100 Years of Solitude Chap 11-15 Part 3a: Fernanda vs. Ursula

->Fernanda closes the open doors of the Buendia households & halts Ursula’s candy shop production; Ursula’s matriarch power is being compromised because Fernanda takes advantage of every moment where Ursula shows her true age and fragility. Because Fernanda poses such a threat to the loving matriarch, it is instinctual to DISLIKE Fernanda and regards her as a force that counteracts the ultimate nature.

“As long as Ursula had full use of her faculties some of the old customs survived and the life of her family kept some quality of her impulsiveness, but when she lost her sight and the weight of her years relegated her to a corner, the circle of rigidity, begun by Fernanda from the moment she arrived finally closed completely and no one but she determined the destiny of the family,”(p. 211).

è In conclusion, I feel that the “circle of rigidity” being imposed by Fernanda could represent the industrialization and man-made ideologies of society that are imposed on nature. Nature is represented by the original “Eden” that was Macondo, until it was infiltrated by external forces and ideologies that tried to impose structure, futile causes like war, material goods, and technology upon the innocent, pure, natural Eden of Macondo.

è Furthermore, the “circle of rigidity” is an interesting image because, the Buendia family is incestuous and circularly shaped, as one family member pursues the other in a rigid circle. This introverted family is stuck, destined for ruin, unable to escape the rigid circle of nature & destiny. All of these images and ideals tie in with one another.

100 Years of Solitude Chap 11-15 Part 3: Ursula & Transformation in Macondo

TRANSFORMATION: Macondo is uprooted through the establishment of ORDER within society, which upsets the NATURAL CHAOS of Macondo.

Ursula is the ultimate matriarch, she is wise and focused on her family, and she is also concerned with the cultural upheaval Fernanda pursues through the introduction of organized religion and class structure.

Change in Macondo is signaled with the railroad tracks, and then reinforced by the new home technology in chapter 10. “All that remained at that time of Jose Arcadio Buendia’s ancient village were the dusty almond trees, destined to resist the most arduous of circumstances, and the river of clear water whose prehistoric stones had been pulverized by the frantic hammers of Jose Arcadio Segundo when he set about opening the channel in order to establish a boat line,”(p. 193). Depicts the fall of Eden and industrial impacts that society and people impose on nature.

Ursula eludes to the story of Jose Arcadio Segundo and his attempt to overpower nature: “Set about the awesome task of breaking stones, digging canals, clearing away rapids, and even harnessing waterfalls. ‘I know all of this by hear,’ Ursula would shout. ‘It’s as if time had turned around and we were back at the beginning,”(p. 193). Time is only evident in the destruction of nature as Macondo continues to develop as a society.

Ursula yearns to go back to the beginning of time in Macondo, without silly material things, back to the basics. “Dear Lord,’ she begged, ‘make us poor again the way we were when we founded this town so that you will not collect for this squandering in the other life,”(p. 192). She is wise enough to realize the futile value placed on material goods, which distract and disillusion her children’s abilities to see what is truly important in life.

Although Ursula wishes to go back in time, she is timeless herself. She has defied nature and time by living well and far beyond the lifetime nature usually allows. “Although she was already a hundred years old and on the point of going blind from cataracts, she still had her physical dynamism, her integrity of character, and her mental balance in tact. No one would be better able than she to shape the virtuous man who would restore the prestige of the family, a man who would never have heard talk of war, fighting cocks, bad women, or wild undertakings, four calamities that, according to what Ursula thought, had determined the downfall of their line. ‘This one will be a priest,’ she promised solemnly. ‘And if God gives me life he’ll be Pope someday,”(p. 188-189). She is central to the family and represents the traditional values that keep families in tact and cultures alive. She is wise beyond any man, and foresees the consequences of organized religion and hierarchal society on Macondo.

Ursula maintains her superstitious mentality, and is always worried for the sake of her children as a result of their foolish actions. “She’s got you so bewitched that one of these days I’m going to see you twisting around with colic and with a toad in your belly,” (p. 190).

Ursula is the ultimate matriarch; she relies on nature, instincts, and the value of family to maintain her critical role and promote harmony within the chaotic family. She understands her role in the universe as merely a part of nature, but she can only help those willing to heed her warning and wise insight.