Mardi Roman
Blended Literary Themes
Wilkerson
June 10th, 2019
One Hundred Years of Solitude
1.
One Hundred Years of Solitude written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was published in
1970 through Harper & Row publishers in New York. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a
448-page book worth 50 points in Literary Themes.
I chose this novel specifically based on the point value, though, as I read the interesting
premise of the book became my focus. Besides the point value, the title of the book stuck out to
me. I connected the word ‘solitude’ in the title and thought the book was going to have an almost
sinister connotation to it, however, it did not.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is a book about a Latin American family’s retelling of
their village. Initially, the small village of Macondo was untouched by the growing world,
innocent and secluded from wars, famine, and other hardships that commonly plague growing
cities. However, as the town's founding family begins to be consumed by knowledge, the city
integrates into the world and is corrupted. This lust for knowledge sparks the downfall for the
family and, in the end, the town.
2.
Through the novel, there were many re-emerging themes the most common being: How
fate controls all, The difference between love and lust, The danger of knowledge, and how time
is fleeting.
While all these themes are present in One Hundred Years of Solitude, the most prevalent
is the theme of the novel is the difference between love and lust. Love and Lust are represented
throughout the novel through the different members of the Buendia family as the town develops
and the different actions they take throughout the course of their lives. In the novel, Love is
represented by actions that stay pure whereas Lust appears when the characters actions become
consumed by greed. In the first chapter of One Hundred Years of Solitude the first example of
Lust. Jose Arcadio Buendia, the founder of Macondo, becomes infatuated with gaining
knowledge after a traveling caravan comes through town. Jose goes so far as to continually
disregarding his family duties and the property of others. After giving away Ursula’s family
heirloom, “Jose Arcadio Buendia made no attempt to console her, completely absorbed in his
tactical experiments with the abnegation of a scientist and even at the risk of his own life.”(3)
Jose is so obsessed with gaining knowledge that he has put this greed over the needs of his
family, himself, and the protection of Macondo's residents. His love for knowledge has been
corrupted by the greed to know everything, turning it to lust. Also within the first few pages of
the novel, the only example of love can be seen with Ursula Iguaran. Ursula was always prepared
to stand up for her family and the people she loved, going so far as to allow her son’s illegitimate
children in her home. The most prevalent example of Ursula’s love for her family was when her
husband Jose Arcadio Buendia was planning to move out of Marcando. Jose did...
