One Hundred Years of Solitude I

ashley8 said...
The title, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is very intriguing and many events in the novel lead me to agree with Mary that many members of the Buendía family deal with their own incidences that cause them to feel isolated. I feel that José Arcadio Buendía began the trend by isolating himself from his family after he became involved in the wonders of science. He didn’t realize his ways until Ursula said he should start worrying about his sons instead of his inventions because they were “…running wild just like donkeys.” (14) Ursula’s statement foreshadowed later events in the novel because his children became involved in their own interests. Such as José Arcadio, who ran off with the gypsies and retuned to Macondo as a completely different person. Also Rebecca, someone who grew very close to the Buendía family would revert back to her old ways when things became too difficult, such as when the date for her wedding could not be decided on, she “…lost her bearings, completely demoralized, Rebecca began eating earth again.” (88) Both José Arcadio, Rebecca, and many other characters found other outlets in their lives that numbed the pain of dealing with certain problems, especially those that involved their family.

José Arcadio Buendía’s desire to research different things, such as religion or technology was brought about though good intension because he wanted to advance Macondo. He wanted to create a place “…where all one had to do was sprinkle some magic liquid on the ground and the plants would bear fruit whenever a man wished, and where all of instruments against pain were sold at bargain prices.” (14) Many of his discoveries would change the lives of the people in Macondo by making it easier for them to prosper, with more fruits and vegetables; they would attract people from other villages and be able to sell more goods. However, as Melquíades introduced more inventions to José Arcadio Buendía, he began to change and he reminded me of the character Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart by Achebe. Okonkwo and José Arcadio Buendía are very similar because their ambitions and goals to create better lives for themselves and for their families caused them to lose cite in the core values of their villages - unity and strength. Once those two elements were lost, wars, hatred, and animosity broke out amongst many people in the village.

I found it interesting to see how the drift from beginning united played out in Macondo because my perception of the Spanish culture involved people who truly valued the importance of taking care of those in their families and always putting them first and I feel that Ursula really tried to hold her family together though difficult times. Such as when she brought a change of clean cloths and a pistol to José Arcadio while he was in jail after he left unexpectedly to join the war and become involved in the Liberal Party. She also was excited to see José Arcadio when he returned from traveling with the gypsies, she “…flung her arms around his neck, shouting and weeping with joy,” instead of shunning him off because he left unexpectedly and retuned “… a bigger man … with needlework.” (106) Although Ursula did not accept José Arcadio and Rebecca’s wedding at first, she “consoled herself with her own lies” about their relationship in order to keep José Arcadio Buendía from becoming even more depressed from the news of José Arcadio’s return to Macondo, bringing with him “shame to [their] household.” (106) Even though Ursula did not always agree with her children’s decisions, she never seemed to completely give up on them, however, it seemed that the harder she tried to hold her family together, the easier it became for things to fall apart.

I also agree with because the death of Melquíades changed the atmosphere of Macondo because before he died, there had not been any deaths in the village. Since Melquíades said “…death followed him everywhere…” (5) it seemed inevitable that after he returned to Macondo death would soon strike in the village and soon after Melquíades died, the village seemed to die as well. Many deaths directly affected the Buendía family because Remedios, “…poisoned by her own blood…” (86) was the first to die and soon after her death, a brutal war against the Conservatives and the Liberals erupted, killing numerous people. Once Melquíades died, it seemed as if death became apart of their culture and people such as Colonel Aureliano Buendía and Colonel Marquez were more than willing to kill others to have their opinions heard. Despite their intentions, all of the people of Macondo appeared to drift away from the pride they took in not causing violence and not having anyone die in their village.

August 2, 2008 4:32 PM