Symbolism in "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

Symbolism in "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

In the story "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is easy to see that the corpse of the drowned man could have symbolized several things, but after reading about the author the corpse takes on a deeper meaning. In the short biography about the author it states "He became famous when he was almost forty after years of feeling "like an extra thinking "that he didn't count anywhere". Stephen the

corpse when alive might have felt like the author felt, and when he washed a shore he was than appreciated like the author. I think Stephen also symbolized a legacy because

until Stephen washed a shore they had little houses, the landscape was dry. Than because of Stephen they would make bigger houses, paint them bright colors, plant

roses around the cliff all to remember Stephen. Other symbols can be the roses on the cliff how they describe the captain coming down from the bridge. And also in the author biography they talk about him creating a Latin American identity so with the paint of the houses bright colors and the flowers on the cliff is that what he was creating.

I believe the corpse symbolizes a better life for all the people in the small village. He inspired them to do things to make the community better that they would have not done on their own. Before he washed up on shore, the town was made of little houses, "small" people, a dry landscape. After they put his body to the sea, everyone decided to make bigger houses, paint them bright colors, and plant roses in the cliffs so that when ships passed by, the people on them would, at least for a moment, have...