Essay

I) Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Response B

Macondo remained an isolated town from the rest of civilization throughout the mid-ninteenth century. Jose Arcadio Buendía and Ursula Iguaran live in a state of comfort and peace in Macondo’s solitude. However, the community soon unravels in the mid-twentieth century due to the modernized influence other towns have on it, the reconstruction of its governing leaders, and the start of civil wars. Its inception from a solitary town bound by its own ideals to a modernized society lead by the imprudent Colonel Aureliano Buendía, ultimately corrupts the innocence sustained in Macondo. With the changing ways of Macondo, a devastating reign of death intrudes the so-called utopian community.

Death proves to be a central force that imposes itself upon the residents of Macondo throughout the one hundred years of the novel. Death is foreshadowed in the beginning of the novel with a reference to the planned execution of Arcadio Buendía by a firing squad. Marquez conveys death as a reclusive state of isolation, which is further exemplified by the characterization of the Buendía family. Marquez signifies death as the result of living a life in solitude. Death links generations of the Buendía family, serving as the symbolic idea of life and death as represented through Jose to Ursula and onto Aureliano.

Death is also portrayed in a capitalist sense as seen through the exploitation of workers of the banana plantation. This inhumane massacre and dumping of the bodies into the sea can be thought to symbolize a cleansing, as the ongoing rain washed away the violence Macondo faced until its mode of decline. Marquez’s role as the “grim reaper” and the arbitrary extraction of charac...

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...o want to see these people eventually succeed.

Through Juan Preciado and the reader are confronted with their certain problems when they encounter the people of the kingdom on their exursion. This, along with the confusions portrayed in the novel, urge the readers to explore the history of Comala in order to realize what is happening with the citizens. Rulfo’s writing style forebodes the readers’ imagination, compelling a feeling in which they feel as if they, themselves, are a part of the town. Even though it is known that their dreams are not met, the readers still find themselves hoping for their success. The reader feels as if he has undergone the downfall of the city subsequent to the tragic death of Juan Presicado. Referencing Frank as a point of departure, Rulfo effectively transforms us into citizens of Comala though the fixture of Juan Preciado as a double.