Blog #7 - One Hundred Years of Solitude Pt. 1
After reading the first half of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, I have found myself being sucked into the intriguing, repetitive, confusing world created by Márquez himself. I was really looking forward to reading this book after countless references to Márquez in class, as well as hearing about how this novel really represents Latin American literature as a whole.
In regards to the question proposed in lecture, at first, I found the reading experience confusing. I found myself rereading the beginning of the novel, trying to keep track of the full names, who said what, who was related to who, born to who, etc. Eventually, I let go of trying to understand every connection, and allowed myself to read the novel and tried to move through the confusion. Learning that even the map at the beginning of the book is incorrect made me feel a bit more relieved and not so alone in terms of feeling so lost. I found that once I let go of trying to keep track all of the details, I was able to enjoy the book and get, in a sense, lost in it. I enjoy reading stories that require a level of deciphering done by the reader themselves, so it was enjoyable playing along with García Márquez and the ideas and situations he created.
When reading about the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar coming back to haunt José Arcadio Buendía and his wife Ursula, and that this eventual haunting lead to the movement and establishment of Macondo, my brain wandered around two ideas. Firstly, this visual haunting reminded me of the Soliloquy ‘Out damned spot’ by Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth is tortured by the guilt of being involved in the murder of the king. The visual of this scene, and her inability to clean herself of the blood on her hands, is one of the first scenes I think of when I think of Shakespeare. This similar feelings felt by the married couple, which in a sense is also due to Ursula’s involvement (or rather lack there of) to consummate her marriage, also leads to visualizations of the guilt. Secondly, this scene gives the overarching message that from death comes life, and from grief and endings come new beginnings. Due to the repetition already exhibited in the book, I wonder if this will be a repetitive theme.
I am very much so looking forward to continuing on the last half of the book, and possibly rereading it again to catch the moments I missed the first time around.
My question for discussion: How do the different characters of the story respond to grief? Do characters that experience different variations of grief respond in predictable ways?
There are several passages in the novel where we must exercise that ability to "decipher" that you so well mention. In some way, it is a reflection of the work that the characters must do to understand Melquíades' manuscripts, where we must invest time and interest. There are also other minor references, as if they were from the same fictional universe. For this reason, that Shakespearean reminiscence that you write down seems totally correct to me. Although not explicit, they are clues that the author leaves us and that you have found thanks to your expertise.
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence! I did the same thing as you for my first bit of trying to read the book. Once of let go of trying to remember who everyone was, where they came from, and what the drama was, I felt way more relaxed and was just able to read the book. I talked about this briefly in my blog as well, but I loved how I didn't feel pressure to completely understand everything from this book. It felt ok that I was paying attention and more into certain sections of the book than others, even if I was confused about who was who. I also have to completely agree with your analysis of Ursula and her grief with not wanting to consummate her marriage. I think that grief does and will continue to play a large role in this book, even if grief isn't necessarily over someone.
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence! I agree with everything you said, especially about how once you let go of feeling the need to have everything perfectly figured out the novel became much more enjoyable and a fun adventure to be apart of. To your question, I think all the characters deal with grief in very different ways. The fact that Rebeca resorts to eating the earth when she seems to feel stressed or guilty about things, compared to the fact the Arcadio seemed to turn to destruction and chaos. Every character has their own distinct personality that continued to show through when faced with adversity.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the names were initially confusing, but I found that as I was more involved in the book, I more understood the fluidity of the names, while also recognizing who the name was referring to more accurately. For your question, I noticed gender roles often played a smaller part than I would've expected when it comes to grief. The impact of magical realism and the strength of the relationship mattered much more. For example, Ursula's reaction to Jose Arcadio's death (the son turned gypsy) was strong due to the familial connection, as well as the nature of how he died.
ReplyDelete