A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Suffering Quotes

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Quote #4

He spent his time trying to get comfortable in his borrowed nest, befuddled by the hellish heat of the oil lamps and sacramental candles that had been placed along the wire. (8)

This quote gives us a nice contrast between the religious, holy candles that people looking for miracles put near the angel's cage and the way he experiences the light: hellish.

Quote #5

His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience. Especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him, searching for the stellar parasites that proliferated in his wings, and the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. (8)

Brain snack: the Latin root of the word "patience" is "patior," meaning "suffering." Being "patient" actually means "suffering." Yeah, yeah, we know that this is an English translation we're reading. But guess what word we get in the original Spanish, a Romance language derived from Latin? "La paciencia." Patience. Suffering. BOOM.

Quote #6

The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead. (8)

The townspeople aren't willing to let him suffer in peace. They came to see a show, by golly, and they're going to get a show. Even if it requires branding irons. (Who brings a branding iron to see an angel, anyway?)