I read 100 Years of Solitude in its entirety over the reading break, so like my last post, this post goes over themes from the whole book, and not just its second half. Having gone over the subject of death, as well as the fragmentation of time within Macondo, I will focus on the relationships between characters in Macondo, especially those involved with the Buendias. Additionally, the house of the Buendias plays an important role as the stage for many of these relationships to develop and transpire, and works as a central location in the settings of the book.
Adding onto Professor Beasley-Murray’s comments on the irony of the title, 100 years of solitude follows a course of character production that never allow time or space for any one of the characters to face what we would consider to be the standard definition of solitude. Even characters like Amaranta, in her home during her old age, or Colonel Aureliano, when he would lock himself goldsmithing, never gained the focus of the novel to create a narrative of their characters that highlighted their isolation. The plethora of characters entering and leaving the pages of the book constantly provide opportunities for new relationships to be formed, further straying from a book about solitude. Family and romantic interest seem to have the strongest influence to make bonds between characters, with the Buendias family as a whole as the protagonists.
The usage of characters like Pietro Crespi or Pilar Ternera providing intergenerational romances and disputes also helps to create even more depth to the development of the Buendias family. Ursula creates a base for maternal influence on the household, and the power of her position as oldest mother is only challenged by Pilar Ternera’s ability to read cards, and her reputation as a ‘child-bearer’ to put it lightly. Additionally, the other mothers in this line of family members usually belong to outside families, like Santa Sofia or Fernanda. I personally noticed that female characters from the Buendias family, besides Ursula, often were used as tools to create narratives on the male characters in the book, sometimes ending up in incest. Paternal characters, like Jose Arcadio Buendia, Jose Arcadio, and Arcadio, all belong in the Buendias family line, but differ greatly in respect to their influence on the novel. The Moscote family, introduced initially in competition to the Buendias family authority, end up providing opportunites for Marquez to write rich romances and sisterly dynamics that add to the diversity of relationships within Macondo. This addition of another powerful family in the fictional world of Macondo, however, does not take away from the main setting to be centered around the Buendias house.
This is also why I mention the house of the Buendias as an important role on the connectedness of the characters. With a unified roof to live under, the Buendias are forced to interact with one another, and even characters outside of their family that come into the house to visit gain influence on the other members in the house. Politics also works as a medium for conflict between characters. Specifically for Macondo, the town faces leadership from both Liberal and Conservative parties, and results in the end of many character’s lives through the conflict generated. The feuds sparked by the revolution ignite conflict within the Buendias family as well, with Ursula displaying her matronly power over her tyrant son Jose Arcadio when he attempts to kill a town member with a firing squad. This was personally one of my favorite scenes, as it reminds the reader that even tyrants answer to their mothers.
My question for you is, which romance intrigued you the most?