In "The Most Handsome Drowned Man in the World", Gabriel Márquez uses magical realism in the most effective way. Magical realism is the literary technique that applies fantasy to ordinary events. Márquez incorporates magical realism in “The Most Handsome Drowned Man in the World” to showcase themes such as isolation, culture and transformation. This story uses magical realism most effectively because of how it incorporates it into the plot. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the story, children were playing on the beach and a dead man was washed ashore. The children enjoy burying it, digging it up and reburying it again. The day is ordinary, but the man is not. He is big, giant and handsome, unlike the men who live in the area. When the townspeople hear about the drowned man, they take refuge in a house. The people of the village call him Esteban. The women begin to sew him clothes knowing that nothing the men own will fit him. “The party trousers of the tallest men would not fit him, nor the Sunday shirts of the fattest ones, nor the shoes of the one with the largest feet. Fascinated by his size and beauty, the women decided to make him pants…” (Márquez 91) This is magical realism because Esteban's appearance and physical characteristics are unrealistic and impossible. Later in the story, the women begin to plan a funeral for the drowned man. One of the locals adopts the man as a relative. They mourn him as if he were part of the family. The people of the village begin to wonder what the town would have been like if Esteban had lived there. The houses should have been bigger and the doors higher in honor of Esteban. The villager's reaction to Esteban emphasizes the magical elements. That a dead man can have so much influence on a town of farmers. The local community adopts the stranger as if he were their own. “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” incorporates magical realism into the story better than “The Youngest Doll.” In "The Handsomest Drowned Man", he uses realistic things with little twists to make it fantasy. How to use a man simply by making him giant. “When they laid him on the floor they said he was taller than all the other men because there was barely room for him in the house.” (Márquez 90) In “The Youngest Doll,” they use lifelike dolls that come to life to incorporate magical realism into the story. “The aunt had continued to increase the size of the doll so that their height and other measurements conformed to those of each of the girls.” (Ferré 82) This makes the story more unrealistic and does not incorporate as much magical realism. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Gabriel Márquez used magic realism most effectively through his story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man in the World”. Incorporate magical realism into the story to show different themes such as isolation, culture, and transformation. Works Cited Márquez, Gabriel García. "Collected Stories". Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2014.Bell-Villada, Gene H. "Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude: A Casebook." Oxford University Press, 2002. Mellen, Joan. "Gabriel Garcia Márquez: A Life." University Press of Mississippi, 2000.Pelayo, Rubén. “Gabriel García Márquez: A Critical Companion.” Greenwood Press, 2001.González, Madeline Cámara and Gonzalo Márquez Cristo. "Gabriel García Márquez and cinema." University of Texas Press, 2014.Pelayo, Rubén. "Gabriel García Márquez: A Biography." Greenwood Press, 2004.Martin, Gerald. "Gabriel García Márquez: A Life." Vintage, 2009.., 1991.
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