Friday, September 7, 2018
The Struggle for Identity
Most of us are fortunate enough to have loving parents, grandparents, and an overall thorough understanding of our family's past. Sadly, however, some are not blessed with this basic knowledge that is so crucial to one's identity. We see this in One Hundred Years of Solitude: Arcadio has the misfortune of knowing absolutely nothing of his lineage or history. Marquez uses this aspect of Arcadio as a catalyst for one of his major motifs throughout the novel: not having a clear understanding of one's past results in a lack of identity, which, in turn, can lead to violence and a thirst for power. Upon his birth, Jose Arcadio Buendia declares that Arcadio should never know Arcadio's true history. Jose Arcadio's wishes are kept throughout the novel, and when Arcadio takes control of Macondo after the departure of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, he still knows very little, if anything, about his past; he has no true identity. Upon being granted control of Macondo, Arcadio quickly becomes a ruthless dictator. In doing so, he is searching for some quality that will truly define him-- anything that will give him the identity and sense of belonging that he so desperately craves. By showing how easily Arcadio succumbs to dictatorship, Marquez reveals how dangerous it is when an individual or a country knows very little of their background-- by all means a direct reference to the actual violence that plagued Marquez's home country of Colombia for so long.
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3 comments:
I totally agree with your analysis of Arcadio, specifically addressing his lack of identity and the consequences of growing up without any sense of family history. I noticed that Marquez expertly told Arcadios story in such a manner that you realize his decline as he ages and almost feel empathetic, not for the dictator, but for the child who longed for a sense of identity. Through this character, Marquez incorporates another theme of the novel that revolves around the importance of finding a sense of belonging. As you discussed in your other post, it is human nature to seek this out, though it often leads to "mob mentality".
This is a good interpretation of Arcadio. In the novel, he doesn't know anything of his past leading to the loss of his identity. Eventually, Arcadio is lead into his downfall not only because of his ruthlessness as a dictator but also because he lacked knowledge of his past. In a sense, Arcadio's lack of an identity is reflective of Macondo as a whole if you think about it. Macondo started as a small yet thriving community but as timed passed, Macondo became more and more detached from its past. When the banana company came in, it only made things worse for Macondo because the community as changed both economically and technologically. Thus, Macondo was stripped of its identity and given a new one which led to its downfall.
I agree that the ignorance of one's past in 100 Years of Solitude ignites the rage of people such as Arcadio, and often leads to violence and destruction to others, however there are some instances in the novel where ignorance is seen as blissful, such as with Remedios the Beauty. Marquez portrays Remidios's ignorance of the world around her in a positive light, as she ultimately descends into the heavens because she was so "pure". Although the Buendia history wasn't unknown to her, she had no interest in learning about it, nor wanting to be apart of her family. This is ultimately the difference between Arcadio and Remedios; Arcadio's desire to belong directly contrasts with Remidios's mindlessness about everyone around her. Their desires also lead them to very contrasting outcomes, as Arcadio becomes a bloodthirsty leader and Remedios a god-like being.
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