Sunday, November 1, 2009

A Very Old Man #2

Discuss the importance of the woman who had been changed into a spider.
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6 comments:

  1. dtwelve89November 3, 2009 at 7:46 PM

    Marquez is again commenting on the ignorance of humanity by adding the spider woman in the story. Initially, the story makes it seem as if everyone is gathering to see an angel because it is a holy figure, but as soon as something new comes up everyone adverts their attention. These people don't care about religion or holy figures, but instead a source of entertainment. Marquez is commenting on how warped mankind is.

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  2. wayneNovember 6, 2009 at 3:46 PM

    The story says, “Those consolation miracles, which were more like mocking fun, had already ruined the angel’s reputation when the woman who had been changed into a spider finally crushed him completely.” The spider woman attracts the people’s attention from the angel. They are not the disciples, only a crowd of onlookers gather for a carnival, so when something more interesting, more entertaining and required less admission is coming, they forget their religion and go to see the spider woman instead.

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  3. GwenNovember 6, 2009 at 5:53 PM

    I agree with dtwelve89, people are only interested in the spider woman because it was the new thing. The people were more interested in her than a man that could've possibly been an angel. The spider woman also tells her story; she presents the answers to any question thrown at her. On the other hand, the old man is mysterious, and he doesn’t give any answers. This shows that people in today’s society would rather have all their questions answered for them instead of discovering the answers themselves. Mystery isn’t appreciated when people would rather have the answers provided for them. Mankind has lost interest in ambiguity.

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  4. Tsegu KahsayNovember 6, 2009 at 10:20 PM

    The strory says that the woman was changed to spider because because she did not obey her parents and unlike the old man she could tell her story to the people of the town, hence was a living testimony to what happened to her. The importance that I could understand from this story is that she is the lesson to be thought to those who disobey their parents.

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  5. Qi LiNovember 7, 2009 at 4:25 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Qi LiNovember 7, 2009 at 4:27 AM

    The spider woman seems like a test for the people. If the old man is a real angel, maybe the spider woman is send by the God to test the belief of the people. I think it is why the woman so important.
    Obviously, in the story, all the people fail the test. They prefer the easier and more funny subject rather than the angel which stands for the right thing. (The meaning of the old man and the spider woman are so abstract. I don't know what they stand for actually. Therefore, i use the term "the right thing" to stand for the old man. Look forward to discuss this story in class)

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