Having different plots the two stories nevertheless indicate the common concept

Are the great unwashed part of this world or we really dont belong to it? mayhap were just strangers, the incidental guests, who dropped in for a moment?This idea unites the two stories, which Im going to analyze A Very centenarian Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and My unique Irene by Jose Alcantara Alcanzar. Both stories create the impression of hopelessness, as they indicate bitter alienation of a sympathetic in a society, which is ready to swallow his identity.Having different plots, the two stories nevertheless indicate the common concept they allegorically describe a persons life from birth to death. However, in both stories birth and death change their meaning to the reverse one.The time, when the events start, is said to be the beginning of spring, which is naturally associated with the birth. In Marquezs story the birth is also marked by the presence of a new-born baby, but it not him, who is symbolically born but a old universe with enormous wings. I t is suggestive that is born already old, like in the legend about Buddhas birth.The reverse order of things is also demonstrated in the circumstance that he is born from the earth, even from mud (analogical to the traditional burial of a pitying body). Thats the picture Pelayo saw He had to go very plastered to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldnt get up, blank out by his enormous wings (p.371, paragraph 1).It is opposite to the beautiful concept, when a child, pure and innocent, is sent by the heaven. But in Marquezs perception, a serviceman is mercilessly thrown into this world, where he has to face loneliness and misunderstanding.The Angel is disempowered and helpless throughout his staying among people, and so is the heroine of Alcanzar story. And the reason for the condition is the same the wings. Irene is butterfly, which a certain variation of angelic image too. Besides, it is interesti ng to note that for ancient Greeks butterfly sounded exactly like the word, denoting a human soul psyche.That why in the story My Singular Irene the same way from birth to death- in a conventional meaning is symbolically described, which is in fact has the opposite direction from death to life, to renaissance, to magic transformation.For long time hes been kept in her cocoon by her husband who embodies limits of the society. It is noteworthy, that in his narration he uses a lot of restricting words as allow, permit, demand, forgive and forbid. All of them he applies to Irene. He tries to control his wifes life, leaving her no space for breathing. It would be wrong to say that he doesnt love her, he does in fact in his own way, as a collector of butterflies.Indeed, the metaphor of a butterfly acquires a broader meaning Irene rolled down the window and by accident some butterflies got inside and were trapped (p.12, paragraph 3) This sentence suggests the concept of human life as se en by Almanzar. It is evident that this view is very similar to the one presented by Marquez.An angel who was thrown into this world and was put by people into a cage reveals the same meaning as butterfly-person, who flew into this world accidentally an was trapped. For both writers, the metaphor for human existence is prison.For Almanzar it is both prison and journey, so that as a result we have a kind of prison on wheels. For Marquez life is a cage in a zoo with thousands of spectators watching and agonizing you. I fact, life is a hell for angels.