"Elisenda bought satin pumps with high heels and many iridescent silk dresses, the kind that the most desirable women of those times wore on Sundays. The chicken coop was the only thing that didn't get any attention." This quote is the first of many that show Elisenda and the others in the story as selfish. This is a recurring theme that can be found throughout the story. "A Very Il old man with enormous wings" by Gabriel Garcia Márquez is a representation of the selfishness of humanity. This is strongly emphasized by three main points: people come to see the angel for their own personal gain, Elisenda begins to charge a fee for visit the angel of selfish greed, and after Elisenda and Pelayo become rich, they still do not help the angel. The first example of the selfishness shown in this story is the people flocking to see the old man 'angel for their own personal gain. Some people, like the man who couldn't sleep because the noises of the star disturbed him, wanted the old man to help him cure him, they wanted to help the angel or take care of him at all. and they simply wanted their ailments to be cured. People never help the angel, and it is clear that the angel wanted no part of it. This is demonstrated when the story says, “The angel had no part in his deed.” Many people who visited the angel also hurt him in various ways to try to make him wake up. This is for their amusement and wonder. "The only time they woke him up was when they burned his side with a branding iron, because he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead." This is just one example of the countless ways travelers would harm and harass the angel. People who come to see a short story, halfway through the paper, and it's a very broad theme. While this story may not have a meaning clearly shown to the reader, that doesn't mean there aren't some very important meanings. When someone first reads the story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," he or she may be confused about the meaning. It's only when you really look at everything the author says that you begin to see the underlying message. Selfishness is something that is continually shown throughout the story. Every person in the story possesses a large amount of selfishness, and this seems to say something about humanity as a whole. We have all been selfish at one time or another and it is extremely difficult for us to break away from this tendency. Perhaps the purpose of showing us this is to help us become aware of what we have become, so that we can strive to be better.