Summer Work: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Blog Posts:

Hi everyone,

First off, I must say that what I was told about this book- from my brother, last year’s class and current AP Lits –is true: it is confusing yet intriguing. I have to agree with most of you in saying that the names do get confusing and that after a while you forget who is who…

Coming from Ms. Pettit’s Lang. and Comp. class last year, it just dumbfounded me to read about all the “inventions” the gypsies brought to Macondo, including flying carpets, ice and of all things false teeth. (Just kidding about the ice.) I was so used to non-fiction that reading about people coming back from the dead and talking to the living simply because they were “lonely in death” did not make sense to me at first. I asked myself whether the author meant this in a metaphorical way but came to the conclusion that no, this is in fact fiction.

Once I got over that hurdle, things became a lot clearer. Personally, I agree with paul_in_a_nutshell that Macondo is a Utopian society in a sense but do not think that it symbolizes conformity as he and other suggested. I would argue that if anything, Macondo symbolizes the opposite as the founders left government and tradition behind them to start a new life.

On a similar note, I would also disagree with valleygirl09 when she commented that Jose Arcardio Buendia was on a sort-of power trip and a hypocrite. Though he was recognized as the overall leader of the community- a position I believe he earned –I do not believe he went on a power trip as he merely gave a suggestion that the houses should be painted white and did not, as others did, mandate the color.

Also, to comment on bond_smoka’s comment that Jose Arcadio Buendia neglects his family by spending money on the inventions the gypsies brought (even his wife’s ancient coins), I would argue that his ambition is a bit more noble than being called neglect. I suppose I just see this book as more positive than others have. I believe his goal in trying to profit from the gypsies’ inventions was to benefit his family and his country… not to say that he wasn’t also doing it to satisfy his own curiosities.

Finaly, I would like to end on the topic most of us have commented on, Paul’s quote. “A person does not belong to a place until there is someone dead under the ground"(13). I also saw this in a more positive way than others (call me an optimist I suppose). I believe that a family sticks together in situations and that the logic behind Ursula’s saying this is explained by the saying: “never leave a man behind.” Once a family member is buried in a place, he or she cannot move with the rest of the family and family harmony comes from the family living in that area, close to its departed love one. I believe this is why Rebecca came to the Buendia house carrying the bones of her family, for if they were buried, she would not have been able to move.

Those are my thoughts… what are yours?

--------------------

Hello fellow AP-Lits,

I just found Kris10’s last comment a bit funny… It is ironic that this book is, as you say “repetitive” but that it is, at the same time, completely different each time. However, I did not really pick up on the repetitive nature of the novel because of the fact that, though Jose Arcadio Buendia and Aureliano seem to encounter similar fates in their old age, the circumstances of their lives are eerily dissimilar at the same time. For that reason, I would like to purpose that instead of “repetitive,” a better word to describe this narrative would be
“reoccurring,” simply because it has a less boring connotative meaning.

What I found intersrting about the Buendia family is how diverse it is even amongst itself. Jose Arcadio Buendia is inventive but eventually becomes delirious and alone in his mind. His son, Jose Arcadio has a child at the age of around 15, joins a group of gypsies, travels the world, comes back to Macondo, becomes a sex legend there, maries his sister (though not related by blood), and later dies from a mysterious gunshot to the head. Jose Arcadio Buendia’s other son, Aureliano Buendia, marries a very young girl who is poisoned by his sister and later dies while pregnant with twins, has a child by Pilar Ternera, joins the Liberals, goes to war, becomes a general, starts and loses 32 civil wars, has 17 children all by different women, returns home a war hero, settles with the government he greatly opposes, has his 17 children killed by the same government he spent his life fighting, secludes himself in his workshop manufacturing little gold fish until the day of his death. I do not think I have to continue to writing run on sentences for the other family members to convince everyone that the family itself is very diverse. It just feels really unlikely to me that people from such a small village could go on to live such extravagant lives (Colonel Aureliano Buendia especially).

Moving on, let me just comment on bond_smoka’s observation- one that I also made several times, often to my annoyance –Garcia Marquez will say “he would never see her again” and either begin a new chapter or a new topic. Though it is a very creative, and I am sure difficult style to incorporate into one’s writing, often I found it annoying for two reasons: it did not fully develop the topic to a degree where the reader’s curiosity is satisfied and it did not leave any room for hope (for example, it is a bit depressing to know that Aureliano’s sons all die before that part in the story actually occurs). Though I understand that this is done to build suspense and enrich the reading- very effectively I might add –it still eats at me a little bit.

