Abstract

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World is a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that features a drowned dead man s arrival at a remote island The story demands attention as a dead man makes the islanders existence meaningful he magically alters a solid reality and contributes to social integration and disintegration To reflect on these particular aspects this paper has relied on Jean Paul Sartre s existentialism to some extent use of magic realism and Talcott Parsons theory regarding social unification Selecting the short story as the primary source the paper here has attempted to unveil how a dead man can bring a change to a living community