I believe the professor assigned this as the first story of the course because it broadens our view of tales and stories. I never read a story like this, I found it very unusual and out of the ordinary. But like all stories, there usually is a message or moral. For this story, Marquez writes about a body that is washed up on the shore-but this man is not an ordinary man like the other people living in the area. All the beds and tables in the village appear to be big for this person, which soon after they named Esteban. This story is very intriguing to any reader and can be found very interesting as well. This is all pure fiction and can also be portrayed as mythical, and this whole story is based off of imagination. In the story, they end up praising Esteban and soon later the men and women began to show sympathy for the dead body, and it brought up questions about how he survived and what his life was like. The men and women portrayed Esteban as a sort of “God” and saw him as a symbol of human suffering. This story has a lot of fiction, mystery, and imagination to it and at the same time, it can be portrayed as a message to the reader, which therefore is why I think the professor assigned us this story first.
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Hi Mike. Yes, I definitely agree with your point about this first reading broadening our view of tales and stories.
The story does provide us with a lot for our imagination to play with. In all honesty, like you mentioned, there is usually a moral to the story. Even us in real life, we feel compelled to help someone who is in need. Also, after someone’s death, relative and friends lives changes. It is a relatable story in some ways, isn’t it?