I recently read an article detailing Marquez's relationship with his grandparents, with whom he lived for the first eight years of his life. After our class discussions, I'd learned that his grandparents shaped his writings, specifically One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I was unsure exactly how they did so.
HIS GRANDFATHER: Nicolas Marquez
At one point, he was an army colonel! (Colonel Aureliano Buendia, perhaps?)
He also was a jeweler and a tax collector.
According to author Gentile, "Nicolás taught Gabo about history, war, and the banana plantation that dominated the town." Marquez focuses on all three of these topics in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
HIS GRANDMOTHER: Tranquilina Iguarán
First of all, her name was Iguarán. Ursula's last name is the same.
Secondly, she helped the family financially by selling vegetables and homemade sweets. Ursula also sold homemade candy.
Apparently, Tranquilina anticipated doom quite frequently and took many steps to avoid it. Like Ursula, her superstitions often got the best of her.
In his memoir, Marquez implies that without his grandfather, he likely would've become lost in Tranquilina's magical view of the world. Still, Marquez points out that although he remained grounded in the realistic world, "his grandmother's world" was hard to resist.
In a sense, Marquez's style of magical realism was an attempt to blend Nicolas's and Tranquilina's outlooks into one, to reconcile them. Although Marquez only lived with his grandparents for eight years, their unique perspectives left a mark on Marquez--one that manifests itself in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Grandparents possess a special power; in Marquez's case, their influence lives on in a novel read and respected by millions.
Source:
"Because of His Grandma, Gabriel Garcia Marquez Knew Magic Was Real" by Olivia Gentile
http://grandparenteffect.com/because-of-his-grandma-garcia-marquez-knew-magic-was-real/
2 comments:
I am not sure if you remember me saying in the group presentations, as it was a quick comment, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez's grandfather served under Liberal leader Rafael Uribe Uribe in the Columbian Civil War. Marquez stated in an interview that Colonel Aureliano Buendia is "loosely" based on Uribe, however, I would definitely say it could be based on his grandfather! The incorporation of his grandma's influence in the novel definitely gives enough reason to correlate the Colonel to a more personal influence in his life and maybe even Marquez himself once his grandfather died, as he was only 8 years old. Marquez depicts Colonel Aureliano Buendia as fairly lost and uncertain with his actions following the time he returned to Macondo from war. I think this could correlate to his lack of direction in life following the death of his grandpa, who had given him a sense of character and identity.
Through discussions in class and reading blog posts, it has become more apparent to me that a person’s upbringing can change the trajectory of their works. In doing some research on Márquez, I found a quote I thought was fitting, “What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” Marquez remembered many stories his grandparents told him. Not only did he remember the plot elements, he also remembered the tone of how his grandmother told her stories. This tone was the foundation for Márquez’s tone in 100 Years of Solitude. As both of you have mentioned, the parallels between the matriarch and patriarch of the Buendía family are present in respect to Márquez’s family. I think this proves how important his grandparents were to him throughout the course of his life.
Post a Comment