Candidate

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  Prostitution  is  the  oldest  and  most  abhorred  business  in  the  World.    Yet,  

despite  the  surrounding  stigma,  it  continues  to  flourish  not  only  in  real  life,  but  also  

as  a  tool  to  authors.    Both  Gabriel  García  Márquez  and  Carlos  Fuentes,  authors  of  

One  Hundred  Years  of  Solitude  and  The  Death  of  Artemio  Cruz  respectively,  use  

prostitution  in  their  story  lines  as  a  literary  tool  to  create  change  and  characters  

while  simultaneously  commenting  on  the  irony  of  Catholicism  in  Latin  America.    

Catholic  culture  in  Latin  America,  with  decided  values  of  celibacy  before  marriage  

and  monogamy  after,  is  a  prevalent  part  of  society  that  dictates  much  of  the  current  

and  former  political  and  social  atmosphere.    In  One  Hundred  Years  of  Solitude,  

Márquez  uses  prostitutes  to  further  the  procreation  of  his  main  characters  in  the  

heavily  Catholic  Latin  America  societies.    Fuentes  also  uses  prostitutes  to  comment  

on  the  nature  of  married  life  for  his  main  character,  Artemio  Cruz.    In  both  novels,  

the  author’s  use  characters  that  are  in  relationships  with  prostitutes  to  comment  on  

the  irony  of  Catholicism  in  Latin  America,  though  the  individual  implications  of  the  

respective  relationships  differ.  

  Prostitutes  and  many  of  the  main  characters’,  such  as  Aureliano  José  and  

Colonel  Aureliano  Buendía,  relationships  play  a  vital  role  within  Márquez’s  novel  

and  contrast  richly  against  the  idea  of  Catholic  Latin  America.    Márquez  uses  the  

relationship  between  prostitute  and  client  in  his  novel  to  further  the  illegitimate  

familial  line  of  his  respectable  main  characters,  the  Buendías.    The  clearest  example  

comes  from  the  second  generation  of  the  Buendías  with  the  brothers  of  Colonel  

Aureliano  Buendía  and  José  Arcadio.    They  both  end  up  siring  children  with  the  local  

prostitute,  Pilar  Ternera.    José  Arcadio’s  illegitimate  son  becomes  the  continuation  
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of  the  Buendía  line.    The  reason  that  the  brothers’  relationships  with  Pilar  Ternera  is  

important  within  the  novel  is  that  both  of  the  brothers  end  up  marrying,  and  in  

neither  case  do  they  end  up  having  children.    This  simple  move  by  Márquez  shows  

family  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  stereotypical  Catholic  Latin  America  by  saying  that  

only  through  illegitimate  relationships  can  a  family  survive.      

  Márquez  continues  by  exponentially  expanding  this  irony  out  beyond  one  

simple  example.    In  the  novel,  Márquez  also  uses  the  local  population  to  further  

contrast  the  idea  of  stereotypical  Catholic  society  by  using  Colonel  Aureliano  

Buendía,  not  as  someone  who  pays  for  prostitutes,  but  as  a  stud  himself.    Márquez  

writes  that  during  the  Civil  War  in  Colonel  Aureliano  Buendía’s  country,  many  

mothers  would  send  their  daughters  to  leading  men,  thinking  that  they  possessed  

better  genetics.    Marquez  writes  that  many  nights  the  Colonel  would  come  to  his  

tent  to  find  beautiful  women  waiting  for  him.    Though  Marquez  doesn’t  tell  how  

many  nights  the  Colonel  found  women  waiting,  he  does  write  that  a  total  of  17  

illegitimate  “Aurelianos”  come  to  the  Buendía  household.    This  again  is  a  clever  

device  used  by  Márquez  to  comment  on  Catholic  society,  as  the  Church  stipulates  

that  members  should  practice  celibacy  until  after  marriage,  and  these  mothers  (who  

are  most  likely  practitioners)  are  sending  their  daughters  to  be  impregnated  by  

military  leaders.    This  type  of  action  directly  contradicts  the  stated  values  of  the  

Church  and  offers  a  second  way  that  Márquez  uses  his  novel  to  comment  on  the  

Catholic  Church.      

While  Márquez  uses  prostitutes  to  comment  on  the  irony  of  legitimate  

relationships  in  Latin  America,  Fuentes  uses  The  Death  of  Artemio  Cruz  as  a  
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commentary  on  how  even  relationships  that  are  legitimate  by  Catholic  standards  

are  not  based  in  some  of  the  most  basic  assumptions  behind  a  modern  western  

marriage.    In  the  novel,  Artemio  is  married  to  Catalina  Cruz,  daughter  of  Don  

Gamaliel  Bernal.      Artemio  and  Catalina  wed  in  the  style  of  a  legitimate  Catholic  

marriage,  but  even  in  this  legitimate  relationship,  the  faint  specter  of  prostitution  

remains.    The  reason  that  Catalina  marries  Artemio  is  due  to  Don  Gamaliel  Bernal  

selling  Cataina  as  part  of  a  deal  with  Artemio,  who  would  further  the  empire  built  in  

exchange  for  his  daughter.    This  deal,  while  not  explicitly  discussed  between  Don  

Gamaliel  Bernal  and  Artemio  is  clear  from  a  passage  on  page  46  where  Don  Gamaliel  

Bernal  explains  to  Catalina,  “This  man  can  save  us.    That’s  all  that  matters…”  and  

continues  on  the  same  page  in  his  explanation  by  saying,  ”Think  about  your  father’s  

final  years.    Don’t  I  deserve  a  little  [peace].”    This  quote  clearly  shows  the  contexts  of  

Artemio  and  Catalina’s  marriage,  one  not  based  in  love,  but  rather  based  on  a  trade,  

a  sale  of  Catalina  for  the  comfort  of  Don  Gamaliel  Bernal.  

