In the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Marquez crafts Ursula’s character in a unique way that differs from all other characters. Ursula, my favorite character, serves many purposes in the novel. She is one of the founders of Macondo, a mother, a wife, a friend, and the regulator of the town. In addition to this, she constantly warns her family about the effetcs of incest which is the undesirable pig’s tail.
Unlike any other character, Ursula has her own identity and characteristics; She is not like the Aurilanos or Jose Acardios who all possess many of the same features. Due to this, Ursula’s strength arises from her independent nature. She does not rely on others to protect the town of Macondo or take care of her family, she does so herself. While the town is under her control, she manages to keep her family free from the pig’s tail and therefore incest. However, after her death, this warning slips away and the pig’s tail appears. Without Ursula, the Buendia family moves quickly toward their demise.
On a different note, Ursula lives a very long life; her lengthy life allows her to see the town and others in a different way. She has experienced the creation of Macondo, the gypsies and their “inventions”, Don Moscote and his soldiers, the massacre, and the death of their original town. Ursula’s realistic nature is seen in the following quote, “The concert of so many different birds became so disturbing that Ursula would plug her ears with beeswax so as not to lose her sense of reality” (Marquez, 9). Ursula does not allow herself to get lost in the chaos of Macondo; she stays true to her duty: avoiding the fate of the pig’s tail.
While reading the novel, I could not help but think of the song “Independent Women” by Destiny’s Child when looking at Ursula’s character. Ursula embodies the moral of the song: a women does not need a man to succeed in life. Ursula clearly proves that she does not need Jose Acardio Buendia as she ties him to the tree and continues on with her life. Ursula is a powerful women that would most definitely fit the description on an independent women in the song.
1 comment:
Along with her independence and self reliance, Ursula serves another purpose for Marquez. One of the most important things in the novel that Marquez emphasizes is remembering. Remembering the past is how a culture keeps and forms its identity. one of Ursula's fears at the beginning of the novel is a child born with a pig's tail as a product of incest. One of the other main things emphasized by Marquez was family. Another one of Ursula's purposes was being the foundation and cornerstone of the family, as she holds it together. At the end of the novel, family falls apart and is forgotten, as well as Ursula's warning. Because of this, a child with a pig's tail is born, leading to the end of the family line. This therefore leads to the complete destruction of the family's identity. This is a warning from Marquez to mainly Latin America as he shows the importance of these two values through Ursula.
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