What is the setting in the story?
a small town that just went through a bad rain storm
How does the setting contribute to the mood of the story?
the dreary description of the storm gives a uncertain/mysterious mood to the story
Who discovers the old man?
Pelayo
What does the old man look like? How does the old man speak?
dressed like a ragpicker, bald, very few teeth, pitiful condition, huge buzzard wings. Speaks with an incomprehensible dialect - strong sailors voice.
What quick judgments do Pelayo and his wife and the wise neighbor woman make about the old man?
He's an angel who had been coming for a child, but he is so old that the rain knocked him down
What do they do instead of clubbing the old man to death?
dragged him out of the mud an locked him up with hens in the wire chicken coop.
What happens to the sick child and how do his parents respond?
woke up without a fever and a desire to eat. Parents felt kind and decided to put the angel on a raft with food and water
How is the whole neighborhood treating him?
having fun with him, tossing him things to eat, as if he were a circus animal
What do the characters' responses to the events of the story tell us about human nature and society?
they are curious
What makes Father Gonzaga suspicious?
that the angel did not understand the language of God or know how to greet his ministers and he was much too human.
What does Father Gonzaga decide to do?
to write a letter to his bishop so that he would get the real truth from the higher courts
What idea does Elisenda have about the old man?
fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel.
Why do the "most unfortunate invalids on earth" come? What happens to them instead of getting healed?
they come in search of health.
How does the old man respond to these events?
He ignored all the people and spent his time trying to get comfortable in his borrowed nest.
What does the old man end up eating?
eggplant mush
What does his only supernatural virtue seem to be?
patience
What are some of the torturous things they do to him, and how does he respond?
hens pecked at him, pulled out his feathers, threw stones at him. He only responded when they burned his side with an iron and he began to rant in his language with tears in his eyes and flapped his wings a few times
What happened to the woman who was changed into a spider?
She became the center of attention and everyone ignored the angel
How does the spider "crush" the angel "completely"?
everyone ignored him because they wanted to see her - she was full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson.
What do the owners of the house do with the money they earn?
they built a two story mansion with balconies and gardens and high netting so that crabs wouldnt get in during the winter and with iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldnt get in.
What does the doctor think about the old man /angel?
his vital signs are very weak - seemed impossible for him to be alive, his wings surprised the doctor the most and couldnt understand why other men didnt have them.
What happens on the first warm days of the year?
the angel seemed to improve on the first sunny days
How does Elisenda feel about the angel's departure?
she felt a sigh of relief for herself and for him
What are two themes the author could be portraying through this story?
human vs supernatural
curious nature of humans and the fragile nature of life