Newer Better Things

It’s kind of funny how everybody forgets about the old classic things as soon as something new or more interesting comes along. It’s that way for everything. Phones, tv’s, computers, even people. New things always come along. This is true for Garcia Marquez’s short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children”.

When the old man first arrived he had the attention of the whole town. Everyone came to see him, to take his feathers, to test the hypothesis that he was an angel. But, once the spider girl came along, he was long forgotten and eventually left off without anyone but Elisenda noticing.

This happens in the real world all the time. One day, you really care about something but then the next, it’s old news. Not important. It happens to people a lot. Especially as we get older. Your best friend when you were younger may not even do so much as say hey to you when you pass in the hall. New people come a long just like new technology; just like the spider girl. It doesn’t happen over night or quickly like it does for the old man, though. It takes awhile. The new friends meet their needs until you aren’t needed anymore. You’re obsolete just like old phones and old t.v.’s.

The old man got a happy ending. Hopefully we will too. Hopefully we find people who won’t forget about and slowly replace us, and hopefully we do the same for them. But, there’s always something new to replace another object that’s become obsolete.