ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE

           ONE HUNDRED  YEARS OF SOLITUDE

“Everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second chance on earth.”

       The last line of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s classic novel, one hundred years of solitude, tells us the obvious truth humanity has been ignoring for billions of years; that time is everything we have and don’t.

      One hundred years of solitude created quite a turn in literature history. It is considered Marquez’s masterpiece because of its unmatched writing style which consisted of magical realism and breathtaking imagery.

      The novel is a phenomenal journey that tells us the story of the Buendia family. The first of the race, Jose Arcadio Buendia, and his strong-willed wife Ursula founded the town of Macondo and settled there with their children, Jose Arcadio, Aureliano, and Amaranta Buendia.

     As the story progresses, we are introduced to the Gypsies and the mysterious Melquiades, who entertain and excite Jose Arcadio Buendia and Aureliano Buendia with new inventions and adventures. We can see Jose Arcadio listening to Melquiades’s words with childlike wonder, and he is the first one of the Buendia family to surrender to solitude, to his world of innovations and adventures.

    Throughout the story, we see each of the characters falling into their own solitary world; Jose Arcadio, who ran away with the Gypsies. Aureliano Buendia, losing himself first to his inventions and then plunging headlong into the horrors of war. Amaranta, surrendering to loneliness even though she had fallen in love. And Ursula, in an attempt to keep the family together, falling into her own solitude of stubbornness and determination, Rebecca, the Buendias’ adopted daughter, isolating herself with her distressed mind and frantic thoughts.

   The story also speaks about love. The love Ursula had for Jose Arcadio Buendia, the love Jose Arcadio had for Rebecca and Aureliano Jose had for his Aunt Amaranta, the love Aureliano Babilonia had for Amaranta Ursula, showing us that love has no boundaries, that it can’t be confined.

  The story speaks not only about Romantic love but also about all types of love. Motherly love, which can be seen in Ursula during the countless times she held her family together. Friendship love, which can be seen between Colonel Aureliano Buendia and Colonel Gerinaldo Marquez, and also between Aureliano Babilonia and Gabriel Marquez. Sibling love, in the way the twin sons of Arcadio always seemed to be connected to each other, how their movements were perfectly coordinated since childhood, and how Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Segundo took their last breaths together.

   The story also depicts the horrors of war, between the Liberals and the Conservatives. Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who fought 32 wars and lost every single one of them, tells us that no matter how hard we fight, even if it is for the right cause, sometimes we fail, that sometimes the most important thing is to have something worth fighting for. Jose Arcadio Segundo, who organized a riot and then witnesses all his men being brutally murdered, and then lost himself in his solitary world, tells us about how severely the aftermath of war can affect the survivors. Arcadio, who fought in the war and then died facing the firing squad, reminds us of the countless martyrs who die for us. The seventeen sons of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who tell us that sometimes children too are exposed and attracted to the ruthless world of war.

  The sad tale of Remedios Moscote reminds us that sometimes, a small mistake can even lead to the death of innocents. Remedios, the wife of Colonel Aureliano Buendia was killed by Amaranta Buendia. Amaranta, jealous of Rebecca, poisoned the latter’s drink, but somehow Remedios ended up drinking and thus died, along with the two twins in her stomach. A heartbreaking tale, which proves the lines of the Song of Solomon true:

                          “For love is as strong as death,

                           And jealousy as cruel as the grave.”

  A single act of jealousy took three innocent lives and confined Amaranta to a solitary life of guilt and grief.

  The story next introduces us to the three children of Arcadio. Aureliano Segundo, Jose Arcadio Segundo, and Remedios the Beauty.

  The story of Remedios the Beauty is bound to bring a smile to every reader’s face. She was said to be the most beautiful creature to ever walk on the earth. She had to cover up her face to hide her beauty, and any man who saw her face was immediately enchanted by her. Her sole beauty caused the death of two men and led one to madness; they were suffering from their unrequited love for Remedios the Beauty. The situations might seem comical at first, but when you truly think about it, Remedios the Beauty’s tale tells us about the common misconception of society: that beauty is not in the heart but in the face.

 Remedios the Beauty, in her own way, had also fallen into solitude, like all Buendias. Her unnatural beauty prevented her from loving anyone, prevented her from seeing the outside world. Here we learn another valuable lesson: too much of something can turn out to be a bad thing. Remedios the Beauty’s departure from this world was also unique, just like her. She did not die a mortal death. She ascended to heaven, body, and soul, and this tells us another truth about the world: that nothing on earth is truly perfect. Remedios was ethereal, and so she belonged with the Angels in Heaven, not on Earth which was tainted by war and disputes.