On the topic of the corruption of Macondo by the outside world, I have one word: government. I believe that that is what brought down the “utopian” society. Government in Macondo started at mandating all houses be painted blue and evolved into one whose officials butchered little children because of childish behavior and, at one point under the rule of Arcadio, fired on innocent people all the meanwhile instilling fear in a once peaceful society. Before government was introduced to Macondo, it was a land that had no cemeteries and no need for cemeteries.

Finally, to answer c-rod’s question regarding the title, I think I agree mostly with Taylor in saying that the entire Buendia family is essentially a very lonely one. All of the characters born into the Buendia family (excluding the ones that married a Buendia) become very solitary at a certain age, some even from birth. The “100 Years” part could indicate or foreshadow an end to the Buendia line… along with the family tree at the beginning of the book.

Sorry to make everyone read that long post.

---------------------

Once more: hello,

I think I might have to steal Babaloo’s first sentence and say: “the ending is tragic” but not at all unforeseen. This novel has been filled with so much foreshadowing that the bit of dramatic irony at the end where Aureliano and Amaranta Ursula have no idea what their child will be like while the reader does comes as no surprise. The number of illegitimate births in this novel is astounding. What I noticed thinking back about the entire novel is that Pilar Ternera is such an intricate part of the family tree. Looking at the first page, one can see that 10 out of the 14 Buendias in Macondo (that is excluding Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s 17 illegitimate children) are decendants from Pilar Ternera and when she reappears at the end of the novel and embraces Aureliano and his heart-ache, I feel that she is finally aiding the Buendia family that she had been such a large part of the entire time.

I found it interesting that paul_in_a_nutshell commented on the irony that exists between Ursula and her fear of incest. Ursula kept the family away from incest during her long lifetime but was unable to beyond her death. As has been mentioned several times before in this blog, the pig tail represents the punishment for giving into one’s temptations.

However, what I did not pick up on in this novel are the parallels between it and Genesis, an observation that Steph113 pointed out. I completely agree with Steph113’s claim that a similarity exists and would like to develop it further. Sin in Macondo I believe, as I stated in my last blog, originated with the government beginning to impose their ways which led to the first verbal disagreement in the society. Later, governments brought the first physical disagreements in Macondo as well, to the point where over 3000 men, women and children were massacred and their bodies carried to the ocean in 200 railway carts to be dumped in the ocean. However, in Genesis, it is the Snake that tempts Eve to disobey God. As a result she and Adam are imposed the cruelty of mortality. This I where I fail to connect my previous claim that government brought on the downfall of Macondo and the Biblical reference. If anyone could help make that connection- if there is any connection at all to be made that is –I would greatly appreciate it.

To respond to Mary’s initial question, no, I did not make a photocopy as advised but I suppose overtime I just got familiar with the names… though at times with great difficulty since new Arcadios and Aurelianos were being added left and right. I liked how you brought up Melquiades' parchment. I found it so strange that Melquiades was able to predict and write down the family’s history as if he were the author (connection?) of the novel itself that wrote it. Fine, maybe not as strange as him coming back from the dead… Anyway, to talk a little bit more about that, I would like to point out that Aureliano “skips” parts of the writing to see his own future and does not read a substantial amount of the text. Does this mean that this part of the Buendia’s lives did not happen since they were not read by Aureliano? Also, I found it quite interesting and a bit pathetic that Auerliano skips ahead to see his future and reads his own death… not to mention that this is after his lover bled to death and he had neglected his son and killed him. Not a good day in the life of a Buendia.

One final analysis I will leave everyone with: the entire downfall of the Buendia line is due to Fernanda (wife of Aureliano Segundo). I know this is a bold claim, but imagine if Fernanda had told Auerlian (Meme’s son) that he had Buendia blood in him. Towards the very end of the novel, Auerliano worries during Amaranta Ursula’s pregnancy that the two are related and goes to great lengths to find out whether they are or not but finds no records of himself. He worries himself sick thinking that Amaranta Ursula is his wife. The question I purpose is would Auerliano and Amaranta Ursula have become lovers had they known they were related (a secret Fernanda kept due to the shame she felt over Auerliano)?

417 pages and later and I must say, what a ride… I will not lie, I enjoyed it as much as my brother and friends told me I would.

Thank you all,
see you soon :)