As an ex-Catholic, this story captured my attention from the very beginning. It feels realistic that many people would consider the winged man to be an angel and treat him reverently, coming from miles around just to catch a glimpse of him. None of them question the fantastical nature of the winged man’s existence because, as religious people, they have long-since accepted that such creatures exist. Pelayo and Elisenda, however, see the angel as little more than an oddity that they can use to generate a profit. For most of the story, we see them having to fight for everything they have, including their child’s life; it makes sense that they would not find much comfort in religion because of how they have always made their own luck—God never handed them anything. They are initially cautious of the winged man and at first believe him to be the victim of a shipwreck; this shows how, unlike the visitors who later come to see the winged man, they are both logical thinkers.
This story feels quite different from all the others we have read this semester. Religion is an established and accepted system in our society, and there have been many alleged sightings of saints, angels, and miracles from all around the world. If a person were to say that they believe in vampires or shapeshifters or anything like that, they would either get laughed out of the room or tossed into a mental institution; however, if a person were to say that they believe in angels or demons or any other religious being, they would be respected for this belief. While this story definitely counts as fantastic, it still feels plausible in a way—not because of the possibility that angels exist, but because there are people who already believe that they exist. Each reaction from each character (religious or not) feels like it could be the reaction of someone in our own world if a winged man were to suddenly appear somewhere one day.
I found your point about the plausibility of this story very interesting. As someone who isn’t religious, this wasn’t something that I thought of at first, but I definitely agree. This definitely reminds me of the activity we did at the beginning of the semester, in which most people stated that angels or other religious figures would be the supernatural being most likely to exist.
I agree that there is definitely an aspect of religion in this story. I think that aspect comes out when they think he is an angel but call the neighbor, and angels could be seen more as a religious aspect once someone dies and they come back as an angel to visit.