The Handsomest Drowned Man in The World: How One Person Can Change Others

Life, a series of transformations, each small change and shift building of one another to create an even bigger impact. Humans face changes every day, whether it’s physically, mentally, or emotionally. In Gabriel Garcia’s Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World”, we are able to see how in a small fishing village one man transformed a whole community. In this village, you have your tedious women and you have the sailors who like to fish. For a while, they were satisfied with their lives, until a mysterious body floated on shore and transformed this village from a dull, dark, simple village, to a vibrant and bright village. Marquez’s use of ordinary details and remarkable events argues how only an extraordinary person can change others, and push others to become the best versions of themselves.

Marquez depicts the town as dry, empty, and lonesome to emphasize how the village needs transformation. In the beginning of the story, the narrator describes the village as,  a stone courtyards with no flowers”, and “little land that mothers always went about with the fear that the wind would carry off their children”. This desert-like landscape depicts the town as gloomy and dark. Although, the villagers never say that they were unhappy with the way they were living, it’s evident that several things needed to be changed within the village. Not long after, Esteban’s arrival, the villagers mindsets and lives changed, forever.

Shortly after, the drowned man came to the village possibilities began to bloom for the villagers. At first, the women who assisted the drowned man imagine the man, he could have been him. They tell each other how Esteban, “would have put so much work into his land that springs would have burst forth from among the rocks so that he would have been able to plant flowers on the cliffs”. But, there was no saying that themselves or their husbands could have put in that effort. But that was before their empathy allowed them to see their own ability to act. All at once, they began to clean his body, and sew clothes large enough to fit him, and, as well as, giving him a funeral. They even paint their homes, “gay colors”, and “dig springs so they can plant flowers”. Because of Esteban, the villagers become united to make this beautiful funeral, as well as celebrating Esteban. The villagers’ compassion and admiration for Esteban continues long after he leaves.

Lastly, Esteban leaving the village signifies how the villagers began to know how things were in comparison. He changed how they thought and felt forever. The villagers were never aware before Esteban came, that there were better things out there, “men and women became aware for the first time of the desolation of their streets, the dryness of their courtyards, the narrowness of their dreams as they faced the splendor and beauty of their drowned man.” Esteban was able to open up their eyes to a world of endless possibilities. He was also one of the few things that the villagers worked on together, and even fought for. They could barely stand to let him go, and once they did they promised to make everything bigger and better, in honor of his memory. 

Overall Esteban’s arrival changed the community into a brighter one. Although he is a character that’s never alive throughout the story, his extraordinary nature forced other’s to open up their eyes to a world they’ve never seen before. Their ability to come together as a village not only shows their capabilities but their determination to change their own lifes.  

Works Cited

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