean demise and he did not have the innate desire to be anybody’s hero.

Soon it conquered the whole house and the family, who were used to living in wealth and had to abandon everything. The sister, who had been knitting, told her brother to start a fire after they had been stranded outside the house and put on the street. That is when she leaned in too close and her yarn began to burn. She cried hysterically. Then, when all her yarn burnt up, she decided she would knit something else: her own fate. When it took over the house the brother attempted to toss the key down the sewer.  Perhaps he knew once it was gone from the house they would sober up from the repetition and try to go back, but the sister saw that the key did not make it in and picked it up while still in her knitting daze. She made her way back up to the house. Her brother ran to catch up but he could not stop her when she put her hand on the doorknob, twisted the key. and pushed. The brother quickly turned away, for he was a coward and the sister stepped in.

She was engulfed in darkness and recalling the flames from earlier, she wished there was light. She walked through the house as her feet guided her from the memories of the many years in which they had lived there. She did not know why she entered the house. she was not brave, maybe she was just tired of life. Suddenly she bumped into something solid. Strange, that should not have happened as she had walked this path many times before. She reached out and touched the object.  It was smooth and as she felt upwards there was this familiarity in the object, almost as if she had touched it before. A chill went down her spine as she stepped back fearing what her fingers would discover. She briskly walked towards the wall and palmed for the light switch. As the lights flickered on the room was filled with bodies. She screamed for it was an unusual sight… all of the bodies in the room were her own. She fainted, hitting the ground hard as a pool of blood leaked out of her mouth, she must have bitten her lip. When she regained consciousness. the bodies surrounded her. Creeping in, they began whispering in her ear. She froze, then walked deeper into the house.

The Rationale:

In this alternate ending, I wanted the forgotten character to be more prominent. I also wanted one of the characters to confront the unknown subject that was taking over the house. The final thing I wanted to achieve while writing this was to have a strong female lead. I feel as if the original story was outdated and misogynistic; having the woman do nothing but knit was offensive and very dated.

I quite liked using my imagination as Cortázar gave readers much freedom with interpretation. A similarity in both of our work is that we both end with the unknown, which may be seen as a theme in not only this literary piece but in most of Cortázar’s literature. I decided to leave Irene’s fate up to the reader. I was initially going to write the ending, which I had planned to be a bit morbid, and bring more explanation as to what the meaning of the sister’s clones was but became inspired by Cortázar’s mystery. For further explanation, or the author’s - my own- explanation I would have had the copies of the sister enlighten her upon the dark truths buried by their ignorance. This would have shown how ignorance can sometimes be bliss, it is the thing that kept them safe. However, the interpretation does not matter because the connection to the central themes is still present.

These themes are such that fear and avoidance are present in both of the works. In the original piece, they live in fear, which I incorporated in the beginning and expanded upon towards the ending. I also think that one of the more central themes revolve around independence, more so lack of it. I put a twist on the original by having the siblings separate. In doing so the sister looks for her identity and manipulates her own fate as she is independent for the first time in her life.

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The inspiration for my artwork comes from my love of dystopian themes, such as an apocalyptic world where nature has taken over cities. I am connecting this drawing to the literary work of Drifting by Horacio Quiroga. In the short story, a man is bitten by a snake while interfering with nature. This story has deep roots in the indigenous culture and portrays the power that nature has over us. This message resonates powerfully with me, in part because human beings will not be around forever and. even after our existence is over nature will still remain.

I connected this main idea by quite literally drawing a scenario in which nature rules over man. It is up to the viewers' interpretation as to how this apocalyptic scenario ensued, however, I believe that it makes more sense for this connection if a natural disaster caused the extinction of the human race. Much like the man in the story who was dying, for any survivors in this world, I illustrated there is something calm about humanity's final moments. In the story, the man was very peaceful, so much so readers thought he may survive. Likewise, my scene with the calming green and blue and earthy tones and the absence of garbage and clutter almost seem like a world desirable to live in. Another connection between the two pieces is the lack of help. This is not exactly connected however, it is interesting to think about. In the short story, there is a single man calling for help while going down the river towards town.  He is ignored and dies. Some may argue that he would have died no matter what. This where the two pieces connect. Our world is facing a lot of environmental issues that are also being ignored and some may say that these problems are inevitable, and nothing can be done to fix them.

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There is nothing real about time.
They say it goes by fast, they say it goes by slow
It doesn’t. It isn’t real.

Perception is power
People have the power to alter time
People had the power to invent time
Powerlessness is when we are the most in control.

I need to escape. There is no time to run
I close my eyes and jump to the future
For the past is too painful for me to bear.

The Rationale:
The night face up, in my opinion, has many themes about not only death and our experiences during it but time and perception of it as well. In the short story, I was intrigued to find out the real meaning and time of events as in the story the past was actually the present. I quite enjoyed how Cortazar took a man, who was being killed and placed him in the modern world. That is one of the many things I like about his writing: the surprises and plot twists. I decided to connect his piece to mine by trying to unravel time. Whilst writing this I discovered deeper meaning in the text. I believe that the man being tortured was able to escape towards the future. In my poem, I said that looking back at the past was too painful. I believe that at that moment the only thing he could do was look to the future, turning reality into the dream-like states. It leads me to philosophize in the poem about time itself. It also makes me question if anyone in the past has actually been able to imagine the future accurately. This is how I make the work my own, not only do I connect to the words on an emotional level but on an intellectual one as well. How the only moments that are real are the ones we are currently in the present time. That leads me to the theme of reality. As mentioned before, the author loves to play with reality and readers do not know the true meaning until the end. In the poem, I mention how reality can be altered. In my poem, I touch more on the perception of time than reality but I think the two are often intertwined.  I find that this is another factor of how the two literary pieces connect on a deeper level.

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In this world, we make no sense, for we do not belong

We look upon an empty shell and resonate with it

This is all true for humans who see shapes in things that aren’t true.

These shapes are people; they are our soul

Inanimate objects are birthed from our labor

A million things reflect us no matter the hue.

Nature is identification for it is where we belong

Our origins are nomadic and in mother’s creations we lie

I am an empty shell and so are you. The caged alien creature

We all can identify with. for we are lost and seeking someplace to hide.

The Rationale:

The poem I created above is a little abstract so I will first explain it so the interpretation will not be lost. I made connections to human nature and scientific evidence on how humans see things and shapes that are not present. This leads to many people believing in paranormal activity and seeing shadow people. Then, in the second stanza, I related this into inanimate objects, for example relating to fictional characters or objects such as stuffed animals, often seen when younger. Next, I make a leap to connect to nature and being one with it. In this stanza, I make connections to not only nature but to animals as well and humans' natural nomadic and predatory state. In the last stanza, I make my way to connecting the poem more closely with the short story “Axolotl” by Cortázar. Central themes present in my work and the short story are mirrored human images. I feel that both stories are more than just this, themes of isolation and identification are present as well. These themes are present in my work, which connect the human species whereas Cortázar focuses on the main character. Keywords such as alien are present in both works. Also, the cage is present in both.  In  Axolotl it is in the aquarium and I never mention the axolotl itself. but allude to it as a direct reflection of ourselves.  I make this work my own by providing a broader horizon. and different interpretations can be found as well. I feel like regardless of the differences. both of our works are universal as everyone has faced the theme of isolation and a search for identification. In Axolotl the person is obsessed with one creature because he identifies with it.  My poem takes this theme and expands it beyond one creature and explains a bit as to why humans make these connections.