Friday, June 17, 2011

What changes do the villagers want to make in honor of Esteban in the short story "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"?

Despite the fact he is dead, the drowned man who is discovered washed up in a small seaside village is considered like a superman in Gabriel García Márquez's short story "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World." He is a very large man and the women of the village who sew new clothes for him believe him to be beautiful. One of the women gives him the name Esteban and they all agree it suits the drowned man quite well.


Esteban becomes a hero for the villagers and they prepare a splendid funeral for the man, whose identity is never discovered. Márquez tells the reader that in Esteban's honor the villagers widen the doors of their houses and build the ceilings higher so his "memory could go everywhere." They planned to paint their house fronts bright colors, dig for springs on the cliffs and plant flowers which could be seen by the passengers on passing ships. When the captain would see the flowers, he would tell all that it was Esteban's village.

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