Post-colonialist Elements in One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude pretty clearly contains elements of colonialism and post-colonialism, most evident in the introduction of trains and the banana company.  Our discussion yesterday reminded me of an essay by Jamaica Kincaid called A Small Place, which is set in Antigua.  Kincaid addresses the reader as "you," rather than just always using the word "tourist."  The technique introduces a level of blame and responsibility which forces readers to realize that they may very well be contributing to the problem themselves even if they don't think of themselves as "bad people."  In "colonizing" other places, the native people are subverted, and their culture takes a backseat to that of the colonizers.  We see this happening in One Hundred Years of Solitude as the Americans create this banana company in Macondo; the air is polluted and filled with the rumblings of a train rather than the voices of the birds that used to reside in everyone's homes.  Macondo seems to change almost overnight.  While elements of "sin" were already present in the town, the train and the banana company really serve to bring all these troubles to light.  The people of Macondo are mistreated and underpaid, and though Macondo is a fictional town, the situation itself is very much a reality.