Gabriel García Márquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is a short story that tells the tale of a drowned man floating ashore. The arrival of a dead body to the shores of the village changes everything. The man, whom the villagers name Esteban, is remarkably tall and amazingly handsome that everybody in the village start to essentially fall in love with him, giving him religious respect, and accepting him into their families. In the end, they dump his body into the sea but leave it there hoping that Esteban will float back one day. They swear to change the village into the sort of place that is worthy of Esteban.
The villagers seem sympathetic and compassionate on how they treat Esteban which is noticeable by the way they treat him. It is like the villager’s desire to bury him with dignity, something that he might not have had when he was still breathing because of his size and the way he looks is so much different than others. The man ‘s death made them realize that no one is without pain and without sorrow. The villagers changed because they wanted to memorialize him by painting their houses a grey color to honor him. This story makes me think that we do not know what one is going through and should not judge one another.
One thought on “Tony Ng Wu Discussion week 2”
Tony, this is a good overview of the story, but does it address the prompt for this week?