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Paradox
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Satire
Explanation and Analysis—The Catholic Church:
In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Marquez satirizes the Catholic Church by making it seem hypocritical, out-of-touch, and overly bureaucratic. He does this in a few different ways. First, he has the character Father Gonzaga (the local Catholic priest) respond to the presence of an angel in the community by judging the angel for his unkemptness, criticizing his inability to speak Latin, and concluding that “nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels.” This is hypocritical, given the Christian principles of helping the poor and treating everyone with kindness on the off chance that they are an angel in disguise.
Marquez also satirizes the Catholic Church beyond Father Gonzaga, as seen in the following passage (in which the Vatican responds to Father Gonzaga’s letter requesting support on the matter of the angel):
[T]he mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency. They spent their time finding out if the prisoner had a navel, if his dialect had any connection with Aramaic, how many times he could fit on the head of a pin, or whether he wasn’t just a Norwegian with wings.
In having the Catholic Church encourage Father Gonzaga to “find out if the prisoner had a navel” and determine “how many times he could fit on the head of a pin,” Marquez critiques the Church's bureaucratic and out-of-touch nature, implying that they should be focused on caring for this suffering old man with wings whether he is an angel or not.
Related Themes:
