Magic Realism in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" and "The Gospel According to Mark".
Magical Realism is a technique that blends real and supernatural events together to make the supernatural seem real. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", magic really stands out because it contains two very supernatural events. In Jorge Luis Borges" "The Gospel According to Mark", the magic is more subtle to some readers because of a Christian background. Marquez and Borges do not differentiate between real and supernatural events. Although, elements of magic make up a major part of the stories, a realistic environment surrounds the actions.
In Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", Marquez uses the old man with wings and the girl with the head of a spider as out of the ordinary elements that are made to seem real without a question of their existence. These two events are completely out of the ordinary for typical readers because these things would never happen in real life. Religion would have no affect on whether or not readers think the events in this story are supernatural (Tillburg).
In Jorge Luis Borges" "The Gospel According to Mark", the magic elements are not as outstanding as "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". The magic consists of the protagonist, Espinosa, telling the Gutre family stories about Jesus. To a typical American reader, the events in Espinosa's stories do not seem out of the ordinary because the typical American is Christian. The magic is very supernatural to a family like the Gutres, who have never heard of such a person like Jesus. Espinosa reads about how Jesus is great, and then unknowingly portrays himself like Jesus. For example, when the girl's pet lamb is injured, Espinosa (a medical student) heals the lamb with some pills instead of traditional home remedies. The Gutres see this as a healing power like Jesus. Also, Jesus is often thought to have a beard, which Espinosa had recently grown.