In Gabriel García Márquez’s work, the character Prudencio Aguilar continues to torment José Arcadio Buendía (JAB), leading to JAB’s descent into madness, a consequence of the spear-stabbing incident. The act of being impaled by a spear carries symbolic connotations, resembling phallic penetration, representing dominance and subjugation over the vulnerable, reminiscent of the degradation faced by indigenous populations during Latin American colonization. This historical context is crucial as it parallels the haunting effects of colonialism in the region.
Subsequently, Prudencio Aguilar reappears as a ghost, not physically harming JAB but rather disintegrating his mental state. The spectral figure constantly reminds him of the crime committed, triggering an internal struggle of remorse and morality within JAB, mirroring the enduring post-colonial impacts that continue to haunt the world long after the colonial era has ended. Through these magical elements, Gabriel García Márquez continually prompts readers to confront the sins of colonialism.
Similarly, in the context of “One Hundred Years of Solitude, (OHYS)” literature serves as a tool to indirectly “punish” colonizers by compelling them to reflect on and acknowledge their wrongdoings whenever they engage with the text.
Magical realism
Magical realism focuses more on the subjective perception of reality, which is rooted in the epistemological belief in perspectivism. It creates the effect that deconstructs the absolute superiority of objectivism or a united “truth” of the external world and frees the subjects from such epistemological confinements.
In this way, the subjective understanding is elevated. From the narratology stance, without the constraints of the pursuit of objectivity, the subject’s perception can aestheticize the object, deconstructing the absolute Reason or ”true” perception that undermines subjective experience, thus creating the voice of magical realism that almost perceives the world by an impressionist means.
Another overlap between Nietzschean philosophy and One Hundred Years of Solitude is that Úrsula’s perception of time demonstrates “Nietzschean affirmation”. Derrida explains it as “the joyous affirmation […] a world of signs without fault, without truth, and without origin which is offered to an active interpretation”, which corresponds to how Úrsula perceives time by the “signs” of names and repeating fate. She does not pursue or study the actual linearity or circularity of time but rather reaches the conclusion by subjective interpretation.
This chaotic blurring of objectivity vs. subjective perception adds to the magical elements, the mystery of this novel, and the sense of confusion that Macondonians felt facing the upheavals and new ideologies. This writing style also deconstructs the rational and logocentric classical Western thinking pathways, ushering in an age belonging to the Latin American writers.
