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

omniscient point of view which allows the reader to expect 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 commonly accepted as political propaganda or a
criticism of the West. It appears in this piece of work, the attitude
of the writer towards the Western World is noticeable though it is
not openly put forward to the readers which make the topic
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
makes readers think of a scene in a “Disney cartoon movie”.
However, as soon as the gypsies enter the town with their
“magic”, the lives of the people start changing. The changes
definitely bring modernity to the town, as well as giving both
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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
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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
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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.