Wow, what a novel. I'm so happy we read this in class because I have been wanting to read it for ages. The second half of the book really went in a direction I wasn't expecting with the political tensions, introduction of the modern labour workforces, and discussions of agrarian reforms. The continuation of the Buendia family line also provided a really thought provoking reading experience.
The farther and father I got into the book, as more characters got introduced it became harder to keep them all straight because of their identical names. This gave me a lot of confusion and made all of the characters mesh into one large confusing character for me, with different plot points and personality traits of some characters getting carried over to others amongst the confusion. The intentionality of this has been making me really ponder the message behind Garcia Marquez's rationale in writing this way. Is it to show how much our family impacts ourselves? Does it show our lack on individuality in society or our families? Building on the messages with the banana tres, does it comment to how outsiders view those in rural foreign communities as all the same and without individuality or differing features? Or does it illustrate the time loop of Macondo and it’s slow process of development?
I also found it interesting how the Aureliano and Arcardio names kept constantly repeating throughout the family history, but Ursula's didn't (other than Amarantha Ursuala...I believe?). Considering she was one of the few characters that expanded the entire novel I thought it odd that her name wasn't carried more from generation to generation.
Moving onto the next thing that really surprised me was the banana company. This was by far my favourite aspect of the novel. I remember reading about the banana massacre of 1928 and the soft power exploits of the United Fruit Company, so I was super intrigued about why Garcia Marquez chose to include parallel problems in this book. Saying that the workers were coming "because everyone was coming" (229) and calling it "the banana plague" (229) was really making a statement on the destruction that colonization and foreign intervention causes to a community in the fight for it's resources. To see this plot point get introduced right at the shifting point into modernity in the novel was telling timing. To me, it also made a statement about who was in control of the town's future. The inhabitants that have been controlling Macondo since it's creation or those who come in uninvited and disrupt the lives of those in the community? It also seemed to kind of break the endless time loop within the town with the introduction of war, conflict, and death suffered by the young. Not to mention all the labour issues that those who worked with the banana company experienced.
I understand why this novel is considered to be one that everyone should read. It really makes you think about the role that family plays in shaping us, how we shape societies outside our own, and how societies have changed over time with the introduction of modern invention and technology. Even though it was published in 1967, the magical and relevant aspects of it makes it seem as applicable now as it was upon it's first publication.
Question for the class: What do you think the reason of repetitive and similar names was in the novel? What point was Garcia Marquez trying to make?
