Mrquezs A VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS and Bambaras THE LESSON Gabriel Garca Mrquezs A Very

Old Man with Enormous Wings and Toni Cade Bambaras The Lesson seem to be worlds apart. Published in different decades, they touch on different subcultures by authors originally from the respective locales. However, Enormous and The Lesson share an important characteristic: they effectively use the narrative voice to convey social commentaries. In fact, the stories would have failed if written from different points of view. Published in 1955, Enormous appeared in the midst of La Violencia, a particularly intense period of Colombian history. Daniel H. Levine, in his book Religion and Politics in Latin America: The Catholic Church in Venezuela and Colombia, describes the time: The Violence (La Violencia) [was] a massive and savage explosion of killing and civil warfare which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the decade after 1948 (62). One can surmise Enormous was a commentary on the events of Colombia. Although readers usually see Father Gonzaga as a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, it is important to realize that the story equally serves as a commentary on Colombians. The villagers represent Colombians and the angel, religion, as opposed to the Church. The following quote illustrates this well: [The villagers] thought that [the angel] should be named mayor of the world [. . . or] be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars (Garca Mrquez 107); [W]hen [Pelayo and Elisenda] went out into the courtyard [. . .] they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence (Garca Mrquez 106). These lines speak volumes about the expectations for and treatment of the angel by the villagers. If the reader substitutes Colombians for the villagers and religion for the angel, a picture of a global, theocratic government emerges. The opinions of the villagers reveal an idealized view of religion as government; their treatment of the angel, however, betrays their reaction to rule by religious authorities. Bambaras The Lesson examines the experiences of a specific subculture and its relationship with the larger society. Bambara delves into the world of African Americans in Harlem, where she was from, and their reactions to the surrounding culture. The effectiveness of The Lesson derives from putting the reader into the position of the narrator. With this approach, the reader can learn through vicarious participation and by comparing the thoughts and actions of the narrator. Elliott Butler-Evans, in Race, Gender, and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker, writes about dialect and narrative perspective in Gorilla, My Love, the anthology that contains The Lesson. Although Butler-Evanss

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statement refers to Hazelnarrator of most of the stories (but not The Lesson)his statement also applies to Sylvia, the protagonist of The Lesson:
With [Hazels] mastery of the restricted linguistic code of Black urban life and her ability to evoke both the verbal and nonverbal signs of that culture, she speaks from within that world and becomes a self-ethnographer of the imaginary Black community. For readers familiar with the culture, Hazel provides a body of signs that resonate with their semiotic comprehension of the culture; for readers unfamiliar with the culture, she offers realistic insights. (94)

Sylvias thoughts and actions convey her opinions and growth as a person while giving the reader a look into her culture. For example, Sylvia relates entering the store:
So me and Sugar turn the corner to where the entrance is, but when we get there I kinda hang back. Not that Im scared, whats there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, shame. But what I got to be shamed about? Got as much right to go in as anybody. (Bambara 93)

Without the use of first-person narration, the reader would only know that Sylvia hesitated. There would be no indication that she was ashamed of invading what she saw as white America. Butler-Evans later says this about Hazel:
Hazels role as narrator [. . .] allows her to construct authoritatively the implied imaginary community, block, or neighborhood. Recognition of the inner world of that community by readers is thereby contingent on their acceptance of Hazels credibility and their ability to decode the body of signs evoked in the story. (9596)

This reveals how Bambara uses first-person narrative with Hazel and Sylvia. The reader can see this when Sylvia describes the people outside of the store: Then we check out that we on Fifth Avenue and everybody dressed up in stockings. One lady in a fur coat, hot as it is. White folks crazy (Bambara 89). With a very different approach, Garca Mrquez utilizes in Enormous the standpoint of an outside party witnessing the events so as to not focus on the internal journey of any single character. This is important given the scope of his audience. Garca Mrquez knew that the histories and attitudes of the Colombian people were quite varied. Even so, they shared the common experience of La Violencia. Thus, he presented multiple reactions to religion. As stated earlier, the angel represents religion and the villagers display the reactions. This allows readers to decide for themselves which character or characters they identify with. From there, Colombians could mold Colombian society. Alternately, Bambara desired to reinforce in her readers a particular reality about American society. Like most Americans, Bambara was probably familiar with anomie, a sociological term generally credited to Emile Durkheim
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(Crutchfield and Bates 164). The Encyclopedia of Sociology explains anomie: [W]hen there existed within a society a disjuncture between the legitimate goals that members of a society were aspiring to and the legitimate means of achieving these goals, then that society was in a state of anomie (Crutchfield and Bates 165). Sociologist Robert K. Merton went further by asserting that society was the source of the goals, not the individual, as Durkheim believed (Crutchfield and Bates 165). This is what Sylvia experienced. She saw toys that privileged members of society could afford, but she could not. Bambaras purpose was to remind readers that hard work and wise use of money could resolve the conflict between being a have or have not, as displayed both within and without Sylvia. If Bambara wrote the story in a third-person narrative style, the audience would not know that Sylvia learned the true lesson, as seen in aint nobody gonna beat me at nuthin (Bambara 96). This is an internal thought, not a verbal statement, and, although it is in the context of a foot race, the readers know Sylvia is referring to life because Sylvia does not chase after Sugar. Through a close examination of Enormous and The Lesson, it can be seen that Bambara and Garca Mrquez provided social commentaries on different scales. Due to the divergent focuses, it was necessary for varying approaches and styles. When there is an internalized message from one character, such as in The Lesson, a first-person narrative is most fitting. However, when the purpose is in identifying with various characters, a third-person perspective is ideal. Clearly, Enormous and The Lesson provide illumination into the advantages and disadvantages of works written with different narrative voices. JOHN GOODWIN, Lunenburg, Massachusetts Copyright 2006 Heldref Publications
WORKS CITED Bambara, Toni Cade. The Lesson. Gorilla, My Love. New York: Random, 1972. Butler-Evans, Elliott. Race, Gender, and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1989. Crutchfield, Robert, and Kristin A. Bates. Anomie. Encyclopedia of Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan/Gale, 2000. Garca Mrquez, Gabriel. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. Leaf Storm and Other Stories. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York: Harper, 1972. Levine, Daniel H. Religion and Politics in Latin America: The Catholic Church in Venezuela and Colombia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1981.

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