Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, is a very condensed, complex novel that employs various elements of the struggle for Latin American Independence. However, when examined more closely, the novel is nothing more than a cycle of recurring events. When reading, I could not help but notice the cyclical nature of the book. Beginning with the creation of Macondo and the Buendia family, we see many repetitive characteristics, actions, and events that occur time and time again.
Much of the cyclical nature of the novel arises from the forgetting of the past. When one forgets or does not acknowledge their past, they are inclined to fall back into similar habits. This can be seen in many instances such as Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s creation of gold fish; he uses the gold to create these fish, but then melts them back down and starts all over. This gesture serves as a metaphor for the town of Macondo. Colonel Aureliano Buendia is not progressing by making these fish then melting them down, just as Macondo is not progressing by repeating the same “mistakes.”
Another very apparent example is the repetition of names and character traits. Marquez writes, “While the Aurelianos were withdrawn, but with lucid minds, the Jose Arcadios were impulsive and enterprising, but they were marked with a tragic sign” (Marquez, 181). Each generation of Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios posses specific characters that they obtain upon being given their name. Due to this, each successive generation falls into this same trap of making the same mistakes ultimately resulting in the creation of the pig’s tale.
On a similar note, this cycle of repetition can also be observed in Jesmyn Ward’s novel Sing Unburied Sing. Leonie, Jojo and Kayla’s mother, continues to make mistakes that force Jojo to take care of Kayla in a parental manner. Jojo is viewed not only as a brother, but also Kayla’s guardian. Leonie’s lack of maternal instinct is shown when she puts drugs and herself before her kids. Just as Leonie may have been becoming more mother-like, Michael gets out of jail, and she returns to her past behaviors. She uses drugs, abandons Kayla and Jojo, and exhibits childish behavior when Mam dies. Just as the town of Macondo frequently finds itself in old habits, so does Leonie.
1 comment:
I think that this cyclical aspect of the novel was likely used to emulate Latin America. Throughout Latin American history, there has been a relatively consistent cycle of violence and inequality. The entire region was founded through the brutal Spanish conquest which established a very rigid class system. This inequality eventually led to the Colombian revolution which established yet another hierarchal system of wealthy land owners against the lower working class. This helped to sow the seeds of the Liberal-Conservative civil wars which are violent replacements of power between liberals and conservatives each one putting the other down. Much like the history of Macondo and the Buendia's the history of Latin America is similarly cyclical between periods of intense violence and intense prejudice.
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