hurch to shed any light on the situation or to arrive at any definitive answer as to the nature of the winged old man. The church is incapable of providing any guidance to the people. The Fathers attempts to receive enlightenment from his superiors were confounded by questions such as ...how many times he could fit on the head of a pin(443). The mob drawn to the angel also drew those with unexplainable maladies seeking a cure, like the ...man who couldnt sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him...(442). Throughout the story these extraordinary events are accepted as normal. The monstrosity who finally outdoes the angel and steals his limelight is the woman who as a child had sneaked from her house to go to a dance and on her return was turned into a frightful tarantula by a lightning strike. This spider woman, ...full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson... holds such an evident moral lesson that appeals to the people (443).The heavy use of symbolism in this story can be difficult to interpret into a moral lesson and as confusing to the reader as the angel was to the people who flocked to see him. A tale such as the spider womans is easily followed. Perhaps Garcia-Marques is holding up a mirror shrouded in symbolism to display to us the perceptions held by society to those different than us. In that case, the child in this tale for children is the only character unbiased in his perception of the old winged man, which may explain Marques choice of the subtitle A Tale for Children. Regardless, the rich texture created through the elaborate use of symbolism carries its own weight. A clear moral is not necessary for the enjoyment of this story....
