Throughout the years, civilizations have come and gone. Some fall as a result of another society's rise, while others fall due to their own seclusion. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, the complex relationship between isolation and destruction is explored. The isolation is a result of the selfish nature of man that tends to usurp a community’s cohesion. Overwhelming self interests can cause one to isolate themselves from others in pursuit of those interests, leading them to a loss in self identity and eventual destruction. Self consuming interests cause one to detach from friends and family and lose themselves in their interests and lose touch with reality. These all consuming interests are usually a result …show more content…
Destruction is almost always preceded by a rise in pride and selfishness within one’s mind. Pride is essentially the downfall of each generation of the Buendia household as “the first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by ants” (345). Jose Arcadio Buendia I allowed his pride to consume him so much as to initiate the seclusion and isolation of Macondo. Colonel Aureliano’s pride led to the death of all of his sons at once as he could not let the party he created be taken down without a fight. Arcadio’s pride leads to the destruction of the entire city and the final destruction of the Buendia family. Wars wage all around, not all are physical, but none can be fought alone. Destruction for each generation comes from the isolation they all seek. The solitude they all find themselves in causes a “process of annihilation, consuming itself from within” (400). Colonel Aureliano is destroyed after he decides to go fight a war alone. Jose Arcadio II is destroyed after attempting to fight for his wife by himself. Jose Arcadio Buendia I is destroyed after trying to find a way to save the town alone. In a world full of chaos and disaster, a society can either live together, or die alone. “Because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth” (417). Marquez’s final line in his novel sums up every consequence solitude …show more content…
"Overview of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'." Literature of Developing Nations for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Literature of Developing Nations, edited by Elizabeth Bellalouna, et al., vol. 2, Gale, 2000. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420031434/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=9a1f6deb. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018. Márquez Gabriel García, and Gregory Rabassa. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Solomon, Irvin D. "Latin American women in literature and reality: Garcia Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude.'." The Midwest Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 1993, p. 192+. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A13434542/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=559f34c4. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018. SPILLER, ELIZABETH A. "'Searching for the route of inventions': Retracing the Renaissance Discovery Narrative in Gabriel Garcia Marquez." CLIO, vol. 28, no. 4, 1999, p. 375. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A58038276/GLS?u=avlr&sid=GLS&xid=dff64018. Accessed 3 Apr.
The story is written by Gabriel García Marquez, and is a magic realism novel.One Hundred Years of Solitude consists of the past of the segregated town, Macondo, as well as the Buendías family behind it. Besides a few gypsies that come to see the town every now and then to sell things, Macondo has had zero contact with the outside world for years.It is a very isolated village that keeps to itself, preferring to not involve themselves too much in the affairs of nearby nations. José ArcadioBuendía, the head of the family, is passionate and curious. He is very introverted, preferring not to be with others as he is deeply interested in mysterious events. He seems to spend a lot more time alone than with others. His descendants take on these attributes throughout the story. One of his sons, José Arcadio, inherits the great physique and impulsiveness of his father. The younger one, Aureliano, receives his father’s strong curiosity and intelligence. Over time, the village’s isolation vanishes when it comes in contact with the other towns nearby in its region.
Christopher, J. (2011, July). The Life and Influence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014, from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-life-influence-gabriel-garcia-marquez-8776677.html
Throughout the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, there are various responsibilities meted out to both men and women. In fact, an important theme of this novel is the continuity in the relationship between men and women in regards to both sharing some form of control over the community. However, in terms of definitive power, often a balance between genders is not found, and rather we are shown Macondo as a world most often shaped, and dominated by either a single commanding Matriarch or Patriarch. It is also interesting to note that while most frequently we are only presented with a solitary authoritative figure of a particular gender, when Macondo is at its most prosperous it is controlled not by a single figure but rather a symbiotic partnership between a male and a female.
Soledad in Spanish means more than our word "solitude," although it means that too. It suggests loneliness, the sense of being apart from others. Although ultimately each human being is alone, because there are parts of our experience we cannot share, some people are more solitary than others. The really solitary figures in this novel are those who deliberately cut themselves off from other humans. They are contrasted with characters who combat their solitude, by making strenuous efforts to reach out to others.
Wood, Michael. "Review of One Hundred Years of Solitude." In Critical Essays on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. McMurray, George R., ed. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987.
In William Deresiewicz’s essay, “The End of Solitude,” he describes how technology has made it impossible to be alone. Media, social networking sites, television have so much influence on our mind that our lives revolve around these things. Everyone wants to be recognized, famed and wants to be appreciated by others such that being alone isn’t appealing to them. William Deresiewicz argues that being alone is a vital part of life and everybody should try to achieve that solitude in their lives, but with technology it has become impossible to be alone when we have technology in our pockets. He suggests that solitude is very important to hear God and to hear our inner selves. He compares the eras Romanticism, Modernism and
García, Márquez Gabriel, and Gregory Rabassa. One Hundred Years of Solitude. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Print.
Wood, Michael. "Review of One Hundred Years of Solitude." In Critical Essays on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. McMurray, George R., ed. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987.
Style: The typical Magical- Realistic story of García Márquez placed in a familiar environment where supernatural things take place as if they were everyday occurrences. Main use of long and simple sentences with quite a lot of detail. "There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had" (589).
Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 1-15. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Throughout One Hundred Years of Solitude, the idea of a predetermined fate is accepted as natural. After all time reoccurs and sometimes seeing into the future can be as simple as remembering something in the past. In chapter 8 however a prediction of the future has an effect on it. This novel presents power throughout and this is more thoroughly exemplified in the final pages when the destruction of Maconda is brought about by Aureliano's (II)
This novel is about how a family is able to survive, for a time, in solitude. So, it is appropriate that the setting is a newly settled village, which is deep in the jungle, away from the world that has condemned them. One Hundred Years of Solitude is an almost magical story where the past, present and future seem to merge into one. It tells the story of a family, rather than an individual, and how two people’s mistake results in their descendant’s downfall. If the setting was in an urban environment, the story would have made no sense, or at least lost a bit of its effect. Instead, these people start from scratch and build up their own civilization. Over the course of a century, civil wars occur, along with tragedies, angels appearing, and family members losing their sanity.
Cien Anos de Soledad Style in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is closely linked to myth. Marquez chooses magic realism over the literal, thereby placing the novel's emphasis on the surreal. To complement this style, time in One Hundred Years of Solitude is also mythical, simultaneously incorporating circular and linear structure (McMurray 76).
"…Races condemned to 100 years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth." These powerful last words of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude ring true. The book demonstrates through many examples that human beings cannot exist in isolation. People must be interdependent in order for the race to survive.
Gabriel García Márquez, a Colombian author who specializes upon story themes exchanging realistic events with elements of the impossible, magical realism. In the circumstances and environment in which he was raised, his influences derived upon tales of a superstitious reality, stories involving unexplainable elements. Márquez, born in the late 1920s, eldest of twelve children, developed under the care of his maternal grandparents. As a child, his grandmother provided him with the knowledge and exposed him the the world of magical realism in stories with her stylistic, straightforward spoken word. His inspirations and views revolves around the culture and environment around him, as his background and knowledge