Michael Garoutte

Period 1

Mrs Joseph

10/7/2018

AVOMWEW

In the story dehumanization is shown through motif when the angel is fed food scraps

and mothballs. Right after being discovered, villagers come to see the strange angel in the

chicken coop. They tease him, and feed his food scraps as if he were an animal. The story reads,

“But when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole

neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest

reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren’t a

supernatural creature but a circus animal.” In this example, Pelayo and Elisenda go out to check

on the angel and discover that he has become a hit, with people crowding around to see him, and

that they are also mistreating him. With the words, “weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus

animal,” it is evident that they are dehumanizing him and view him as sub-human. This proves

that the theme of the story is dehumanization through motif because the villagers constantly tease

him and feed him barely edible scraps. This is shown again, however, when Pelayo charges the

villagers to see the angel, and the angel becomes a lesser than human celebrity. The story goes,

“At first they tried to feed him mothballs, which, according to the wisdom of the wise neighbor

woman, were the food prescribed for angels.” Here, the villagers attempt to feed the angel

something that is literally poisonous and inedible. With the phrase, “tried to feed him mothballs”
it is clear that the angel refused, but was nearly forced anyways. This shows dehumanization

through motif because once again the angel is being forced into something that no person should,

and his opinion is disregarded by the town.