Characterization, Symbolism, and Repetition in One Hundred Years of Solitude
The names of characters often suggest something about their personalities, either straightforwardly or ironically. Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Prudencio Aguilar is neither "prudent" nor "eagle-like" (aguila means "eagle" in Spanish). Repetition of names and behaviors is another technique of characterization. Certain character types, e.g., the contemplative, stubborn man, or the impetuous, forceful man, the patient and nurturing woman, and so on, are represented by more than one individual in the several generations of the Buendia family. All the Jose Arcadios, for example, are assumed to have at least some of the traits of the original Jose Arcadio Buendia (impetuous and forceful), and all the Aurelianos have something in common with Colonel Aureliano Buendia (tendency toward solitude and contemplation). The repetitions are not exact, but the use of similar names is one way to suggest more about a character than is actually said. There are also repetitions of particular behaviors, for example, secluding oneself in a room for experiments or study.
Some characters have characteristic signs to identify them. Examples include Pilar Ternera's laugh, Colonel Aureliano Buendia's solitary look, Aureliano Segundo's extravagance, Fernanda's continual muttering, and so on.
Physical descriptions are used sparingly, letting the reader fill in the details beyond such generalities as "skinny" or "fat," "beautiful," "huge." An exception is made for Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who seems to be drawn from an especially clear mental image of the author's, as though copied from a photograph.
Some of the more spectacular individuals are ...
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...wears away the axle," until the whole system, including both the constant attempts to renew Macondo and the reproduction of the Buendia clan, breaks down.
Works Cited
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García, Márquez Gabriel, and Gregory Rabassa. Chronicle of a Death Foretold: A Novel. New York: Vintage International, 2003. Print
Analyzing a symbol as a literary convention used by author, Junot Díaz makes a way to identify the purpose of the device. In his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), the mechanism is used to develop an explicit character and point of view. The symbol is a sensory image that holds rich implication that is either a narrow or broad. Occasionally the reader is cast off by the author with an unknown meaning of the symbol hence is forced to create his own interpretation. The latter principle is intentionally carried out by the author as a literary hook to draw the attention of his audience to keep reading. Moreover, the author may also use in combination with the hook the method of utilizing pathos as a way of arousing the emotions of his readership. Consequently, the author effectively brings into existence an impetus by which the reader will be controlled all due to a symbol. The use of a symbol as a literary convention in a novel creates a hidden significance. A literary convention, a symbol of faceless men, is used by Dominican-American writer, Junot Díaz to give connotation and shape to his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Rodriguez, Ralph. "Chicana/o Fiction from Resistance to Contestation: The Role of Creation in Ana Castillo's So Far From God."MELUS. 25.2 (2000): 63-87. Print.
The film Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol is a science fiction that discovers the overall effects of genetic engineering. This is shown through the idea of a imminent society compelled by eugenics, where hypothetical children are conceived within a world of genetic manipulation. By doing this, it ensures that the upcoming generation posses the finest hereditary traits to benefit the future.
McGuirk, Bernard and Richard Cardwell, edd. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: New Readings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
Garcia Marqez, Gabriel: "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." The Norton Introduction of Literature. Ed. Jerome Beaty. N.Y.: W.W.Norton and Company, 1996. 525-529.
Paz, Octavio. "Pachucos and Other Extremes" in The Labyrinth of Solitude and The Other Mexico New York: Grove Press, 1985
Swanson, Philip. "The Critical Reception of Garciá Márquez." The Cambridge Companion to Gabriel Garciá Márquez. New York: Cambridge UP, 2010. 25-40. Print.
The literary technique of characterization is often used to create and delineate a human character in a work of literature. When forming a character, writers can use many different methods of characterization. However, there is one method of characterization that speaks volumes about the character and requires no more than a single word - the character's personal name. In many cases, a personal name describes the character by associating him with a certain type of people or with a well known historical figure. Therefore, since the reader learns the character's name first, a personal name is a primary method of characterization; it creates an image in the reader's mind that corresponds with the name of the character. Once this image has been created, all subsequent actions and beliefs of the character are somehow in accordance with this image; otherwise, the character does not seem logical and the reader is not be able to relate to the work. In the novels The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea, by Yukio Mishima, and Wonderful Fool, by Shusako Endo, each author gives one of his characters a personal name that guides the character's actions and beliefs.
The event that made Roman Polanski famous was a tragedy that shocked the nation. On August 9, 1969, followers of Charles Manson murdered Polanski’s wife and her eight-month-old unborn child along with four close family friends.
García, Márquez Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Gregory Rabassa New York: Knopf, 1983. Print.
Within this linear background, the structure of One Hundred Years of Solitude is circular (McMurray 77). Events throughout the entire novel repeat themselves in cycles. The names Aureliano and Jose Arcadio are repeated in each generation, resulting in a total of five Jose Arcadios and 22 Aurelianos. The men's personalities also seem to be repeated; the Jose Arcadios are "impulsive and enterprising," and the Aurelianos are "lucid and withdrawn" (77). The cyclical rhythm is reinforced by six instances of incest that occur over five of the family's six generations.
Gabriel Garcia Collected Novellas: Chronicle of A Death Foretold. New York[:] Harper Collins Publishers, 1990.