I found that I enjoyed the second half of One Hundred Years of Solitude by García Márquez significantly more than I enjoyed the first half. Many of the symbols, broader themes, and patterns started to become more coherent for me, and this awareness infused each chapter with much more significance.
The imagery of “spiral and collapse” has persisted throughout my reading of the text, and I believe it fittingly characterizes the world of Macondo and the Buendías. I imagined the plot, rather than a classic mountain, as a large corkscrew that coils forward in time but continually reifies the past’s events and tragedies. When I reached the end and read about the tornado winds that finally swept Macondo away, I thought this was a fitting symbol to complete the narrative. At the center of this spiral, trying bravely and desperately to create order within the chaos of the family, is Ursula, the relentless matriarch. She is one of the only constants in the midst of changing yet repetitive characters and events. In a sense, I imagine her being the “eye of the storm” in the center of the spiraling hurricane of this family.
In the second half of the novel in particular, we see Macondo and its founding family spiral through chaos and false progress. Capitalism and imperialism seem to overburden the once idyllic town until it explodes under the weight of its many tragedies. Conversely, we see the Buendía family collapse in on itself. This is illustrated quite vividly through their repeated turning in on themselves incestuously. Shut away, wading yet again through their enduring and collective solitude, the spiral finally seems to crash into its center upon the death of its indelible matriarch. But, like the text suggests, I think the beginning of the collapse really came upon the death of Pilar Ternera, who has always acted as a shadowy and unloved matriarch in her own right. Pilar is also one of the few founders of Macondo, present throughout the text. Despite being rejected, she births two sons of the Buendía family and comforts/”grandmothers” several others. In addition, she has a special relationship with time that seems to place her at the center of this hurricane too; able to envision events of the past and future, she seems to know the Buendías’ fate all along. When she dies, this spiral has finally lost the integrity of its center and collapses in forcefully.
This quote illustrated this imagery and Pilar’s role most for me: “There was no mystery in the heart of a Buendía that was impenetrable for [Pilar] because a century of cards and experience had taught her that the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spilling into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle” (396).
To bounce off of Jon’s discussion question, I think the family’s fate could have been saved by the naming of the last Buendía Rodrigo, rather than another Aureliano. The text repeatedly alludes to their destiny for greatness and I believe this greatness could have been truly preserved with the symbolic ending of the name cycle. Question for discussion: Do you think something else could have saved the Buendías from their fate?
I like that idea of “false progress”, and the possibility that Macondo has collapsed once the matriarchy disappeared (or ceased to be the centripetal force in the town). Pilar Ternera is undoubtedly one of the narrative axes, and it is curious that she is at the same time the one who reproduces the lineage and provides clues in the history of the Buendías, an interpreter of signs like Melquiades, Aureliano… or ourselves.
Hi there,
I really enjoyed reading your response this week, and especially the imagery you created with the “storm”. I agree that naming the last Buendía Rodrigo, rather than another Aureliano could have in way saved the family, as I do think names hold a great significance in this text. However, I also think that their inward facing attitudes and incest represent their inability to learn from their mistakes or even the warnings and fears of Ursula. I think that another thing that could have “saved” the family was learning from their past and maybe even working away from their historically “isolated” family tree.
Hey Marisa, thank you for sharing your insightful thoughts! I really liked your interpretation of the novel with the use of the “spiral and collapse” imagery to describe the fate of Macondo and the Buendía family! Regarding your question, while changing the name of the last Buendía might have symbolically broken the cycle, it may not have been enough to save them from the larger forces at play, such as their innate traits and characteristics, which would have continued to repeat themselves despite a different name.
Hey!
The Buendias family’s fall was complicated and tangled with factors that altered life on top of a cursed legacy. Nothing, in my opinion, could have changed or deflected the Buendias family’s track of events. For two reasons in particular, it is doubtful that a single action or incident would prevent the Buendias from meeting their fate.
1. As I described before, their scenario is quite complicated and has a significant family history taint.
2. It’s certain that their fate is shaped not only by their individual actions, but also by larger societal and historical circumstances in which they have no control.
Hi Marisa!
I liked how you connected the story to a spiral. I never thought of it like that before. I saw the repetitions of the family and events and thought of a cycle. The spiral imagery I feel adds another way of looking at the story. The way time progresses and the ending where Macondo gets swept up into a whirlwind also emphasize the spiral theme. For your question, I too agree that keeping the name Rodrigo instead of Aureliano could’ve changed the fate of the Buendias, however their fate was already written in the manuscripts. While the name could’ve changed their fate, the name was always going to be Aureliano.