Analysis Chapter 20 OFONE HUNDRED YEARS OF

Solemnity

The narrator present in this chapter, as in

the rest of the work is of a character
Omniscient in the third person. This means
to say that each of the events that
occur throughout this and many others
chapters, is commented from a point of
view target and that is not in any way
involved in the events narrated. The
focusing on this within the chapter
20, focuses on Macondo and how it
loses with the death of Pilar Ternera and the
departure of the wise Catalan, the last memories
of what that great entrepreneurial people was
that several years ago had a different appearance
completely different from the current one and seemed
that would have a very prosperous future. A quote that
clearly reflects this focus is, "In the
tomb of Pilar Ternera, between psalms and
prostitutes' trinkets, the debris rotted
from the past, the few that remained after
that the wise Catalan finished the bookstore and returned
to the Mediterranean village where I was born
(…)". The central theme of this text will be to address
the relationship that is presented between the lineage of
the Buendía family and the final chronotope of
Macondo in chapter 20 of the work One Hundred Years
of Soledad.
García Márquez structured chapter 20 in
stages that have become common in the last
section of history. These stages are
clearly evidenced and there are three: the first
it is the death and loss of the last ones
memories that remained of Macondo (Pilar
Veal and the Wise Catalan), the second is the
hope that is represented through the
passionate relationship between Amaranta Úrsula and
Aureliano, and the last the tragic love and the
fatal outcome that ends with the death of
Amaranta Úrsula and the absolute solitude to which
Aureliano is submitted. As this is the last
chapter of the book, it is supposed to have something
certainly representative of the rest of the
novel, and these are the stages that fulfill that
function, since previously in history
we have seen how tragic love,
reiteration of fleeting and passionate loves, and
finally, the tragedies have been part
fundamental of the course of events in
Macondo.

The use of language in this chapter

it has a fundamental and transcendent role in the
course of history. It could be said that this
the chapter is the conclusion of the story and for
García Márquez used language as his
ally to give it an unexpected ending
but at the same time completely sane for him
reader. In the last chapters, it has been clear the
passion that Aureliano has been developing for the
reading of the scrolls of Melquíades, but
it is in this specific chapter where these
they come to make complete sense. This occurs because
middle of the bold use of language that allows the
reader perceive as the content of the
scrolls talk about events that
they happened in the past and narrate exactly
events that happened many years ago in
Macondo. In this way, as it progresses
the chapter also advances the events
narrated by the scrolls of Melquíades. To
finally, a connection is made between both
'realities' and those facts narrated by the
scrolls eventually coincide with the
moment in the present that is being lived in
the house of the Buendías. The closing of this
connection is made through the following quote, "The
the first of the lineage is tied to a tree
and in the end they are being eaten by the
ants"(p 469). In this quote, it is evident that
it refers to Jose Arcadio (the first)
of the Buendías) who ended up dead tied
in a tree and also Aureliano the last of the
lineage who at the end of the novel is dragged
and subsequently eaten by the ants.
There is one topic that stands out above the rest in this.
particular chapter. The main theme is that of
the nostalgia. As it was mentioned
previously, after the death of Pilar Ternera and
the departure of the Wise Catalan is referenced
to the last memories that remained
from that Macondo of many years ago
they just vanished, leaving no trace of
that wonderful village that came to be several
years ago. This same desire to return to the
past and the impotence of imminent forgetfulness
it is seen represented again when more
forward in the chapter after the departure of
Alfonso and German, two of the only four
friends that Aureliano once had, left
on a trip and never returned, leaving
Aureliano alone with his only remaining friend,
Gabriel, "It was the last thing that was left of a
past whose annihilation was not consumed,
because it continued to annihilate itself indefinitely,
consuming itself from within,
running out every minute but never finishing
never" (p 399). Later, almost at the end of the
novel, we meet again with a phrase
what does all that accumulated nostalgia represent
by Aureliano, who after the
Gabriel's departure to Paris and the death of
Amaranta Úrsula had been subjected to a
absolute solitude. After sitting down at the
rocking chair, "where Rebeca sat in the
original times of the house to dictate
embroidery lessons, and in which Amaranta
I was playing Chinese checkers with Colonel Gerineldo.
Márquez, and in which Amaranta Úrsula was sewing the
child's clothing, and in that flash of lucidity
he became aware that he was capable of resisting
about her soul the overwhelming weight of so much
past" (p 411). This shows us that by being
the only remaining member of the family,
Aureliano cannot bear the weight of sitting.
about something that supported so many people that
now they can only be summoned by
medium of memories. So that everything
once again it refers to the inevitable nostalgia.

