Characterization, Symbolism, and Repetition in Hundred Years of Solitude

During the discussion, several new pieces of information were presented. In this presentation we learned much about Colombian culture in the 1950s. Looking at Latin America at the time we see that violence was at a high with the fact that organized gangs were being established. Because of this we can see how the society in the book so easily accepted the slaughter of Santiago. Also in Colombia we see that they have a strong religions background in the Catholic church. In all religions we see routines, which is why it is also easy for the people of the novel to follow the routines and orders brought on from higher officials.

Of the many literary devices used by writers to make their work more powerful and layered, symbolism is one of the most effective, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a text that relies heavily on its use to develop its narrative. The novella recounts, in the form of a pseudo-journalistic reconstruction, the murder of Santiago Nasar in a small Colombian town in the mid 1900’s. Through the course of the novel, Marquez employs various symbols to reinforce key ideas, themes and techniques. This helps the novella break the monotony of a linear storyline and unfolds the plot in a unique way that compounds both effect and meaning.

6. “Is the Character ‘Flat’ or ‘Rounded’? A character is considered flat (or static) when he or she does not experience change of any kind, does not grow from beginning to end. Round characters are those who do experience some sort of growth.”

Although the book’s titular character is Oscar de Leon, he shares chapters with his sister, his mother, his college roommate, Yunior (revealed to be the book’s narrator), and his mother’s parents, the Cabrals. By representing a family with different personalities—Oscar is overweight, and nerdy while Lola is powerful and independent, for example—Díaz creates a microcosm for all Dominican immigrants. Each chapter (and character) in the past is melded into the story in the present, and in this way, the momentum and excitement is never lost until the very last

Although this novel has been a joy to read thus far, I had a lot of trouble writing this response because I was not exactly certain what I thought of it, and how it related to the topics being discussed in class. This may be attributed to the reverse chronological order in which the events of the novel are presented. However, the wonderful flashbacks that Julia Alvarez uses to spice-up the novel through dialogue between the characters and omniscient narration, helps to connect the past and future of the members of the Garcia family.

The ending of a novel can be evaluated by the reader in several different ways, however to properly analyze the work is to further explore the logic of how everything has come to be. The ability of the author to show the reader that the ending is reasonable from the preceding action and the character’s nature is what should truly be examined. Not only is the ending of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz both happy and unhappy, it is logical in the sense that it follows logically from the climax of the novel all while the character’s have been constant throughout, except Oscar. Oscar, the protagonist experiences a life-changing transformation that leads to his untimely death. However, the ending is convincing because of this

This book covered a wide range of topics not only throughout the book but I also felt the some chapters jumped around a lot as well. I felt as if the chapters didn’t focus on one main idea, which caused a lot of confusion for me. For example, in chapter 7, I was very confused because it went from talking about statistics and the background of Loraine, Ohio and jobs to talking about the criminalization of Latinas/os in Loraine. I thought there was a lot of ground that was covered in chapter 7 and that the information that was discussed did not have clear connections. Also, I did not understand the set up of the book, which made it hard for me to understand what the author’s purpose was. For example, in chapter 2 it is discussing Spanish radio, in

From the outset, García Márquez already establishes the themes of religion and violence with mentions of the bishop’s arrival and images of rifles chaotically bouncing against the walls, suggesting that these themes will play a key role in the novella’s development. The opening line is intentionally vague and non-descriptive, building suspense and encouraging the reader to take part in the speculation, wondering who will kill Santiago. This immediately makes the reader play an active role in the investigation and unwittingly participate in the murder about to unfold as they gain increasing knowledge of future events, just like the rest of the community. For this reason, the true nature of a community is already being explored as we see how easy it is to become implicit in the crimes of others without being truly conscious of what you are

Characters are made to present certain ideas that the author believes in. In Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold there are many characters included that range from bold, boisterous characters to minuscule, quiet characters but one thing they all have in common is that they all represent ideas. Characters in the novel convey aspects of Marquez’s Colombian culture.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez has dealt with historical themes in several of his fictions, but in One Hundred Years of Solitude, the author makes a statement about history and the importance of historical consciousness. In this paper, the view of history expressed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude will be the focus.

The critical nature of Santiago’s relationship with Victoria Guzmán allows Márquez to satirize the servant-master and patriarchal complexes present in his portrayed culture. The sexual relationship between Ibrahim Nasar and Victoria Guzmán, parallels that of the relationship between Santiago Nasar and Divina Flor and highlights the social constructs and environment, which reduced Victoria Guzmán into servitude through the juxtaposition of the aforementioned combative personalities of Victoria Guzmán and Santiago. Márquez is successful in the sense that he can create a social commentary on the portrayed Arabic and Columbian cultures while still maintaining false objectivity by inserting variation into separate accounts. Márquez’s uses periphrasis, syntax, and chronological divisions between chapters to subdue overt comparison between the portrayed values of Columbian culture and its societal norms with the conflicting relationship of Victoria Guzmán and Santiago Nasar, effectively shrouding his commentary.

In the story “A Very Old Man With Wings”, Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the

Periphrasis is often considered to be a dreary, poorly written selection of a novel. Readers often misunderstand its significance; however, Marquez is able to effectively use the literary device to provide contextual evidence for his characters. When painting traditional scenes of culture, especially through the magical realist lens that Marquez utilizes, periphrasis allows for an in-depth platform and

to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on” (Marquez 169). This type of exact factual evidence allows readers to be pulled back into reality. It also leaves the ‘why’ of Santiago Nasar’s death and the “social milieu that despises the murder” to be left unclear to readers (Aghaei 13). This is a part of the style of “prolepsis” which entails the narration of an event before an earlier event takes place. This helps the author to keep the reader in suspense of how it happens. In this specific novel readers “follow the story step-by-step through the successive events” (Aghaei 13). Additionally, the narrator’s lack of personal commentary keeps the novella to appear objective, accurate, and neutral. This technique is used in real world journalism by reporters and journalists worldwide. Garcia Marquez expresses his views on the presentation of facts by stating “‘The key is to tell it straight’”(Gardener 13).

According to many critics Khaled Hosseini’s international bestseller novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is a heartbreaking novel that is sure to make the readers connect with the characters in the novel. “You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains. You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines. You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows. This is why I am afraid, you say that you love me too.” (Original version in Turkish, translated by William Shakespeare). This quote means that actions do not define words, in fact actions are more powerful. In the novel the main protagonists struggle with the loss of their loved ones whether it is by death, or conflict, and it deeply affects their personality, also makes them see the world from a different point of view. Per example, Mariam has lost her mother, along with her father, which made her a loving and loyal woman. Rasheed on the other hand has lost both his wife, also his son, which made him violent, depressive and cold-hearted. Lastly Laila losing both of her parents and Mariam has turned her into a resilient character.