Ever since the 1968 publication of this short story by Gabriel García Márquez, a story about how one morning children from a small fishing village discover a body on the beach, many are the readers who have fallen deeply in love with this tale. And many are the writers who have written commentary and interpretations. Rather than adding yet again another commentary, reflecting on the vast richness of this tale has prompted me to ask the questions below. And below my questions is a link to the story itself. Special thanks goes out to Goodreads friend Aldo Ramírez from Lima, Peru who brought this marvelous story to my attention. Thanks, Aldo!
The woman in the village go crazy with their projecting all type of amazing powers onto the drowned man. How do we, both individually and as a culture, project our dreams and aspirations onto other people? Do we project onto friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, strangers or are we more inclined to project onto people at a distance, say, famous celebrities or athletes?
These villagers have no Neptune or god of the sea. Is the drowned man functioning as a kind of Neptune, since, after all, the lifeblood and livelihood of the village is so dependent on the sea? Do the villagers’ powerful emotions speak to how we as humans yearn for direct contact with the divine?
I recall Jacob Bronowski saying how ancient societies had their myth of creation and now we in our modern world live with the myth of creativity. What place does myth have in your life? Is there one particular myth or area of creativity that really adds a sense of aliveness to your day-to-day living?
Similar to the role of the drowned man in the story, do you dream of having a larger-than-life presence in the world? I recall reading somewhere how a significant percentage of both men and women in the US dream of being a superstar athlete.
Turns out, the drowned man, Esteban (the name means “crowned in victory”) gives the village an identity. Do you live in a community where a person or event provides a positive identity all members of the community cherish? If not, is this one of the consequences of our more modern, urban living?
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