Considering Solitude
by Ben Newman
Somewhere in Latin America there is a strange city, void of death and nigh no outside contact with others. The book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez follows the city of Macondo, and the Buendia family who inhabit it, through several generations. One Hundred Years of Solitude uses the theme of isolation in order to raise numerous important issues about how a nation can develop.
Readers are quickly introduced to travelers (or nomadic foreigners) who visit Macondo. They bring with them trinkets and knowledge. In the beginning of the novel, the travelers are the only people who visit Macondo. This is important to note, as the patriarch of the family, Jose Arcadio Buendia, becomes obsessed with the trinkets that the travelers give him. This is where we first see the theme of isolation introduced. Buendia spends his days alone in a workshop he built, completely engrossed in experimenting with the academic paraphernalia given to him by the travelers (e.g., a compass, an instrument that extracts melted gold from a pan, etc.), regardless of how common these trinkets seem to the travelers themselves. In one quote from the book, Jose is enthralled by a block of ice that the travelers possess, “Jose Arcadio Buendia, without understanding, stretched out his hand toward the cake, but the giant moved it away. ‘Five reales more to touch it,’ he said. Jose Arcadio Buendia paid them and put his hand on the ice . . . ‘This is the great invention of our time’” (Marquez 17-18). He eventually spends his family’s life savings on the trinkets in the hope that he may learn something to better his village. In this way, though it may seem helpful at first, Buendia, and to an extent, Macondo, is being exploited by the travelers. The Buendia’s isolation creates a condition of naivete that permits them to be exploited, and Jose’s complete preoccupation with the trinkets leads him to further isolate himself.
Some rather disturbing topics also take front stage in the novel. Though not presented as a direct effect of the isolated life of Macondo, one bizarre result of their solitary life is that the Buendia family is prone to inbreeding. Yes, this was off putting to me as well. Jose Arcadio Buendia is wed to his cousin, Ursula, and together they start a family that lasts well over four generations. At first, I found this theme to be disturbing for the novel; entirely unnecessary in fact. However, I came to understand that incest plays a role in the story as a “Race against the clock” trope. The family, with each passing generation worries about the health of their offspring, and any non-human traits (e.g., a human with a pig’s tail) that may come with the circumstances of their birth.
The most central thing this book has brought to the spotlight is how it deals with Macondo in relation to the outside world. As they begin to become more connected, a chain of events unfolds that threatens their demise. Macondo is pulled into the civil war of a larger nation after a fraudulent election causes widespread outrage from the Liberal party. Macondo is no longer peaceful, solitary from the violent outside world. This lack of solitude eventually leads to multiple members of the Buendia family joining the war. The town is disrupted.
As a bonus, this book is rather strange. In the present day one would call the genre Magical Realism, a category that Marquez basically founded. The world that the characters inhabit is an abnormal one. Mysterious insomnia plagues, ghosts, and a man followed by magical butterflies are all present in the novel. The book can even be funny at times, as a ridiculous number of characters share the same name!
The theme of isolation/solitude is ever present throughout the novel. In fact, it may even be what the book is all about. This book has a lot to say in it, but can be unsettling at times due to the use of inbreeding and large-scale violence. Overall, I found it entertaining and enjoyable to read so far (I am on p. 244 now). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something different or unusual, because it serves as a stark counterpoint to our current world that is so thoroughly connected.
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