THE HANDSOMEST DROWNED MAN IN THE WORLD ANALYSIS 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez utilizes magical realism in this short story to highlight the transformative power of imagination. Great ideas that spark change in the world are as a result of imagination.

In perceiving things, we usually create our own reality. For example to the children, the drowned man was first an empty ship, a whale and even a play object. This is the children’s imagination which we shall compare with the women’s imagination of the drowned man.

The drowned man is described as being a larger-than-life sort of mythical figure. He weighed more than any dead men they had ever known and was taller than all the men.

He earns great admiration from the women of the village. When they finish cleaning him, they are left in awe.

“Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile and best built man they had ever seen though they were looking at him, there was no room for him in their imagination.”

They were strongly attracted by his size and beauty. They imagined that his house would have the widest doors, highest ceiling and strongest floor … and his wife would have been the happiest woman. In their pre occupation, they imagine the drowned man had the ability to work exceptionally hard that springs would burst among the rocks enabling him to plant flowers on the cliff. They compare him to their men who dismiss them as being powerless and impotent. They compare the drowned man to mythical characters such as Estevanico and Lautaro.  

As much as they admire his physical attributes, they sympathize with him about the sad life he must have lived. As they dragged his huge body on the floor they can’t help but imagine how bothersome it was to be that big. He had to walk through door sideways, cracking his head on crossbeams and declining to sit on furniture fearing he may break them.

Their imagination shifts from a powerful man to a defenseless being “so much like their men that the first furrow of tear opened in their eyes”. They now view poor Esteban as the most destitute, most peaceful and most obliging man on earth. They weep and sob in sympathy.

They are, however, jubilant when they learn that he is not from the neighboring village.

The men do not share the same admiration for Esteban as the women. They may even feel a tinge of jealousy and “mistrust in their liver”. There is change of heart later since they also come to admire his beauty and sincerity.

Just as the women worked collectively in sewing clothes for drowned man the village becomes united in a common vision when planning a magnificent funeral for the drowned stranger. They bring many flowers and even choose relatives for him.

“Through him all the inhabitants of the village became kinsmen.”

A great person has a transformational effect on his /her admirers. The villagers had grown indifferent as a result of habit and did not go out of their way to make their unexciting, aloof lives better. 

Through Esteban they become aware “of the desolation of their streets, the dryness of their courtyards and the narrowness of their dreams”. The greatness, beauty and splendour of the drowned man arouse a desire for self improvement in the villagers.

“They also know that everything would be different from now then.”

Since the drowned man is dead, he does not influence them directly but rather the change emanates from within the villagers. They realize that only they are obligated to modify their bland, meaningless lives. A man that is truly great can inspire change and arouse the passion for self improvement in others. 

Most people who inspire the world are dead.

Just like the children’s perception of the drowned man changes from a ship to a whale to a play thing and the villagers’ perception of him changes, so do their minds change arousing a passion to transform their lives and their village.

The village is united and has a common goal of communal development. As much as the women admire Esteban with his mystical prowess; they realize that only they could bring change and not a mythical stranger. They aspire to achieve extraordinary feats in their own reality

This village is desolate and lifeless with no flowers, no garden, a base cliff, wind and sea.

The villagers are now united in a bid to put great efforts into digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliff. They also plan to build houses with wider doors, higher ceilings and stronger floors and paint their houses gay colors in memory of Esteban

There are many outstanding people with admirable traits or uncanny abilities that inspire the world but change must come from within us.

There is no point in living an average life.

SAMPLE MEMORIES WE LOST ESSAY: THE HANDSOMEST DROWNED MAN IN THE WORLD BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ 

Write an essay to demonstrate how Esteban helps to transforms the village, making reference to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.

 

NEXT: Stones Bounce on Water by Dilman Dila

See analyses of all stories in Memories we Lost here.