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One Hundred Years of Solitude II

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This reading of the second half of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” surprised me in a positive way. What especially caught my attention was the development of the main plot through the growth of the characters and the town of Macondo. The story follows the next generation of the Buendia family and their personal and social dilemmas, as they undergo significant changes.

Firstly while Aureliano Buendia is portrayed as a shy and introverted person who spends most of his time reading and studying, this image completely changed for me as I kept reading. Later in the story, he becomes more involved in the political life and conflicts of Macondo, becoming a leader in the revolution. In my opinion, Aureliano develops from being a passive character with a smaller contribution to an active participant in the town of Macondo. Moreover, I also noticed an abrupt change in the character of Jose Arcadio, but in a very different way from Aureliano’s. Jose Arcadio was the founder of Macondo and therefore has a very important role at the beginning of the story. He could be described as a brave visionary and makes essential contributions to the town, but as the story continues and he gets older, he becomes more insecure and delusional. His personality development is probably related to how his habits change and how he gradually becomes more isolated. Finally, we see his character die, which in my opinion was a very sad ending to a character that started as strong as his. 

One character that was surprising for me since the beginning was Remedios, the irresistible beautiful woman who causes men to lose their minds. While at the beginning of the story she was more humble about this or didn’t give it as much importance, it looks like as she gets older, she starts realizing more about her “treat” and becomes more disconnected from the world. Finally, we see how her character “ascends to the heavens”, floating away into the sky, witnessed by everyone in Macondo. Another female character that caught my attention was Amaranta Ursula, but opposite to the characters of Aureliano or Jose Arcadio who expereince abrupt changes throughout the novel, her character generally remains unchanged during the story. I didn’t like the end that Garcia Márquez chose for her character however, although it does make it different and not a classic “happy ending”. Towards the beginning of the story, she becomes more distant from everyone, being full of resentment and anger about past events in her family. We see her character die without being able to move on from her issues, which is sad but at the end makes you rflect about the importance one should give to problmes in life.

Overall, one of my main focuses as I progressed with my lecture of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was transformation, especially character transformation. Without a doubt my favorite character due to their development was Aureliano.

Who was your favorite character overall and why? What changes or details did you observe in this character as he story progressed?

One Hundred Years of Solitude I

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“One Hundred Years of Solitude” was a book that I was really looking forward to reading since I had heard a lot about it before, especially in Spanish literature classes I took. I had even read some extracts from the book and analyzed them, but without properly reading it nor understanding the story behind it. The novel surprised me and I really enjoyed it in general, although sometimes I got a bit lost following the main plot.

Overall, the analysis of human life and its ups and downs is what I found the most touching and attractive in the story, which is also a theme that has been present in many of the novels that we read so far. The main family in the story, the Buendías, suffer from a curse that causes them to repeat their mistakes and go through unpleasant experiences like war, death, and solitude. The last one, solitude, is the most important one, as not only gives the name to the book but also is a central theme in the story. I enjoyed the way the writer explores the ideas and consequences of the passage of time and the effects of isolation. This analysis gives rise to the more philosophical aspect of the story that García Márquez also examines in a broader way: the meaning of human life and human suffering. 

Moreover, the author accomplishes to create a sense of wonder throughout the story, which really caught my attention and made me feel connected to the characters and their experiences. I genuinely loved the magical, mysterious aspect of the story and its main setting, Macondo, which is described as a remote and isolated place, surrounded by swamps and dense jungle. The town is depicted as being phisically idyllic, but you also get the feeling of mystery and curse in the descriptions of the town. It was initially founded by the patriarch of the Buendía family, José Arcadio Buendía, and at the beginning it is asmall, simple village inhabited by a few families. 

How do you think that the town of Macondo accomplishes to represent the world and human society? How does the place/seting contribute to the development of the story and the fate of the family?