While One Hundred Years of Solitude has not become my favourite book of all time, after finishing it this weekend, I can certainly understand why many people consider it that way. It is difficult to discuss the impact of the ending and the feeling you are left after without sounding derivative; it has all been said already. The “gritty realism” that Professor Beasley-Murray highlights in the ending which results in the destruction of the town is portrayed in a very hopeless way. The last line of the entire novel reaffirms the fact that the history and success of the Buendia family, and the town of Macondo more broadly, “did not have a second opportunity on earth” (García Márquez 417). This despair felt by the remaining Buendias at the decline of their storied history is made manifest as every aspect of what their ancestors built crumbles before them. The cyclical nature of the Buendia is made manifest throughout the text, as fortunes and technologies rise and fall. This damaging feedback loop that eventually cripples all that the Buendias have built also signals the space for a different cycle of history to take its place. After all, the building of Macando was originally only possible because they found an undisturbed and isolated place. Therefore, I can’t help but read some degree of hope in the ending. Not hope for the Buendia family, as their time is clearly at an end, but hope for the possibility of new and better cycles of history inhabiting the same space. I believe it is possible that the rise and fall of technology, luck, and progress demonstrated by the Buendia family throughout the text highlight the frequency with which little pockets of existence and civilization grow and flourish constantly throughout history. After all, the “history” of the Buendia family will never actually fade, as it is encapsulated within the literature.
Someone’s blog post from last week (I can’t remember whose), talked about how this novel had a palpable magical feel to it, especially by the end. Magical realism became much more than just an abstract phrase to me by the end of this novel. After I had passed the halfway mark and was approaching maybe two-thirds of the way through, I found it increasingly more difficult to put down. My investment into the world of this family and this town felt real. Its impending and well-foreshadowed demise makes the fact that our experience of reading the novel is an essential part of that history remaining relevant and recognized.
Question: What stuck out to you in the ending? Did you interpret it as totally lacking hope or is there a brighter way to look at it?
“I can’t help but read some degree of hope in the ending.” I like this hopeful reading, although it’s not the general sentiment. It is true that we have spent too many hours with these characters and that something has remained of them. Somehow we hope that the cycle will be different for them too. That is why we look for the details to interpret this story, that is why we strive to find meaning.
Hello Ben, thank you for sharing your insightful post! I was particularly struck by a statement you made, “Therefore, I can’t help but read some degree of hope in the ending. Not hope for the Buendia family, as their time is clearly at an end, but hope for the possibility of new and better cycles of history inhabiting the same space.” It made me reflect on how this idea could apply to our own world. Perhaps humanity is facing a similar fate on Earth. Regarding your question, I personally didn’t hold out hope for a happy ending for the Buendia family from the start, as it seemed that each descendant was born with certain traits of their ancestors, and it was as though innate to them to later grow into the person whose traits they inherited when they were born. This seemed to create a cycle of history that continued indefinitely, until there were no more descendants left to perpetuate it.
Hi Benjamin, great post! To answer your question, I had two responses after finishing the book. My initial thought was “well that was pointless,” to the idea that you could build something – or somewhere – from the ground up, pour everything you have into it, just for it to be swept away. Bear in mind I was tired and in a lowkey pessimistic mood when I finished it lol. My second thought was along the lines of “well at least the curse finally ended,” because finally the family is free of all their inherited problems.
Hi Benjamin,
I enjoyed your optimistic outlook on the ending of the novel. I had previously only interpreted the ending as being hopeless for the Buendías and the town of Macondo. I agree the “well-foreshadowed demise” specifically in the birth of another Aureliano with a pig’s tail is the most striking part of the ending. I interpreted it as being hopeless as it’s another telling part of the cyclical nature of their history that they don’t learn from.