Certainly, the only present theme is not that of

the nostalgia. Throughout the chapter we can
finding another theme that stands out and that is
important to emphasize. The theme of love is seen
clearly exposed, and this is reflected by
in the midst of the unrestrained passion that arises between

Amaranta Úrsula and Aureliano. A love that is born

from the result of Aureliano's perseverance
to win over his aunt Amaranta Úrsula and that
after his insistence, he manages to capture her
love. This love starts to grow quickly
to the point that they both love each other

deeply. Anyway, even when

the theme of love is presented, it is made
reference to nostalgia, and how in the midst of
forgot these two characters managed to love each other without

limits, "while the lizards and the rats are

they were disputing the inheritance of the neighboring temple. In

that Macondo forgotten even by the birds,

where the dust and heat had become so
tenacious, it was hard to breathe, confined
for solitude and love and for the solitude of
love in a house where it was almost impossible
to sleep because of the loudness of the ants
Coloradas, Aureliano and Amaranta Úrsula were the
only happy beings, and the happiest on the
earth" (p 400). A little further ahead also
we can encounter an example that
it can serve as a reflection to represent
as the love between them prevailed above all
of anything else, as this love had
helped both (but especially to
Aureliano) feeling isolated from the world
forgotten in which they lived and allowed them to be in
one where everything was love, "(...) their news is
they were becoming increasingly uncertain little by little, and

sporadic and melancholic the letters of the

wise, that Aureliano got used to thinking about
they, like Amaranta Úrsula, thought about her
husband, and both remained floating in the universe
empty, where the only daily reality and
"Eternal was love" (p 402). From the previous quote
it is important to highlight the word empty, since
this is the one that alludes to the void and the
nostalgia that shapes the events of the chapter.
A final quote that perfectly represents
the aforementioned relationship between the
Nostalgia and love is the following, 'The
the uncertainty of the future made them return
heart towards the past 404).
Specifically, this quote refers to the
wavering attitude of the inhabitants of Macondo
regarding the future, since the people have
suffered a significant amount of changes in
the last few years and one cannot be certain of
what will happen next. That is why
the quote mentions how the characters
they preferred to turn their hearts back to him
past where pleasant memories remained and
pleasant.

Finally, to conclude the analysis of this

chapter it is important to talk about a
chronotope present throughout it that
help as representation of the theme of the
nostalgia. The only relevant chronotope is
Macondo. Here the relationship between space and
time through the oblivion it has reached the
small village located in the middle of the
marsh. The passage of time, the deaths at
cause of the war, the different plagues and
the others made the space of Macondo
will reach a state of loneliness and oblivion that
it contrasts with the peaceful and hopeful village
that was once. This chronotope is of great
importance since this chapter is the
conclusion of the whole novel, shows how
after everything that happened throughout the
history, Macondo term covered by some
winds coming from the sea that culminated
by leaving the small town in oblivion
absolute. Additionally, it is possible to emphasize
how this chronotope of Macondo is related
with the last characters of the lineage of the
Good day and also with those who do
presence throughout history. This is
is clearly reflected in how these
characters are slowly dying and leaving
the number of family members increasingly reduced.
At the end of the novel, Aureliano just as
Macondo is left in absolute oblivion.
it is possible to conclude that just as
Macondo was being destroyed and decreasing.
with the years, so did the lineage of the
Good morning. Moreover, that idea proposed and
anticipated by Ursula at the beginning of the story,
the one that claims the lineage of the family
it will end when a Buendía is born with a tail of
pig, materializes at the end of the novel with the
the birth of Aureliano and subsequently his
death at the hands of the ants. Macondo and the
the Buendía lineage is born and dies
parallelly.
Remembering is easy for those who have memory,
forgetting is difficult for those who have a heart