Ngo Di Lan
IB2
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE •
How does the author view the Western World and what seems to be the underlying message? One Hundred Years of Solitude
is narrated from a third-person
omnis omnisci cient ent poin pointt of view view which which allo allows ws the the reade readerr to expec expectt a higher level of objectivity comparing to the first-person narrative mode.
However,
being
the
author’s
“magnum
opus”
or
masterpiece, the novel is not simply a book for leisure reading but it is more more comm common only ly acce accept pted ed as poli politi tica call prop propag agan anda da or a criticism of the West. It appears in this piece of work, the attitude of the writer towards the Western World is noticeable noticeable though it is not not open openly ly put forw forwar ard d to the the read reader ers s whic which h make make the the topi topic c captivating because it is somewhat “open” but it is “not”, thus attracting curious readers into exploring it. This essay hopefully will give readers a clearer picture of how the author himself views the Western World and how it helps in transmitting his underlying message. From the very beginning, to a greater or lesser extent, the author already shows his attitude when modernity starts entering the long-isolated Macondo. Before the “new inventions” enter the village, Macondo is a peaceful little village with “twenty adobe houses, built on a bank of a river of clear water…” (pg.1) which make makes s read readers ers thin think k of a sc scene ene in a “Dis “Disney ney cart cartoo oon n movi movie” e”.. Howev oweve er, as soon oon as the gypsi ypsies es ent enter the town town wit with thei theirr “mag “magic ic”, ”, the the live lives s of the the peop people le start start chang changing ing.. The The chang changes es definitely bring modernity to the town, as well as giving both
Ngo Di Lan
IB2
positive effects and negative effects. However, the negative side seems to be more dominant, it is displayed clearly through Jose Arcadio Buendia. He wants the new technical instruments so desperately he trades everything for it just to realize in the end, he has made a big mistake. Locking himself inside of the alchemist lab with the dream of conquering knowledge, Jose Arcadio Buendia eventually becomes crazy one day and is tied to a tree for the rest of his life. This is quite clearly the author’s intention; to a degree it shows the writer’s attitude towards the inventions. One has to be cautious with the new inventions otherwise it might bring you doom, that seems to be the author’s “warning” right from the beginning of the book with the example of Jose Arcadio Buendia. And later on, when religion and politics enter Macondo, the whole town becomes corrupted with civil war between the Liberals and Conservatives. The civil war not only brings more deaths to the town, it strips away the innocence of the town because Macondo is now involved in politics and as we commonly view, politics is very often unavoidably linked to pretense, deception as all best politicians are well-known as the best liars. In spite of the fact the author does not put his opinion straightforward, showing that these new changes leading to the corruption of the town suggests the author has a very pessimistic view of the transformations that came to the town. To add even more to this, Marquez writes that the people of Macondo are not comfortable with the cinema (which comes from the new Western people) because the technology here is full of
Ngo Di Lan
IB2
unreality and illusions but they talk to the ghosts of Jose Arcadio Buendia and Melquiades as if it is normal so which seems to be a paradox. The message that the author wants to transmit to the audience is now reasonably clear: he believes the South Americans in general and his fellow Colombians in particular are better off by themselves, they are more comfortable with the supernatural and the mythic, their ordinary lives, on the other hand, they have a hard time to adapt to the new changes that the Westerners bring in. Furthermore, what the Western people are bringing in does not help the South Americans at all, if not annihilating them. Though in the beginning of the essay it is mentioned the author’s
attitude
towards
the
Western
World
but
so
far
modernizations and industrialization have been the highlights which might seem “out of the topic”. However, as a matter of fact, they link together because all the technological advances such as magnifying glass, the gypsies’ “magic”, railways and trains, cinemas and concepts such as liberals and conservatives all come from the Western World. So the Western World is indirectly exerting bad influences on the innocent town of Macondo. Yet, there would not be the whole story if Sir Francis Drake did not attack Riohacha in the beginning and he was an English man so once again the Westerner was the one who brought in troubles. This confirms their direct involvement which creates the problems right from the start. In the latter part of the story, when the railways are built with the white Americans
Ngo Di Lan
IB2
coming along the trains, who start to operate the banana plantations, the fate of the town is truly sealed. They enslave the people and kill the people so the effects of these changes are very clearly displayed. Once again, despite the fact the author did not put forward his opinions openly about all of these events that brings about the downfall of the town but the way how he narrates the story and amplify the destructive effects to the town shows to a great extent how he views the transformations of the town. Yes, every new change no matter to what extent will bring both positive and negative effects to the people but if the negative side dominating over the positive side, it indicates that there is something wrong and it looks as if this is what the author wants to tell the whole world through his book. Everyone loves their country and they would not want anyone to hurt their motherland and their people. Garcia Marquez does not only speak for the South Americans, he speaks for everyone who is oppressed by the stronger. If we cannot break the yokes by ourselves, we will end up being wiped out like all the citizens of Macondo.
