Presence and Nature of Redemption

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Presence and Nature of Redemption

Both narrators in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings and Marriage Is a Private Affair experience redemption in the end even though in different ways. The first story is narrated by Gabriel Garcia while the second by Chinua Achebe. Gabriel’s narration has its redemption signified by the old angel sprouting new winds and eventually flying much to Elisenda’s relief. On the other hand, Achebe’s narrations experiences redemption where Nnaemeka’s father reconsiders allowing his son to visit again with the intent of spending time with his grandchildren. This suggests a recession of the hostility he had towards Nnaemeka for marrying a woman of a different tribe.

The sources of the redemption instances in the narrations are emotional where the characters experience emotional relief from responsibility as the case of Elisenda’s family or stigmatization as the case of Nnaemeka and Nena. in the first story of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, the arrival of the old angel was characterized by speculation and attention on the occurrence a feature that brought enormous wealth to Pelayo and his family as they charged curious pilgrims money to view or met the angel. However, the excitement dwindled with time due the old angel’s lack of responsiveness and awareness in fulfilling the expectations of the villagers. Consequently, the old angel became more of responsibility to Pelayo’s family since he could not communicate to explain his mysterious origin nor cater to his own needs of shelter and food. His redemption as well as that of Pelayo’s family was the moment he sprouted new feathers and flew away.

In the second tale Marriage Is a Private Affair, Nnaemka married Nene who was not an Ibo tribes person thereby aggravating his father to the extend he was alienated from the family. Nnaemka and his wife spent years hoping while waiting for the old man (Nnaemka’s father) to forgive and accept them back. However, it was only after many years while reading a letter from Nene petitioning him to allow Nnaemka to bring the grandchildren that the old man felt a strong compulsion to reconcile with his son. The redemption for Nnaemka from alienation is coupled with the old man’s redemption from hostility as well as disappointment in his son after realizing his actions affected his innocent grand children. Nene also experiences redemption from hostility as she progressively makes friends with women from Nnaemka’s village who live in Lagos.

The durability of the redemption is different for the two tales where one can be deemed lasting while the other short-lived. In A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, the redemption from responsibility as the old angel flew away or from poverty as Pelayo’s family earned money by charging the audience is lasting. This is illustrated where Pelayo’s was able to build a two-storey house besides starting a business to provide for his family’s needs. Additionally, the angel flew away unlikely to return given he could neither fit nor communicate with villagers in Pelayo’s village. These two instances of redemption are lasting compared to the ones in Marriage Is a Private Affair as exemplified by the old man’s thoughts and fears of dying without making up for the lost time. Even though his heart attitudes towards Nnaemka and Nnaemka’s family had changed, he had lost time in terms of the years he spent rejecting, deferring and alienating.