I believe that "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel García Márquez is actually a children’s story as the author indicates. There are many more adult morals to the story intermixed with those events that are aimed at children, but I find the connection between the very old man and the sick child to be too strong to allow this to be anything but a children’s story first.

When reading the story, the adult reader will first associate with the man or his wife as they labor throughout the day and into the evening in order to bring in the day’s catch or take care of the children. The child reader, or listener, will first associate with the sick child. The child in the story is not a developed character, but a child’s imagination needs little help from García Márquez. The child also identifies immediately with the angel. The angel has come to earth to take the child away (death) and return with him to heaven, but the poor angel is not what he used to be and he crash lands in the yard. "And before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop." To a child this might seem almost natural adult behavior. Children are used to having their "priceless" treasures brushed aside and mistreated by adults. An angel, who cares? The angel is helpless like the child. He has no more great powers than has the sick child. Even when he has somewhat recovered and tries some miracles the go awry like the first attempts at great projects by children.

The child can further associate with the angel as he becomes the spectacle of the pseudo-carnival. Most children understand what is feels like to be on the receiving end of truly mean or hateful jokes by their peers. Most children can remember many times when one person has started in on them and the crowd has followed. The angel feels somewhat the same way. He is protected by the cage, someplace he would rather not be but given the circumstances it’s not so bad. In the same way a child under attack can hid in the folds of an adult’s pant legs, which otherwise would not be so cool, but given the situation is the best place to be. It is also significant to note that the health of the child in the story and the angel are nearly parallel. If children are quickest to associate with other children, than having a couple in the child and the angel who are generally unrelated helps make this story for children. The angel and child are sick and healthy together.

If by the end of the story the angel is no longer a threat to the child, but rather a character a child reader is personally rooting for, than the bird imagery at the end is very important. We are used to seeing the caged dove take flight as a symbol of freedom, and the words used to describe the angel taking off at the end of the story allude to such a release. "...the ungainly flapping that slipped on the light and couldn’t get a grip on the air. But he did manage to gain altitude." The child is simultaneously recovering from sickness and beginning to explore the world again, probably with some stumbling, like the angel exploring the sky.

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