SPAN 312

  I've spent the weekend thinking about what I want to write about for this week, and I think the idea I keep going back to is the idea of isolation/loneliness I wrote about for part one. This second half of the book is similar to the first in that each character follows some kind of path to solitude, however in this half we see how that brings each character to their death. In true fashion, this book ends with the death of each character and sometimes in gruesome ways. By the end of the novel the town of Macondo has returned to its lonely and abandoned state, and Amaranta Ursula and Aureliano are the main remaining characters. However the words and fears of characters who came before them and since died, continue to haunt the remaining Buendías family. In particular, Ursula's biggest fear, which she refers to throughout the book, comes true, a child is born with the tail of a pig. Although disturbing, the ending almost felt fitting, I mean this in the sense that the demise of ...

  When reading One Hundred Years of Solitude I attempted to follow Jons advice, to read it as close together as we could. I found that this was helpful in following certain aspects of the story, especially the characters names, the environment and state of the town, Macondo. In the beginning of the book the town of Macondo seemed to capture this overarching idea of solitude that I had in my mind from the title. The town itself seemed lonely, quiet and secluded from the rest of the world. Then the town of Macondo transitions when a road connects it with the rest of the world. With this connection comes an increase in capital/wealth and with that increased societal problems, with hints of communism and political uproar against the government sprinkled in. Although eventually, almost like a circle, Macondo reverts to the quiet and secluded town it seemed to be at the very beginning.  Additionally, r eading this book was not similar to other historical fiction novels I have read, ...