BIg Fish and Marquez

As we began discussing One Hundred Years of Solitude, Marquez himself started to remind me of the main character in Tim Burton’s, Big Fish (it was originally a book but I’ve only seen the movie). In the movie, a son tries to recount the events of his father’s life, but from what he has been told, cannot separate truth and fiction. Throughout the son’s life, his father told fabricated stories about his past. Waiting at his father’s deathbed, the son asks his father to finally tell the stories of his past the way they actually happened. The son becomes frustrated as the father continues to tell the same fictitious stories and neglects fact. The son begins to believe that he will never truly understand his father.

Marquez and the father’s stories both contain elements of magical realism. Both serve as a fantastic metaphor to the past. As we later discover, there are elements of the truth in the father’s story. The father only embellished his actual past with interesting fables. The son believes he never knew his father, but truly, the tales are what defines the father. Marquez uses mythical elements to create an image for Latin America; likewise, the father uses these elements to create his own identity. Both Marquez and the father ask their audiences to trust in the “marvelous real.” While Marquez isn’t retelling his own past, he is basing his stories off of Latin America’s past. Both the father and Marquez use elements of reality and magic. By changing their stories to be accurate and factual, they loose parts of their own identities. Fiction and reality coexist throughout both of their stories. Eventually, the son accepts that the father will immortally live on through his stories and that the stories became part of the father. Marquez and the father both use magic to create memorable identities.

Magical Realism in 100 Years of Solitude

When I first started reading 100 Years of Solitude, the constant presence of magic really bothered me. It was entertaining, but I couldn't find a logical explanation for it anywhere in the story since most of the books we read don't involve magic. As the people of Macondo believed in magic  more and more I started to question their sanity. Marquez sucked me in with his "straight faced" story telling skills. By the time Remedios floated off with the bed sheets he had me fooled. His recount of all the events with complete certainty of truth really bothered me at first. But then I understood that it was part of the Latin American culture to accept magic. Marquez's use of magical realism really had me on the edge of my seat, especially after the banana massacre. I was trying to find every logical explanation for why the people of Macondo had no idea what had happened. After class this week I realized that I have been trying to find logical explanations for every plot twist involving magical realism because we don't see magical realism in western literature.

My First Post!

I especially enjoyed One Hundred Years of Solitude, and found it to be an interesting read. I was impressed by the descriptive detail and entertaining turn of events. Although I often had trouble keeping track of the characters, the chart in the beginning helped me organize my thoughts. I enjoyed the insanity of Macondo with the mixture of realistic and supernatural qualities. I was fascinated by every character and how meticulously and well thought out each story was. Tin Drum was a more difficult read and required more effort to focus on. I was able to read One Hundred Years of Solitude more quickly due to its more, what I believed, interesting context. 

Family

The intricate details about the seven generations of Buendias made me think about my ancestors and where I originated from. I know most of the information about my great grandparents but I asked my parents about our families origins. My mom explained to me that her side of the family originated in Romania and my dad told me that his side of the family originated in Ireland. It interests me how prevalent ancestry is in the life of the characters within the novel. They constantly refer to their ancestors and are extremely aware of their history as a family. I, on the other hand, had no idea up until today what my origins were. This book gave me the incentive to explore my heritage, a unique path that no book had previously led me down.

Latin America: The Red-Headed (Hipster) Stepchild of the World

In his Nobel Prize speech, Gabriel Garcia Marquez explained, "Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render ours lives believable." To me, this quote captures of the essence of Marquez's speech, which is the struggle and longing of Latin America to form their own identity. I believe this quote and Garcia Marquez's entire speech can be interpreted in two ways. First, Latin Americans, such as Garcia Marquez, attempt to use art as a way of understanding their history and identity. Simple. We have The Declaration of Independence. They have their art- magical realism and all.
On the other hand, maybe the works that came out of the Latin American Boom, such as 100 Years of Solitude, is their history. As we discussed in class, 100 Years of Solitude is filled with mythical accounts. We label these accounts as "magic realism." We assume these fantastic events are simply metaphors, used for emphasis, ect. We talked about how, as citizens of a First-World nation, we look for logic. Logically speaking, their is no doubt Garcia Marquez used fantastic events as metaphors, emphasis, ect. Personally, I don't believe looking for logic is a bad thing. However, do Latin Americans view "magic realism" as just "real?" Although, I realize this theory completely contradicts Garcia Marquez's attempt to make 100 Years of Solitude as a "metaphor for Latin America" instead of a "history of Latin America."
Maybe, when attempting to formulate an identity for Latin America, Marquez thought of all the things that haven't happened in the world. Revolution: been there, done that. Melting Pot: taken. Out of "logical" options, maybe Marquez then decided to turn to imagination to formulate an identity. And in doing so, he created an entirely unique (and hipster) identity for Latin American.

As you can see, I'm having a field day trying to make sense of the use of magic in the novel.

Short Reflection

When I began reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, I was momentarily overwhelmed by the fluctuation of time. As I kept reading, however, the fantastic elements of the story hooked my attention completely and I just couldn't seem to put it down. On the other hand, The Tin Drum wasn't nearly what I expected it to be. I was prepared for a more difficult and drawn-out beginning, but was surprised at how fascinated I was instead. I hadn't expected to be so interested in Oskar's early life, and I think that allowed me to continue the book at a steady pace.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

     I read One Hundred Years of Solitude during my first week in Costa Rica. It was the perfect book to read while I was there because Costa Rica is a Spanish speaking country, and the book, obviously, was written by a Spanish speaking person. I found myself confused at times while reading; I would have to stop and remind myself that the novel was unique because it was written by a Columbian. Since I was speaking spanish everyday, I almost forgot the fact that the book was foreign.
      I thought it was a slightly easier read than The Tin Drum. It was easier to get into since it was like a Spanish soap opera due to the characters constant involvement in dramatic affairs. My dad actually read One Hundred Years of Solitude during our second week of vacation and got annoyed with the constant havoc within the family. I, on the other hand, absolutely love literature that doesn't slow down. The "slow parts" of a novel are impossible to get through. For that reason, I didn't enjoy The Tin Drum until about one-fourth of the way into the book when I felt the speed pick up.