 Remedios the Beauty’s ascension to heaven is one of the many examples of the magical realism Marquez has skillfully woven into the book. The yellow butterflies of Mauricio Babilonia, the ghosts conversing with the members of the household, and even the strong winds that wiped out the entire town of Macondo, all depict the outstanding creativity of the writer.

 The story next brings us to the twin Segundos. Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo, who always confused others with their perfect synchronization. Jose Arcadio Segundo, who rebelled and organized riots, witnessed the deaths of his men. He then returned home, utterly distraught, and completely lost himself in the task of translating the mysterious manuscript Melquiades had passed over to the Buendia household.

 Aureliano Segundo, a lover of parties and drinks seemed to enjoy every moment of life. The reader might think that unlike the others, he might not lead a solitary life, because of his carefree attitude. But eventually, like all Buendias, he, too, surrendered to loneliness, torn between his love for his wife and another woman.

  It is through Aureliano Segundo that we first learn about the manuscript. Aureliano Segundo, who marveled at books and scrolls, just like his forefathers, comes across the manuscript. Aureliano Segundo asks Melquiades’s ghost about it and the latter replied by saying that the manuscript can only be understood by someone who has reached one hundred years of age.

 The story of Fernanda del Caprio, Aureliano Segundo’s wife, and their daughter, Renata Remedios tell us about how a parent’s cruelty can affect a child. Fernanda, who found out about Renata’s lover Mauricio Babilonia, and their secret meetings, ordered Mauricio to be shot and took Renata away from Macondo. Renata, horrified by her mother’s cruelty, never spoke a word again. Months later, Renata’s son arrives at the Buendia household. They named him Aureliano.

  Amaranta Buendia soon died, still wrapped up in her solitary world. Ursula, who was over a hundred years old, lived to watch the death of everyone she loved. Here we see another example of the author’s extraordinary skill of descriptions. We see Ursula coping with her blindness, her heart heavy with grief after watching her husband be called a lunatic and tied to a tree, after watching the death of her children. Still, we see the same determined Ursula trying to make Jose Arcadio, Fernanda’s son into a priest so that he would not have to suffer the same terrible fate that had befallen every single Buendia before him. Her strong will and stubbornness, along with her determination and the great capacity to love, and her ability to keep the family together in times of trouble, make her a greatly inspiring character.

   But eventually, she surrenders to old age and her grieving heart, and Ursula dies.

   After Ursula’s death, Santa Sofia le Piedad, the mother of the twin Segundos and Remedios the Beauty, a silent, selfless, kind woman, who was always there for everybody, who took care of Ursula during the latter’s last days, realized that there was nothing left for her anymore. She left the house, stricken with grief, leaving the house into the hands of Fernanda. Fernanda boarded up the house. The house sank into darkness once more just as it had during the times of the plagues of insomnia, and the gruesome war. Fernanda shrunk into her own world, and Aureliano, dedicating all his time to translating the manuscript, just like his uncle, Jose Arcadio Segundo; Two souls, withdrawn into their own respective worlds.

  Time passed. The cold and silent Fernanda died. Her son, Jose Arcadio came back to the house, slowly befriended Aureliano, and invited the town’s children to play in the house. Jose Arcadio and Aureliano learned from the books in Melquiades’s room. Aureliano read the letters of Amaranta Ursula, Jose Arcadio’s sister to him. Jose Arcadio assisted Aureliano in translating the manuscript. Here, unlike the other Buendias, we see two souls sharing their solitude.

  The children who Jose Arcadio had invited to play in their house, somehow learned about the gold Ursula had hidden in the house. One day, while Jose Arcadio was bathing, three children killed him and took the gold. Aureliano, lost in the manuscripts, did not know this. When Aureliano finally found Jose Arcadio, the latter’s body was lying in the bathtub, cold and pale. Here we find another example of Marquez’s beautiful writing style. The author describes the sorrow Aureliano felt, his realization about how much he loved him, and how loneliness can make one completely forget about the world, so perfectly, along with a valuable truth: that you never really realize the value of something until it is gone.

  Amaranta Ursula, along with her husband Gaston, returns home to Macondo. Aureliano and Amaranta Ursula find themselves falling in love with each other. She made clear to her husband that she wanted to stay in Macondo, waving away her husband’s requests to return to Europe. Gaston, one day, left Macondo and never came back.

   Aureliano and Amaranta Ursula, lost in their love for each other, forgot everything else. Aureliano left his documents and precious manuscripts to rot. Amaranta left the house at the mercy of termites and ants. The house fell into darkness again.

