Saturday, September 8, 2018
Septimus in Mrs. Dalloway and Aureliano Buendia
As we discussed some in class, Aureliano Buendía began to deteriorate as the war progressed. Marquez writes that as the war became more intense, Aureliano Buendia “[gradually] was fading away into a universe of unreality” (161) and his speech gradually began to lose meaning. Aureliano Buendía’s deterioration reminds me of Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. As a “bellringer” for those that do not remember, Septimus fought in World War I for the British, suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, and ultimately committed suicide. Marquez and Woolf use Aureliano Buendía and Septimus, respectively, to show the psychological effects of war on those that fight and to criticize their society’s value on war. Both authors raise the question of whether or not the consequences of war are worth the potential positive implications of winning a war.
China's "new colonialism" in Africa
China might be participating in a form of “new colonialism” in Africa. Last Monday, the Chinese president, Xi Jingping, announced that China will be investing $60 billion in financing for projects in Africa. This includes money for financial assistance, investments, and loans. Also, the president said he is going to encourage Chinese companies to invest at least 10 billion dollars in Africa in the next three years. President Xi declared their initiative to construct ports and other infrastructure projects. They claim that this will help the world achieve a “common prosperity” in a world filled with trade protectionism. Most of these investments will most likely be going towards transport and energy. Already, China has invested lots of money into Nigeria’s railway, and now Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zambia and also into drilling for oil. The Chinese government is completing all of these projects at no cost to the African nations. They are expecting to be paid back at a later time, so these weak and under developed nations are slowly going into more and more debt. Chinese companies have also established private contractors into the region who under-bid all local businesses on building projects, putting constriction companies in Africa out of business. It seems as if China has taken part in a new form of colonialism in Africa these past few years. China is infiltrating these nations’ economies and completely pillaging the continents resources. For example, in Sudan, they bought hundred of miles of arable land. The Chinese used this scarce farm land to grow crops using their own seed, fertilizer, and machinery and then exported all of the crops back to China. The African population received no benefit from this at all. The corrupt African leaders tell the media that China is leading them on a path to eventually become a dependent and developed nation. On the other hand, I predict that China will suck every ounce of resource from these countries and export them back to their own country. They will also cause Africa to go into such large debt that they will essentially be forced to do whatever China wants because of how much money they owe. Lastly, the opening of new ports into Africa will lead to a dramatic flow of businesses from China into these nations, where labor and resources are a lot cheaper. This situation, that I heard about in the news, reminded me a lot of the United Fruit Company in Macando. This American company entered foreign lands and completely took over their resources and exported the locals who worked as their labor. I hope China does not end up doing the same in Africa, but we shall see what happens in the future.
The Scandal of the Century
While looking on the AP's app, I saw an article that said a book of Marquez's journalistic wok will be published in May. It will be called El Escandalo del Siglo or The Scandal of the Century in English. The novel will cover over 35 years of his time as a journalist, from around the 1950s to the 1980s. In reading an interview conducted by The Paris Review, Reporter Peter H. Stone interviewed Marquez about his time as a journalist. The interview was done in 1981, just around the time the new book will end.
When asked the question if novels can do something journalism cannot, Marquez gave a very interesting answer, “Nothing. I don’t think there is any difference. The sources are the same, the material is the same, the resources and the language are the same. The Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe is a great novel and Hiroshima is a great work of journalism.” This is interesting because I never thought of those two writing styles in that was. If you want to write a novel on Vietnam, for example, you would do research and find information just like a journalist would.
Sources:
"Groundhog Day" and "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
Aureliano Buendia makes gold fish and melts the down, only to make more again. This is a pointless cycle; he has lost his sense of purpose and belonging in life. Jose Arcadio Buendia thought he was living the same day over and over. These instances remind me of the movie "Groundhog Day". However, the character in "Groundhog Day" tries to escape his cycle. The characters in "One Hundred Years of Solitude" isolate themselves and retreat into their destructive cycles; they are destroyed by them and fail to escape. Everyday, the character in "Groundhog Day" tried new techniques and learns from his mistakes. The Buendia family, however, does not learn from past mistakes or from their family history. Marquez included this in his book intentionally; he wanted to emphasize the importance of keeping history in mind as well as highlight the dangers of forgetting it. Ursula is the only one who keeps the family history in mind; she is the one who often fights against tyranny and repeated mistakes. When she is gone, the family is destroyed by the build up of repeated mistakes.
