Change and Activism in A Hundred Years of Solitude Essay

A Hundred Years of Solitude

Every society is known for having its group of activists, or catalyst that change for the better. However change cant happen until the problems have been identified and become visible to the public. In Colombia, the activist that speaks up and calls for change is Gabriel Garcia Marquez who successfully shows the Gothic contexts of the Civil War and the invasion of outside forces through motifs.

The motifs address the problems of the day in Colombia. During the nineteenth-century Colombia was in a very unstable state. The government was in the middle of a Civil War. There were two parties involved in this war; the Liberals and the Conservatives. The Liberals who corresponded to President Bolivar did not support more power being given to a central authority, or government. The Conservatives who responded to vice-president Francisco Santender supported more power being given to a central government. In response to this controversy a violent civil war resulted that lasted from 1899 to 1902, catapulting Colombia into a state of chaos. This incredibly violent war left one hundred thousand people dead. As the novel progresses the history of the continuous political struggle with in the Latin American country of Columbia is reflected the career of Colonel Aureliano Buendia.

One Hundred Years of Solitude portrays the magical way of life as the passage from the old world to the new world gets tangled in a web. One Hundred Years of Solitude is an intellectually written novel that addresses the contextual issues of its day, through a take-off of Gothic Literature called Magic Realism. Gabriel Garcia Marquez translates the contextual problems of the day into a magical world in which the unbelievable is reality; there are no limits on magic. This allows the reader to become lost in a world that relays the issues of the day and acts as a signal of hope for change in a world where injustice over runs society through strategically placed Gothic motifs.

The United States of America became very interested in exploiting the various natural resources of the primeval country Colombia. Although Colombia was known for its exports of minerals, coffee, and cocoa however during this turn of the century time period the most abundant resource and thus export was bananas. The infamous United Fruit Company was:

In the United States, the UFC gradually assumed control of the Banana Zonethe area of banana plantations in Colombia. The UFC would enter an area, build a company town, attract workers, and pay them in scrip redeemable only in company stores. UFC would then leave as soon as the workers unionized or the harvest began to show fatigue from over-cultivation. (Papers for Students)

The United Fruit Company would essentially use and abuse the land until there was no hope for it as the land had been killed by banana cultivation. The First World also set-up their own towns in which workers were forced to buy all living necessities in a store established by the United Fruit Company. The workers were paid in scrip that was only redeemable in the United Fruit Company store. The workers are tricked into a system that essentially makes them slaves as the United Fruit Company attempted maximize profits at all costs, even the cost of their own workers.

The United Fruit Company was a capitalist giant that was very powerful and wielded their power incorrectly. In October 1928, the workers of the United Fruit Company went on strike demanding better work benefits:

Thirty-two thousand workers went on strike, demanding things like proper sanitary facilities and cash salaries. One night, a huge crowd gathered in the central plaza of Cienaga to hold a demonstration. (Papers for Students)

The troops who were paid by the United Fruit Company opened fire on crowds. General Corsets Vargas, the commander in charge of the troops that evening, estimated that only forty people died however another observer: estimated four hundred lying dead in the square and totaled fifteen-hundred dead of wounds incurred there. He also noted an additional three thousand people with non-fatal injuries (Papers for Students). Regardless of what the real numbers truly were, this incident was denied by the Federal Government in Colombia. This government refusal to admit or publish the truth of fatality or death is a frequent theme in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The Third World is only able to stay away from the civilized world for a certain amount of time. Macondo is a town that is completely cut off from the outside world with the only exception being the visits of gypsies. In Macondo, invasion by the outside world whether by gypsies, ghosts, death or the plague, the innocence and magic of the Third World is invaded and violated. This invasion by the outside world is symbolic of the United Fruit Company and its invasion of the magic tranquility of the Third World. As demonstrated by the massacre of innocent people at the plaza of Cienaga, The United Fruit Company is only concerned with profits; they dont care about the wellbeing of their workers.

Jose Arcadio Segundo witnesses a mass slaughtering of his people that is symbolic of the massacre at the plaza of Cienaga, yet he is unable to do anything about it. He cannot convince anyone that the massacre he witnessed truly happened. This inability to portray the truth about what happened parallels the Colombian Governments decision to not publish any information. The government was in denial about the truth of the massacre and as a result it was: not included in the history textbooks (Papers for Students).

The Gothic contexts of the Civil War and the invasion of outside forces are skillfully addressed through Gabriel Garcia Marquezs use of Gothic Motifs of Gothic excess, ghosts and gypsies, solitude and prophecies. Gothic excess is intertwined in the novel and is one of the most common Gothic motifs in the novel. As the First World begins to invade Macando the magic starts to disappear. Remedios the beauty is a long-standing testament to the magic in the Third World. Her beauty drives men crazy as they have a strong desire to be with her. She is the most beautiful woman to ever have lived and men craved to see the: breathless spectacle of her nudity (232). However Remedios the Beauty is completely unaware of her magical beauty and does not realize the power that she has over men or the severity of her body as a weapon. One man who was overcome by her excessive beauty climbed on top of Remedios the Beauties house to watch her bath:

The strangers face had a pained expression of stupor and he seems to be battling silently against his primary instincts so as not to break up the mirage. Remidos the Beauty thought that he was suffering from fear that the tiles would break and she bathed herself more quickly than usual so that the man would not be in danger. (232)

Remidios the beauty encompasses the Gothic motif of excess, as she is excessively beautiful. She is so beautify that it is scary. It is in this manner that Remdedios the beauty is the Gothic motif of excess.

The man who climbs up on the roof to get a glimpse of Remedios in the nude ends up falling off and cracking open his head. In reaction to the noise:

The foreigners who heard the noise in the dining room and hastened to remove the boy noticed the suffocating odor of Remedios the Beauty on his skin. It was so deep in his body that the cracks of his skull did not give of blood but an amber colored oil that was impregnated with that secret perfume, and then they understood that the smell of Remidios the Beauty kept on torturing men beyond death, right down to the dust of their bones. (233)

In the First World the man would have cracked his head open and blood would have poured out. In Macondo and the Third World however, magic is attainable and as a result the man bleeds perfume tainted with the odor of Remedios the Beauty. This is only possible in the Third World where magic is still alive.

Another widely used Gothic motif One Hundred Years of Solitude is gypsies and ghosts. The gypsies are skillfully placed to act as links to the past and incorporate the Gothic themes of life. These gypsies return to Macando every few years to display new trades that they have brought with them. Ages before Macando has a road to connect to the outside world, the Gypsies are the only source of interaction with the outside. They bring the newest technological inventions such as magic carpets and other wonders. Gypsies serve as resourceful literary devices in portraying the Gothic motif of ghosts and spirits. They blur the line between fantasy and reality as is evident when they connect Macondo to the outside worlds magic and science. These Gypsies bridge the gap between the past and in the present in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Another Gothic motif in One Hundred Years of Solitude is solitude and enclosure. The invasion of the outside, First World disrupts the solitude and enclosure that Macando has experienced for years and years. The town is completely restricted of any connection with the outside or real world. The only connection that Macando has to the current outside world is inventions in technology, or as they see it is seen through their eyes, magic. The gypsies bring new technology from the current world to this outdated and separated town and only Macondos Third World innocence allows them to experience magic.