In “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez there is an evident distinction of fantasy. With the whole story being centered on this strange man that appears almost magically and grabs the attention of every single person in the town.
The beauty of this man is what shocked them so much. In a way you can say that the people in this town are shallow. They were transformed by this mans beauty without him having to say a word or even open his eyes , given that he was dead. Even though it does not happen often, when a man washes up on the shore it is not like something out of this world. For the people in this town it was.
The physicality of the drowned man is what captivated the towns people so much. They did not have to clean up his face to know that the man was a stranger. Their community is made up of a small population with only 20 wooden houses. The women become completely mesmerized and take to nursing the man without hisitation.
“Fascinated by his huge size and his beauty, the women then decide to make him some pants from a large piece of sail and a shirt from a bridal brabant linen so that he could continue through his death with dignity” (Marquez, 290). Making him clothing and washing his body and even giving him a name. They decide to call him Esteban. This is where you begin to notice the shallowness of theses people. This man is dead. All of this work will not make a difference.
Do you think they would have done the same if “Esteban” was not attractive? The men of the town acted like any other in this situation. They took the most reasonable of action, unlike the women, the men went village to village trying to figure out where this man had come from, When no village was able to own up to the missing stranger they had to go back and tell the women.
Becoming very annoyed when they saw how their women were taking such care of this man that to them was just “a drifting corpse…a pice of cold wednesday meat” (Marquez, 292). Despite their strong retrieving emotions towards the strange man, once they lifted the handkerchief from his face and saw him they also recognized this man undeniable good looks and his fantastical existence.
The people even gave ‘Esteban’ a personality saying that he would have so much authority in the village and if he lived the houses would have wider doors, to adjust to his size, and his wife would be the happiest women. Another example of their shallowness. Us as human beings tend to assign positive characteristics to good looking people and not always but most of the time negative characteristics to not as good looking people. “Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they have ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination” (Marquez, 290).
The people from this village are not used to such beauty. They are subjected to just this small village with the same people and same faces all the time. They have had no interaction with what else is outside of their own village therefore never have they even imagines a person looking this way. They were transformed by this strange and mythical. They put him back in the water at the end but from there on they changed their whole way of being. reconstructing their homes to adapt to the size and height of the handsome drowned man. They would not forget about ‘Esteban’ that is why they left in the ocean because if he is destined to come back then he will.
In “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez there is an evident distinction of fantasy. With the whole story being centered on this strange man that appears almost magically and grabs the attention of every single person in the town. The beauty of this man is what shocked them so much. In a way you can say that the people in this town are shallow. They were transformed by this mans beauty without him having to say a word or even open his eyes , given that he was dead.
