One Hundred Years of Solitude

I.

There is a lot going in the novel as Marquez tries to develop each of his many characters. Since the novel begins with Aureliano Buendia “as he [faces] the firing squad…remembering that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice” (1), I’ve been focusing more on his progression in the novel. What could his exposure to ice mean and why of all things that have occurred in his life did he remember that single event? Like all the men of the Buendia family, Aureliano seems to follow in their footsteps of first being successful and then suffering a tragic fate. He begins as a prosperous goldsmith but as soon as he reaches manhood, he not only marries a child, Remedios, but also becomes a colonel who loses all sentimentality. Marquez seems to be making a statement about manhood in general, about its savagery. Marquez’s message is put into words by Ursula who declares that “at first [the Buendia men] behave very well, they’re obedient and prompt and they don’t seem capable of killing a fly, but as soon as their beards appear they go to ruin.” (152) Unlike his brothers and father, his destruction does not come as a result of his own doing but rather because of the tragic fate he suffers. He loses his wife, of whom he is deeply in love with, he loses himself in the brutality of war, and he loses all sense of emotions as he have sex with numerous woman without truly loving any of them. In that sense he differs from the rest of the Buendia men. He is different in that his sufferings does not come as a result of the chase towards wild dreams like Jose Arcadio and Jose Arcadio Buendia but rather comes ironically as a result of his passion to bring justice to the town of Maconda. It can also be noted that he does not have a very strong physical presence throughout the first third of the novel as he is away at war for most of the time. His absence from Maconda led to its slow corruption by Jose Arcadio and further steers it away from the utopian society many of you have agreed the town to be at its founding. Aureliano is a character that epitomizes both goodness as he goes to war to fight for the ideals of liberals, but becomes corrupted to epitomize brutality instead as he ignores relationships to friends and family in his quest for power.

On another note, I also find the character of Ursula to be one of significance. She, unlike the men of the novel is the constant reminder of morality. Despite all the shame her family has brought about, and the devastating fate suffered by the men in her life, she is uncorrupted and strangely strong in her endurance of the tragedies she faces, from the losing of her husband to his mental illness to the losing of her sons and daughters to shame. Amongst all the madness and chaos of the novel, Ursula is a recurring symbol of hope for the continuance of life despite events that would draw anyone away from sanity. She has witness many falls and yet she herself is still standing in spite of it all. I completely agree with ashley8 in that Ursula is like the glue trying to hold the Buendia family together.

II.

In the second part of the novel, I too notice that there exists a sort of a cycle in events and names. History is constantly repeating itself in the fates of each Buendia. The Buendia men at one point experience immense success whether it be Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s prominence in the war or Aureliano Segundo’s prosperity with his farm animals. However with each case of success, a cycle repeats itself as each man faces a downfall in which they are banned to their own solitude. Marquez personifies solitude on many occasions making it seem as a companion that the Buendia’s have “an honorable pact” (199) with. Each case of solitude leaves the Buendias isolated from the outside world. To me the title may refer to a one hundred year curse the Buendias have in their family in which each generation carrying the same cursed names will repeat a cycle of facing solitude unto death.

The corruption and chaos brought on by the introduction of technology as well as different markings of modern day society shows Marquez’s view on the modern world. He seems to mock the impacts of modern technology and advancements as it transforms a peaceful city to a destructive and uncivilized one. He calls the arrival of all the deathly temptations to be a “tumultuous and intemperate invasion.” (228) This invasion undoubtedly lures the innocent city of Macondo into temptations and ways of the outside world that only serve to turn the people towards savagery fuelled by a hunger for power as steph113 has mentioned. (i.e. the mass killing of workers by the banana company pg. 302) In many ways the arrival of the foreigners is like the opening of Pandora’s Box, releasing all evils of man.

Mary makes a good point about Marquez’s use of irony as exemplified in Ursula who sees clearly despite her physical blindness as she realizes that “time was not passing…but it was turning in a circle.” (335)

On a final note, I find the character of Aureliano Buendia II to be quite interesting because he is the only character to experience solitude immediately, from the moment of his birth where he is banned to isolation.


III.

In the last part of the novel, Ursula’s long time fear of having a child in the family bearing the stamp of incest, a pig’s tail came true. Marquez’s use of irony again is evident in that after the many generations of the Buendia family that come about due to incest, it is the last offspring that bears the notorious pig’s tail. The pig’s tail can be called a motif as it is a constant fear of Ursula’s. It reemerges with every act of incest. What is ironic is that the pig’s tail seems to be a punishment better then that of the curse of solitude that all the Buendias face. In a literal sense, the pig’s tail is the symbol of consequence for incest but it may also be a symbol of the end to the century long suffering of an entire family. The pig’s tail is the sign of the end to not only the years of solitude but also the end to the Buendia family line. The fear and expectation of Ursula is confirmed but in some ways it is a relief that the last Buendia will not suffer from unrelenting solitude. Going on bond_smoka’s comment on the recurring animal imagery in the novel, I find that Marquez contrasts and combines human characteristics with animal ones to produce a primitive feeling in the city of Macondo and in its inhabitants. The disobeying of all rules of acceptable behavior by societal standards reinforces this idea of primitiveness that Marquez conveys. They have no boundaries as to whom they love.

There also exists a surreal element to the novel as Stevie wonder ii and c-rod has pointed out. This sense of unreality contributes to the unexplainable events that occur in the novel such as Remedios the Beauty’s elevation into the heavens. Melquides and the gypsies as well add to the sense of surrealism. I find the parchment of Melquides and his influence in Macondo to be critical. Once deciphered, Aureliano II discovers that it is Melquides who writes the life story for each member of the Buendia family. Melquides was the person who introduces Macondo to the new inventions and discoveries and it is also he who has sparked the interest of the Buendia men in their thirst for knowledge. Melquides becomes the true writer of the novel as he decides the fates of all of its characters. By the end of the novel, I, like ashley8, believe that Marquez wants to show the consequences of solitude, of its suffocating isolation that disallows one to live life to the fullest. At times, solitude may seem to be a blessing of peace such as in the case of Ursula, but in many cases, solitude not “[having] a second opportunity on earth” (417) at life.