Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez\'s Nobel

¶ … Solitude

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Nobel Prize-winning novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is not arbitrarily titled. The theme of solitude permeates Garcia's novel, shaping the characters and their living, breathing town, Macondo. Solitude, according to Marquez, is an innate human need but one that can hinder positive growth. Several of the characters in One Hundred Years of Solitude impose bouts of isolation upon themselves. In fact, one of the central motifs of the novel is that the town of Macondo creates a self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world that can be interpreted as a symbolic solitude. Solitude serves as a symbol as well as a natural aspect of human nature. Although desirable in some ways, solitude can become self-destructive when taken to extremes. The gypsies play a key role in explicating the concept of solitude in One Hundred Years. Solitude offers restoration, much as sleep allows for rest and recuperation of the body and soul. At the same time, solitude can lead to morbid self-reflection, self-absorption, and incestuous isolationism. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows that solitude is full of ironies. Solitude is an ironic means of achieving illumination; solitude is both self-imposed and imposed from the outside world; and solitude must be skillfully tempered.

Primarily through the character of Jose Arcadio Buendia, the novel's stalwart patriarch, Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows that solitude can be used to achieve illumination. Symbols of ice and mirrors offer ripe imagery that conveys the motif of self-reflection and illumination. At the onset of the story, Colonel Aureliano Buendia reflects on his interactions with the gypsies. Gypsies play a central role in One Hundred Years of Solitude because of their juxtaposition of extraversion and introversion. Therefore, gypsies encapsulate the irony of solitude that Gabriel Garcia Marquez conveys in the novel. For one, solitude is an ironic means of achieving enlightenment, self-illumination, and self-awareness. As such, solitude is an integral part of spiritual growth and development. However, Gabriel Garcia Marquez also notes that solitude can be taken to extremes. When a monk isolates himself from the world, the ultimate objective of the spiritual quest is to improve humanity via selfless service. In the case of the Buendia family and in fact all of Macondo, solitude becomes a trap. Rather than capitalize on the fruits of solitude, the Buendias and the residents of Macondo self-destruct. Their desire to open up to the outside world implodes as they have forgotten how to preserve the gems of self-illumination.

Solitude is both self-imposed and imposed from the outside world. One way in which readers know that the town of Macondo is not entirely isolated is the frequent mentioning of the "government." The government is presented as an external entity, a social institution that has little to do with daily life in Macondo. When the government is mentioned, it is certainly as an outsider that threatens the solitude of Macondo. The gypsies once again symbolize the irony of Macondo's position. Gypsies have experienced solitude both as self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world and also as external oppression. As travelers, gypsies lead a lifestyle that is qualitatively different from the more stable and modern societies. Because of this, gypsies have remained isolated -- their community has as much solitude as Macondo's. Early in the novel, Gypsy Melquiades states, "Science has eliminated distance…in a short time, man will be able to see what is happening in any place in the world without leaving his own house," (p. 3). Here, Gabriel Garcia Marquez coyly hints at the advent of television, which brings the world inside the person's living room. An individual does not need to leave the house to hear people talking, learn about remote destinations, and learn about the world. This is a technological advancement that, like solitude, is both a blessing and a curse. The gypsy's wise saying also refers to the irony of solitude that is the central theme of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel.