Entry Sixteen: Márquez

"The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World"
Gabriel García Márquez (1968)

"...they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in the future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by
the smell of gardens on the high seas... look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village."

When I saw the title of this story on the syllabus, I was, if nothing else, hopelessly confused. The mental image I have of a man who’s been drowned is nothing short of horrifying – and for an author to choose handsome, out of the plethora of other possible adjectives available, it definitely captured my interest. And after reading this short story twice, I’m equally enthralled, as I am confused.

Also, I’ve been inclined to actually use my relatively expansive vocabulary.
But that might not be directly influenced by this short story.

Anyway.

I did my best to focus on setting at the beginning, since that’s the main focus of our final unit. It was interesting to me that this entire interaction takes place with, really, a handful of people in a very isolated place. The population of this village very much plays into the small-town stereotype; they’re hesitant of things that are apparently new to them, or of strangers entering their lives. In the case of this drowned man, however, they are initially very unforgiving upon his arrival – children are playing with his corpse on the beach.

 When he’s laid out for the women to care for him, it’s when they first start to show him some kindness. They realize, once he’s cleaned and presentable, that this stranger is handsome – he’s built like a lumberjack, more or less, and is very much an enigma. What amazed me about this is how quickly these women changed, and how they are willing to adopt this “orphaned” man, taking care of him and very quickly loving him like a family would. It shows the kindness people are capable of, especially in someone’s last moments.

I very much see this story as a parable to people, of people – it shows that in the darkest of times, there is a time and place for good. The people of this village are given a very unhappy task, and at first they face it as such. But after further thought, the women remembering that this man was, in fact, a man – he had troubles like anyone else, a life and struggles and connections like everyone else.

This is why, I believe, they show him tenderness; they decorate his body, they put forth so much effort for this man’s burial. In the end, this town takes Esteban as their own and gives him the last rites that anyone else would expect.

This fictional town is an example to the masses, a showing of how genuine kindness is something very much achievable.