   Amaranta Ursula soon gave birth to a son. She hated the tradition of naming the children after their forefathers, and she wanted to call her son Rodriguez. But Aureliano had learned about his family’s history from the owner of the town bookstore, from Pilar Ternera, from the Gabriel, the grandson of Colonel Gerinaldo Marquez. So he named his son Aureliano.

  Amaranta Ursula died from childbirth. Aureliano, mad with grief, left his son in a basket in the house. Then he wandered the streets, asking for the bookstore, for his friends, about his family. But so much time had passed, and no one remembered the Buendias.

  Here the author gives us another insightful lesson. Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who had fought bravely in 32 wars, was forgotten by the world. No one remembered the Buendias, who founded the very town of Macondo. The author tells us that, even though loneliness might seem tempting, if you pursue a life filled with solitude, you don’t just forget the world. The world forgets you too.

  Aureliano returned to the house and saw his lover, covered in pure white cloth. But he could not find his son. He thought the midwife had returned for the child and he sat in the centuries-old rocking chair. That was when he saw his son, his limp, lifeless body being carried away by the ants. He sat, petrified, and Melquiades’s manuscript became crystal clear before his eyes.

  “The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants.”

   He had been blinded with his love for Amaranta before; but now the manuscript, written in Sanskrit, Melquiades’s mother tongue, became clear to him. He raced to the manuscript in the rotten room, and the entire history of his family unfolded in front of him, written by Melquiades one hundred years back.

   Aureliano had never known his heritage. The manuscript answered every one of his questions. He then skipped a few pages, hoping to find out more about how he would die.

   By then, a wind had started in Macondo. And as he read, Aureliano Babilonia found out that he was never going to leave the room, that the powerful winds forming outside would wipe out Macondo from human history because races confined to a century of solitude were not allowed a second chance on earth.

   Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s one hundred years of solitude, is in fact a treasure trove of knowledge, like Melquiades’s books and scrolls. The author tells us about universal truths and valuable lessons through comical situations and sentimental scenes. But the whole novel is trying to tell us the most important lesson that we always tend to forget: time, once lost, cannot be earned back. In the book, the author tells us this through multiple occasions, one of them being the exchange between Ursula and Colonel Aureliano Buendia:

    “What did you expect? Time passes.”

“That’s how it goes, but not much.”

   The story is also in a way a fantasy fiction. The book is filled with grieving ghosts, premonitions, prophecies, and many supernatural elements that today’s world would scoff at. But Marquez’s flawless description causes the readers to immediately become familiar with the mystical elements of the story, and thus makes us question our very reality. Would there actually be some unknown magic existing, far beyond our reach? Marquez was truly a gifted writer.

   The story has so many elements and aspects of life perfectly strung together. The beauty of life, the horrors of war, the grief of the world, and the loneliness of life.

   The book also suggests that, no matter what, life inevitably comes into a full circle. That sometimes history tends to repeat itself. This is proved correct when Fernanda’s son, Jose Arcadio, fell into loneliness despite Ursula’s attempts not to make him repeat the actions of Buendias. Also when it is seen that the first and last child to be born in Macondo was named Aureliano. When we realize that the first and last three inhabitants of the Buendia household were named Jose Arcadio, Aureliano, and Amaranta. History tends to repeat itself so we can learn from it.

  Even the title gives us so many things to think about. The main message of the book is that if we lose ourselves to loneliness if we forsake the world if we take our loved ones for granted, we will never get another chance to make it right again. Each member of the Buendia household somehow fell into their own solitary world and isolated themselves from others for one hundred years. And so evidence of them was wiped out forever; that was their punishment. The last line of the book inspired me so much because of its depth. It gives us a beautiful message: it encourages us to step out from our solitary world, to enjoy even the simplest of things. That nothing is permanent in life. Like a river, time flows on. So if we want our life to have a meaning, we should spend it together with all the people one holds dear. Because if you don’t, the chance will be gone from our hands in the blink of an eye.

  Marquez has told us even the most terrible truths of the world with an air of magic. The novel shows us the harsh realities of life through a magical eye. It is, it seems, mysteriously alive. The author told us the story of a family which ignored the outside world, which prevented them from learning from the mistakes of their forefathers. The author encourages us to do what the Buendias couldn’t: learn from history and realize the value of time. One hundred years of solitude clearly has and will continue to inspire the world because of its priceless lessons and the extraordinary blending of reality and fantasy. Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude will be remembered as a classic novel in the history of literature for centuries.

-Sreenandha Naduvalath