Monday, August 30, 2010
Free will or Predestination
In the end of One Hundred Years of Solitude, after the last Buendia baby dies, his father, Aureliano, reads manuscripts that tell him the story of the Buendia family. The papers include the prophesy of the baby with a pig's tail and Aureliano's death. He reads each prediction of his life as it occurs. These manuscripts could have been written 100 years ago before hand and therefore explain the fate of each member of the Buendia family. If this were to be true, there would be no free will in Macondo and everything would be predetermined. Another option could be that the story was written alongside the family's life; each moment that occurred was documented. This option would declare free will in the city. Which version do you guys think it is?
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7 comments:
I believe that the story was written by Melquiades before the actual events occurred, but I think that it took him several years to complete this task. My reasoning for this is that the act of Aureliano's reading of the parchments is already documented in the writing itself as he reads it. Therefore, I believe that there is no free will in the city of Macondo. Consequently, the members of the Buendia family can not be blamed for their failure to learn from their mistakes and correct their behavior because their actions are predetermined.
I agree with Samantha, I believe that the life of the Buendias family was predetermined and there was no free will for the family. Since the novel has the theme of magical realism, it makes sense that Melquiades was aware of the events the Buendia family was going to participate in, and could therefore write about their future. The predetermined lifestlye would make sense because of the cyclical life each character lives throughout the novel.
I personally agree with Samantha and Katherine, but just to play devil's advocate- what if the characters did have free will, and were making choices that were influenced by their past, but not controlled by it? Maybe Marquez is trying to show the readers how easily family members can be swayed by their past, and even when they have the power to choose, they make the "wrong" choice.
I believe the story was written by Melaquiades one-hundred years before it actually occured. This is the only option that makes sense to me because, like Samanatha mentioned, Auriliano reads about his own death before it ever happens. In addition to Auriliano, several other characters attempt to decipher the text yet to no avail. The other option does'nt make sense to me because even Jose Auriliano Buendia tangibly posseses the parchment and never in the story does it say how the parchments somehow grow after time. I believe Marquez intentionlly arroused this question because he wants to make the reader think about their own reality and if they truly have free will or if their lives are already predetermined bu some greater being.
Personally, I don't find relevance over whether or not the parchements were written to predetermine the Buendías' fate beforehand or written as time progressed, giving the family free will. Either way, the same result was in a way inevitable. Aside from Úrsula, the entire family lacks awareness entirely. So if the family was even given free will, they would most likely have ended up still making the same mistakes, which is one of Márquez's central purposes in writing the text in my mind. Macondo serves as a microcosm for Colombia, and Márquez wants to show that with or without free will, Colombia continues falling prey to itself.
Based on the postmodern influences on the novel discussed in class today, I think that it is reasonable to consider that the cyclical nature of time allowed Melquiades to make his prophesies without actually contradicting free will. If the repetitious essence of time was a fact of life that Melquiades was aware of, it would have been possible for him to form his predictions based on this phenomenon. In other words, Melquiades could clearly see the inevitable conclusion of the Buendia family. This is just an idea for the sake of discussion, but I think it is a valid point of view.
In my opinion, the stories of the characters were being written WHILE events were occurring. Although the characters seemed fated to loneliness, due to the cyclical nature of their family life, I believe that they still had free will to experiment, to make decisions, and to become a part of society. Despite their struggles, I interpreted the characters' "fate" as being flexible, due to their free will. This was evidenced when Jose Arcadio ran away with gypsies, or when Colonel Buendia began to make his goldfish. They determine their actions, just as readers determine and interpret the text of such a work of metafiction.
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