Cultural Isolation: Precious but Subject to Corruption
Class discussion caused me to reflect upon the realities that we, comfortably situated within Westernized society, tend to neglect. I was particularly interested in the message Marquez was portraying through the fact that the citizens of Macondo seemed to be blind to the rapid progression that was occurring around them - instead of revolting initially, they seemed to be numb or rather immediately accepting of the drastic measures taken to advance the town. This made me consider the contrast between our adaptability to modernization and the reality that many cultures remain in primitive environments, surviving and seemingly decades in the past.
It reminded me of something that my mom, who travelled and took photographs for NatGeo, told me about a village that she went to in Africa and the startling beliefs that they held. She spoke to a woman who believed that the Earth was flat. She taught me that cultural preservation helps maintain the diversity of the world, though as was demonstrated in Macondo, these fragile societies are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. This is what happened as the banana company dictated over thousands of villagers and aggressively showed their power. The precious sense of wonder that the people had when the gypsies came into town with their foreign concepts (eg. ice) morphed into a fear that paralyzed them from taking action when the banana company took over.
Fernanda: The Begining of the End
Though it has already been established in class that the Buendia family tends to follow cycles of ups and downs, it can be argued that it was the introduction of Fernanda into the family that marked the beginning of the end. At the start of the novel, Macondo was seen as a sort of utopia, but as the years went on the town was slowly corrupted by the invasion of outsiders. The gypsies brought magic and inventions that distracted Jose Acardio Buendia from his obligations to his family and the town, Moscote plagued the Macondo with politics and war, and the American banana company invaded and took over the natural landscape. But, it wasn't until Fernanda that the Buendia family itself was infiltrated by a foreigner. When she arrived, she pushed onto the family pompous traditions from the mainland, a section of Colombia Marquez himself despised. When Ursula fell into ill health, she took over as matriarch of the family. Ursula through the family's history had always been the most grounded member, keeping them afloat and constantly fixing the disasters of the others. She is also the one that keeps the family history alive, she remembers the beginning of Macondo and she keeps their history alive. Ursula was the only one left to warn them about the curse of the pigs tail, thus delaying the Buendia's tragic fate. This is all lost once Fernanda takes over. She erases their history and instead replaces it with the corrupt values and traditions she grew up with in the interior. She is the one who banished Meme away into exile, resulting in her not raising the child herself, but sending it back. As a result, no knew of his parents except Fernanda, he slept with his cousin, and the incetious baby with the pigs tale was born, brining on the hurricane that finally killed the town and the Buendias for good. This can also be seen as a critique of Colombia by Marquez. What he is essentially implying is that of Colombia and its people allow themselves to forget their past and be corrupted and invaded by foreigner, they will lose their history and identity. Without that, they are nothing and like Macondo, will be blown away by the winds of the next passing storm. It is a desperate plea from Marquez to Colombia to not forget its past, to heed the warnings of their ancestors , to learn from past mistakes and move forward into the future.
Exploring Mob Mentality in “One Hundred Year’s of Solitude”
“Mob mentality” is a well-known pyscological term; it simply refers to the tendency of individuals to act emotionally, rather than rationally, when in a large group. The people in the group feed off the energy of the “mob”— the others in the group — and often do terrible things that they would otherwise never do. Accordingly, many low points in human history are the result of mob mentality: slavery, the radical beliefs of the Nazi Regime, and modern day terrorism are a few examples. Though the term is never explicitly mentioned, mob mentality is evident throughout much of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Perhaps the best example is the One Thousand Day’s War. Many of those involved in the war quickly succumb to ruthless brutality, becoming so caught up in the “mob” of Liberal or Conservative ideology that they are willing to kill in cold blood— something most of them would likely never do without the pressure of their party. Another clear example of mob mentality is the disgraceful treatment of the Banana Company workers. Due to their inhumane working conditions, the workers of the Banana Company go on strike, demanding things that shouldn’t even have to be asked for: toilets, cleaner working conditions, and compensation that is usable everywhere, rather than just the company store. The response of the Banana Company is vicious: soldiers massacre thousands of the strikers and lawyers rule that the workers never even existed. No human being could do such unthinkable things without some sinister force driving them; this evil force is... mob mentality.
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