I was sitting here trying get caught up on One Hundred Years of Solitude and was just stuck by a few things. Since I missed so many classes about it I am completely at loss when it comes to the basic themes of the book. Keeping track of all those names is hard to do. I'm sure some of you have complained about that already since I think Marquez meant for it to be that confusing as the lives of characters often mirror each other in some ways.
What I was pondering over was modernidad. I noticed that in this book and all the others we've read there's a link between modernidad and a loss of innocence. In Cumanda we see the Indigenous people as innocent and close to nature. The hatred that characters like Tongana experience are a result of contact with a more modern world. In Memorias de Mama Blanca we see the peace of the girls world interrupted usually when made to ocme in contact with the modern world (and their eden like happiness destroyed when taken out of their home and placed in the city). Now with One Hundred Years of Solitude. The peace is disrupted when Macondo is visited by the outside world. Knowledge it seems is a poison of sorts. Jose Arcadio Buendia is the first character that portrays the solitude that characterizes the entire text. But from where does this solitude come from? I think you can trace it back to Melquiades. That gypsy was the one who introduces Jose to alchemy and kick starts the man's obsession with knowledge. Because of this obsession with science and invention he ends up so isolated. Seeing as things always seem to go bad for those who come in contact with the modern world why not just stay ignorant isolated and happy?
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2 comments:
Lily, I think you ask an interesting question: given that modernity's given such short shrift in so many Latin American texts, why do people still seem to want it so?
And one might consider which of the characters in Cien años actively seek to reach out to the outside world (José Arcadio Buendía, for instance, in his search for a route to the sea, but also now Aureliano Triste who brings the railroad) and those who actively cut themselves off (Rebeca is probably the best example, but not the only one).
Hi,
It's quite interesting the point you bring up about modernity and loss of innocence. I found it strange how the arrival of Melquiades, along with his 'strange new mechanics' caused some tension among Jose Arcadio and his family, as he became solitary and immersed in these new inventions (as you mentioned). However, I also noticed that, [if I'm remembering this correctly], when the insomnia plague hits the town, it is in fact with the help of Melquiades' modern insights / cures that save the town.
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