Macando Yeah

Gabriel García Márquez’s 100 Years of Solitude is a novel with an astounding number of themes, myths and motifs, political statements, moral suggestions, critics on society, etc. The characters play a critical role in making the novel so influential, some characters even center on a general idea or lesson Marquez wants the reader to be aware of. Colonel Aureliano Buendía brings in the focus of war and Liberals vs. Conservatives, Aureliano’s character allows the novel to discuss the human quest for knowledge, José Arcadio Buendía represents the old way, or how thing were before technology or war, and there are many more characters that allow the novel to speak to fantastic ideals. However, there is one important character that is largely overlooked in the novel. In fact, it is stated several times throughout the text that no one notices her. Santa Sofía de la Piedad is a largely underappreciated character in 100 Years of Solitude for the amount of effort she puts into keeping the family together and running smoothly.
Santa Sofía de la Piedad is always available when she is needed, from the moment she is introduced as a character to the moment she walks away from Macando. Arcadio, the son of José Arcadio and Pilar Ternera, is left in charge of Macando when Colonel Aureliano Buendía leaves for war. Arcadio becomes power hungry during his time as dictator, and he becomes increasingly cruel and is eventually Macando’s most feared ruler throughout history. During his rule he attempts to have sex with his mother, Pilar Ternera; however, he is unaware that he is her child. Pilar, shocked at the fact that her son wants to sleep with her, hires Santa Sofía de la Piedad, a young virgin that worked in her parents’ small food store for “fifty...

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...ave sex with Arcadio so he’d stop desiring his own mother) to the moment she walked away from Macando, Santa Sofía de la Piedad was there to make life easier for everyone. She has many similarities to Úrsula and respects her, as her children’s grandmother, and respects her family’s customs with no complaint. Santa Sofía de la Piedad is always willing to help a member of the Buendía family with any task, including assuring that someone is really dead before the burial. Fernanda del Carpio directly contrasts Santa Sofía de la Piedad by disagreeing with the majority of Úrsula’s wishes. Eventually, Santa Sofía de la Piedad leaves the household after Úrsula dies. At this point the decline of the Buendía family is far too great to fix. Santa Sofía de la Piedad leaves with no idea as to what she will be doing next, but she understands she is passed being needed in Macando.