One Hundred Years of Solitude Topic

One Hundred Years of Solitude Topic#1

Throughout the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, there are various responsibilities meted out to both men and women. In fact, an important theme of this novel is the continuity in the relationship between men and women in regards to both sharing some form of control over the community. However, in terms of definitive power, often a balance between genders is not found, and rather we are shown Macondo as a world most often shaped, and dominated by either a single commanding Matriarch or Patriarch. It is also interesting to note that while most frequently we are only presented with a solitary authoritative figure of a particular gender, when Macondo is at its most prosperous it is controlled not by a single figure but rather a symbiotic partnership between a male and a female.

At the onset of the novel we are given Jose Arcadio Buendia as the founder of the town. Clearly as founder and discoverer of Macondo he is the leader of the community. He would give instructions to the community on everything ranging from planting to how to raise children. He was hard-working and generally reliable. It was greatly due to his diligence that the people of Macondo were so happy. However, as his insatiable lust for knowledge grew he began to ignore the needs of Macondo. At one point he even wanted to abandon his Eden in Macondo and lead the community elsewhere simply for discovery. His wife Ursula, unlike the Eve of genesis, did not agree with his search for knowledge but instead usurped his authority and made sure this idea never came to fruition. Ursula showed that while her husband may have been the "leader" of the town, she had just as much power as he. This is clear when she not only, "...predisposed the women of the village against the flightiness of their husbands..." (p.14, Marquez) but also when she declared to Jose, "We will not leave," (p.14, Marquez). For the time following, with everyone still in Macondo, the town continued to grow and prosper.

Following this period of shared control and stability, we see the emergence of the national government in Macondo and with this the rise of Colonel Aureliano Buendia and the liberal rebellion in Macondo. After Colonel Aureliano left Macondo to fight in the civil war he appointed Arcadio to look after the town and to keep it well. Instead as soon as Arcadio gained power he became a cruel dictator obsessed with power. He begins to almost immediately impose harsh laws with no mercy. This was Marquez's way of showing the danger in having an authoritative regime even one with well meaning origins. This problem was one which would plague Latin America for much of its history. Arcadio's rule got so bad that Ursula had to step up and take actually take authority. This event which led to this power shift was when Arcadio attempted to have Don Apolinor Moscote, Ursula physically beat him into a corner and "From that point on she was the one who ruled the town." (p.116, Marquez) As soon as she had control she immediately suspended Arcadio's decrees and brought Macondo back to normalcy.

The next change of leadership was after the liberals lost the war and Macondo was placed under the leadership of Mayor Jose Raquel Moncada. Moncada was a conservative but also a fair and compassionate man and under his leadership Macondo once again flourished. The reason that Macondo was able to prosper so well under his authority was not only due to his integrity but also the fact that he had gained the respect of the town and most importantly the respect of the newly reinvigorated Ursula who still held an extremely high esteem in Macondo.

As before this period of peace and prosperity was simply not meant to last. When Colonel Aureliano returned to Macondo he immediately took control of the town under his absolute authority. He returned a hardened and cautious man confined to his solitude.