The tale was written in 1968[1] and published in the May–June 1968 (VIII, 48) issue of the journal Casa de las Américas [es].
[4] The short story is introduced with a medieval rhetorical question: How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?
Crabs are infesting Pelayo and Elisenda's house and causing a horrible stench, which is believed to be making their baby sick.
When Pelayo comes back from throwing the crabs into the sea, he sees a very old man with wings laying face down in mud in his courtyard.
Once the child is of school age, the chicken coop is broken down and the man begins to appear in Pelayo and Elisenda's house.
[11] Although the world seems to exist within what we would consider a plausible town in a fairly recent time, no evidence to where or when is provided to offer any concrete context.
Airplanes are mentioned and Father Gonzaga can communicate with the Pope, but still the ambiguous town seems to exist in a world more parallel to any the reader would be familiar with.
[11] Most of the 'magical' aspects of the story, primarily the old man's wings and strange transformation of the spider woman, are treated by the townsfolk with curiosity and fascination, but no more than would be directed towards an animal in the circus.
[11] For instance, upon the protagonists' first encounter with the old man, it is written, "They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar.
"[3] After the townsfolk lost interest in the supposed angel and Pelayo and Elisenda had profited enough to build a mansion for themselves, the couple merely tolerates the old man, treating him more as a burden or nuisance than an adopted member of the family.
Initial shock long gone and the magic faded and Elisenda only puts up a small fight to keep the old man from flying away at the end of the story.
When Father Gonzaga visits the old man for an inspection he notes that "seen close up he was much too human: he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings was strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels.
"[3] Instead of emphasizing the extraordinary existence of the wings, Marquez draws the reader's attention to the humanity present in the old man--what makes him not angelic.
[13] Scholar John Goodwin argues that the text of the tale can be read as a commentary on La Violencia, as the short story was published during this time, writing that the "opinions of the villagers reveal an idealized view of religion as government; their treatment of the angel, however, betrays their reaction to rule by religious authorities.
[9] In her analysis, she uses a quote from Marquez which discusses his connections and inspiration from the Caribbean as well as the importance of mestizo identity.
She also emphasizes the use of sorcery and flying in traditional Afro-American folklore while also drawing historical and literary comparisons to other writers works such as Juan Rodriguez Freyle's El carnero (1636) and Alejo Carpentier's The Kingdom of This World (1957).