Finishing the book was more complicated than starting it. It could be because I did not listen to Jon when he said that we should not read this book in small parts, but I did nonetheless. I would have felt the opposite because the eagerness to know the end usually pushes you to finish it.
Moreover, here is what I thought about the second part of Cien años de Soledad and its ending.
Start with the ending because why not. It was not necessarily that it was a bad ending, but rather that I was expecting a WOW factor for the calibre or the rest of the novel. It felt counteractive to the rest of the narrative. This is because the rest of the book was slow-paced, went into details, and the plotlines were elongated.
Something that I will say has me shocked is the horrible fate that every single family member suffered one way or another. Aureliano’s baby was eaten by ants in a terribly gruesome way. His mother died at birth. And not to mention the whole of Macondo being buried by a hurricane in the pergamino.
The whole book felt like a mixture of a critique of modern society with a hint of religious tones about sins and punishments throughout the characters’ lives.
Another thing that was very interesting to witness through the second part of this book is how Macondo goes from being this isolated, ideal civilization to being ultimately doomed and condemned piece of land, much like. “the rest of the world,” which could be seen as this idea that no matter what conditions human start, they will always find a way to destroy, corrupt and ruin everything that surrounds them even if it means going down with it themselves.
Lastly, a very exciting part that I recall from this whole reading of Cien años de soledad experience was the novel’s central themes. In the haze of figuring out the family and following the plotlines, I lost sight of the book’s themes and reflections, which is something that I like keeping an eye out for when I read anything.
And reflecting back on this, I argue that the biggest themes throughout the book are: Mortality, tabus and the magic hidden in the world.
My question for you this week is: What would you argue was the biggest or most prominent theme in Cien Años de Soledad?
Jon
March 6, 2023 — 1:16 am
“Mortality, tabus and the magic hidden in the world.”
That’s a nice cluster of themes you’ve picked out. I wonder if you could say more… and also about the relationship between them? In the first half of the book, for instance, it may seem as though magic can somehow overcome mortality—both Prudencio Aguilar and Melquíades, say, come back from the dead. But by the end perhaps we have seen both the “modern magic” by which the banana company and state can wish away the train station massacre—the people killed there will never return, and even any memory of the event will disappear—and also the grotesque end of the Buendía line as the curse is finally fulfilled. The “magic hidden the world” no longer seems so innocent or promising any more.
Jon
March 6, 2023 — 1:18 am
Oh, and: “I did not listen to Jon.” Haven’t you learnt that this is always a mistake? 😉
Julia
March 6, 2023 — 2:43 pm
Hi Montserrat, I have to agree with you about your feelings toward the ending. I was also expecting something bigger and grander because of the rest of the book sort of led me to believe that’s how it would go. But in a way I think the solemn, ‘tiny’ ending fits the themes of the novel as well, as even with new ideas and things in Macondo seems sort of doomed forever.
I don’t blame you for getting lost in the book’s themes, because I also felt there was so much (maybe too much) going on and it was so difficult for me to hang onto the central themes of importance. I suppose I’d say repetition is one of the most prominent themes in the book, and perhaps the cursed nature of repetition and, in that repetition, solitude of the monotony. Repeating names, incest repeated in generations, similar events and outcomes for family members — it all feels like a loop that is doomed to continue to fail, until, of course, the terrible hurricane ends the curse.
Curtis Holt-Robinson
March 6, 2023 — 7:42 pm
Hi Montserrat,
I really like your discussion about the religious connotations regarding the end of 100 Years of Solitude. For sure, the total erasure of Macondo by means of a tremendous hurricane evokes some of the same feelings of the Rapture – where the Earth and its structures are wiped, all inhabitants (their bodily beings anyway) are exterminated, and the barren Earth remains as the battlefield for good vs. evil, God/Jesus vs. Satan.
Yet, I’d like to throw this question back to you. Is the hurricane a symbol of judgment being done unto the Buendias due to their sinful nature – whether it be incestual relations, a egoistic solitude, or the pride, first seen in Coronel Aureliano Buendia’s experience of the war… So was the hurricane judgment, or was the hurricane a necessary component simply for the destruction necessary for future civilizations to build? Maybe the hurricane, destruction, erasure of prior times, must be had in order for the continual progression of time to keep chugging along? Perhaps these two points are not oppositional (the answer may well be both), but please let m know what you think!
Take care,
Curtis HR
Deeba Mehr
March 8, 2023 — 11:58 pm
Hi Montse, great post! To answer your question, I thought the biggest themes in the novel were mortality, time, and mistakes. To be precise about the last one, it’s the circular nature of some mistakes, which can become generational trauma that’s much harder to break out of.