Jose Arcadio Buend

Macondo vs. Eden
?[Jose Arcadio Buend?a and ?rsula Iguar?n] became the first mortals to see the western slopes of the mountain range? (Marquez 24). The land of Macondo?before civilization?was lush with vegetation, a ?great swamp that spread out toward the other side of the world?there they founded the village? (Marquez 24). Much like the newly established land of Macondo, the same parallels are exemplified through the land of Eden, within the book of Genesis. Marquez illustrates?through the Buend?a family?the trials and tribulations that humanity endures. These hardships of corruption and temptation serve to reinforce the ?break? in humanity?s innocence. In this paper, I will demonstrate how Gabriel Garcia Marquez attempts to illustrate magical
realism through the multitude of biblical allusions, in his book One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez depicts the land of Macondo as ?a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs? (Marquez 1). Marquez?s vivid diction conveys a sense of serenity to the audience; ?clear water? and ?white? portrays innocence and purity, furthermore this description depicts Macondo before the catastrophic ruin that civilization brings. Similarly, ? a river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters? (Genesis 3:10). The land of Eden?in the book of Genesis?can be compared to Macondo as a utopia, it was seen as a land of Paradise. The first similarity between Macondo and Eden is the proximity to a river?a symbol of vitality?in the midst of the discourse; it continues to flow throughout the land, despite ailments within society. Macondo, much like Eden, ?was recent that many things lacked names? (Marquez 1); therefore, both settings depended on mankind to establish the land, ?whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name? (Genesis 2:19). Finally, Marquez attempts to reinforce his biblical allusions to Eden through the portrayal of Melquiades as the devil, as the serpent portrayed Satan. Melquiades represents the temptation within the novel because he introduces knowledge in the form of new inventions to the land of Macondo, much like the serpent tempts Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. The reader can associate Melquiades as Ursula associates the gypsy with ?the smell of the devil? (Marquez 6) when the mercury flask breaks. Marquez makes it known to the reader that Melquiades has impacted Jose Arcadio Buend?a in a negative way, ?[they] were startled at how much he had changed under Melquiades? influence? (Marquez 8). Before Melquiades and the gypsies arrived in Macondo, the island was a solitary utopia, ?a truly happy village where no one was over thirty years of age and where no one had died? (Marquez 9). Thus, before the temptation of knowledge, Macondo would have remained free from the destruction that the gypsies brought to the land. Similarly, after the temptation of knowledge, the land of Eden fell into decay. Gabriel Garcia Marquez makes many biblical allusions to Eden to reinforce humanity's escape from innocence. Marquez attempts to allude to the Great Flood told in Genesis throughout One Hundred Years of Solitude, alluding to rain as a symbol of purification and renewal.
Civilization disrupts the ?happiness? within the land of Macondo; one of the ways that Marquez illustrates the change in the novel is through the arrival of the Magistrate. His suggestions for painting the houses blue and bringing soldiers to the land of Macondo foreshadows to the reader that Macondo will eventually stray away from the purities that once embodied the land. The purpose of rain is exemplified through Jose Arcadio Buend?a, ?He was still tied to the trunk of the chestnut tree by his hands and feet, soaked with rain and in a total state of innocence? (Marquez 78). Marquez reinforces the symbolic significance of rain by associating it with virtue. Additionally, Macondo not only deteriorates physically throughout but moral deterioration is also illustrated through the text, ?Thinking that no land needs the seed of God so much?[they] spent many years without a priest? (Marquez 81) shows the contamination of sin and the desperation for purification. Gabriel Garcia Marquez attempts to present Ursula as a character of stability; she is aware of the sin that has scathed her family, and she is immune to the maladies of sin. "Make us poor again, the way we were when we founded the town" (Marquez 192), Marquez attempts to reinforce the idea of nostalgia, the longing for
innocence. The seven deadly sins?wrath, pride, envy, lust, sloth, gluttony, and greed?are all evident throughout the novel. Greed is demonstrated through the banana massacre, ?they changed the patterns of the rains, accelerated the cycle of harvests, and moved the river from where it had always been and put it with its white stones and icy currents on the other side of town, behind the cemetery? (Marquez 227). Mr. Brown established a change in Macondo for his benefit, for the purpose of making a profit. Mr. Brown?s decision to move the river can also be interpreted as Macondo?s separation from the goodness that once engulfed the land, as a result of the greed and corruption from the banana massacre. The character Arcadio exemplifies the need for the rain, as his character embodies sin, ?[He] continued tightening the tourniquet with unnecessary rigor until he became the cruelest ruler that Macondo had ever known? (105). Thus, it is evident throughout the novel why the five-year rain struck the land of Macondo. Similar to the book of Genesis, the characters need the rain for purification from the world of sin that has now engulfed the Macondo. Similarly, Marquez attempts to draw a parallel to the story of Noah's Ark in the book of Genesis, "I will wipe from the face of the Earth every living creature that I have made" (Genesis 7:4). Furthermore, in the book of Genesis and throughout One Hundred Years of Solitude, rain serves as the attempted "wake up call" that Macondo needs to hear over the booming corruption.
Finally, Marquez aims to draw a parallel between the story of Cain and Abel and the idea that the family inherits sin. Sin lingered through each passing generation; for example, Colonel Aureliano Buend?a became a tyrant while Jose Arcadio fell into the trap of the gypsies. Remedios the Beauty held destructive powers of her own, killing those with her beauty, ?the man barely had time to let out a cry of terror as he cracked his skill was killed outright on the cement floor? (Marquez 233). Lust strikes Aureliano Segundo; Jose Arcadio Segundo seduces animals, and the last Jose Arcadio runs away with Amaranta ?rsula. Ursula?s explanation, ?Children inherit their parents? madness? (Marquez 40) is an attempt to justify the reason, ?as soon as their beards appear they go to ruin? (Marquez 152). Ursula?s demonstration of clairvoyance in her character reinforces the idea that sin is inherited because she can predict the faults that her family succumbs to committing, this reinforces that the Buend?a family is cursed. After the exile from the land of Eden, Adam and Eve's fault of Original Sin is vicariously lived through Cain after he murdered his brother, Abel. "Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground...you will be a wanderer on the Earth" (Genesis 4: 10, 12). The book of Genesis compares with One Hundred Years of Solitude because it further highlights the idea that sin is passed down, and it emphasizes Marquez's allusion to the Old Testament.
In conclusion, One Hundred Years of Solitude uses the genre of magical realism to represent a multitude of biblical allusions to the book of Genesis in the Bible, highlighting the resemblances between Macondo and Eden.
Marquez attempts to illustrate many of the characters within his novel in close resemblance to the characters in the Old Testament; for example, Remedios the Beauty corresponds a lot to Eve?s character, as her innocence contributes to the downfall of others around her. Thus, One Hundred Years of Solitude uses biblical allusions to reinforce the themes and symbolism throughout the
novel.