Artemio’s  relationship  with  his  wife  is  anything  but  the  stereotypical  

relationship  because,  simply,  there  is  no  relationship.    Artemio  disgusts  Catalina,  

even  from  the  first  time  they  are  together.    Catalina  describes  her  feelings  on  page  

47,  she  is  disgusted  with  him  for  the  disgrace  that  he  tarnished  their  good  name  

with.    She  every  night  is  conquered,  but  this  only  reaffirms  her  conviction  in  

conquering  him  during  the  day  by  continuing  with  her  acid  and  distance  to  the  end  

of  her  life.    This  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  that  Artemio  ends  up  turning  to  high-­‐

class  prostitutes  for  attention.    Even  in  his  relationships  with  prostitutes,  Artemio  

cannot  find  anything  worthwhile.    Everything  about  Artemio’s  romantic  

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relationships  is  illegitimate  and  fake.    The  high-­‐class  prostitute  on  his  arm,  his  lack  

of  a  relationship  with  his  wife;  everything  shares  a  similar  quality  of  just  being  a  

façade  for  the  public.    Fuentes  uses  these  relationships,  these  prostitutes,  to  contrast  

Catholic  society  of  purity,  piousness,  and  commitment  with  what  Artemio  does  in  

his  life.      

Fuentes  further  uses  Artemio’s  relationships  to  comment  on  his  perceived  

nature  of  Mexican  society.    Artemio  is  constantly  with  prostitutes  and  other  women  

in  the  novel.    Fuentes  uses  this  norm  to  comment  on  how  this  is  actually  part  of  

Mexican  society.    As  the  historian  Frank  McLynn  writes,  “Despite  the  Catholic  

ceremony,  the  teachings  of  the  Church  had  little  weight:  marriage  was  certainly  not  

about  the  ‘allayment  of  mutual  concupiscence’  and  it  was  not  even  about  the  

procreation  of  children;  still  less  was  it  concerned  with  ‘love’…  [what]  would  not  

have  remotely  imagined  that  marriage  committed  [one]  to  sexual  fidelity;  nor  would  

any  Mexican  woman  have  expected  monogamous  constancy.  “(Mclynn,  118)    

Fuentes  consistently  and  constantly  shows  this  conclusion  by  Mclynn  throughout  

his  novel  through  Artemio’s  frequent  relationships  with  prostitutes.    Both,  Márquez  

and  Fuentes  use  their  novels  in  their  own  way,  to  accomplish  the  goal  of  creating  a  

stark  contrast  between  the  stereotypical  Catholic  society  in  Latin  America  and  the  

authors’  interpretation  of  society.  

Márquez  and  Fuentes  use  their  books  to  comment  on  the  very  similar  irony  

of  Latin  America  Catholic  Culture.    Márquez  uses  his  characters’  relationships  with  

prostitutes  to  promote  an  irony  between  the  stereotypical  Latin  American  culture  

and  the  culture  that  Márquez  perceives.    Márquez’s’  critique  differs  in  respect  to  
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Fuentes’,  as  Márquez’s  technique  is  much  subtler.    Márquez  will  never  say  outright  

that  prostitutes  are  the  only  way  families  continue,  or  that  every  family  has  a  past  

with  a  prostitute,  however,  he  will  delicately  lay  a  trail  for  the  reader  to  follow.    

Márquez  presents  his  critique  in  a  way  that  makes  the  reader  look  deeper  than  just  

the  surface  print.    Marquez’s  use  of  prostitution,  though  subtle,  is  effectively  used  

along  with  many  different  literary  devices  to  get  his  points  across.  

Fuentes,  on  the  other  hand,  is  very  blunt  and  very  direct  in  his  approach.    

Fuentes  wants  the  reader  to  make  no  mistake  or  to  forget  that  Artemio  Cruz  is  

constantly  with  prostitutes.    Fuentes  explains  every  little  detail  to  the  reader:  

describing  every  gritty  detail,  recapping  events  that  are  even  unknown  to  Artemio  

to  make  sure  that  the  reader  has  understood  the  author’s  point.      

It  is  clear  that  the  authors  use  relationships  with  prostitutes  to  comment  on  

Catholicism  in  Latin  America,  though  the  way  in  which  each  author  does  this  is  

unique.    In  their  novels,  Márquez  and  Fuentes  effectively  contrast  conventional  Latin  

American  Catholic  society,  a  society  filled  with  monogamy  and  celibacy,  with  how  

they  viewed  their  individual  societies  via  the  main  character’s  relationships  with  

prostitutes.    Márquez  may  have  used  subtler  technique,  and  Fuentes  may  have  used  

a  stronger  approach,  but  in  the  end,  they  both  achieve  their  goals  effectively.    In  final  

conclusion,  Márquez  and  Fuentes  effectively  and  potently  accomplish  their  goals  of  

contrasting  conventional  Latin  American  Catholic  society  with  the  true  society  that  

the  authors  lived  in.  

Word  count:  1382  

 
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Bibliography:  

McLynn,  Frank.  Villa  and  Zapata:  A  History  of  the  Mexican  Revolution.  New  York,    

NY:  Basic  Books,  2002.  Print.