One Hundred Years of Solitude Part 1

“He took care of little Amaranta like a mother. He bathed and dressed her, took her to be nursed four times a day, and even sang to her at night the songs that Ursula never knew how to sing” (Marquez 35).

Upon reading One Hundred Years of Solitude thus far and specifically this line, I have found myself both intrigued and confused by the character of José Arcadio Buendía. When I read the first 30 pages or so of this novel, I hated this character. His wife was so scared of him at first that she made herself a chastity belt and they “would wrestle for several hours in an anguished violence that seemed to be a substitute for an act of love” (Marquez 21). I honestly wanted to punch him even if it was somehow an “act of love.” In addition to this, just after this occurrence we witness him murder a man for shouting at him. These are two very dark events and make it appear as if he is an awful and violent man. However, after reading further, I became confused by how kind it appears he is to his family and even some outsiders. The line from page 35 may seem like a simple act, however, I believe Marquez is pointing out that this seemingly mean character is actually very caring. This is represented by the emphasis that not only is José taking care of his daughter and singing to her, but he is singing songs that not even the actual mother could. Comparing José Arcadio Buendía to a motherly figure drastically contrasts with what we first see of him and makes me very interested in the inner workings of this character. Continuing with the mother-like attributes, on page 40 we see the family, including José Arcadio Buendía, take in a random girl named Rebeca. They claim there was nothing else they could do, but the family easily could’ve left this girl, which wouldn’t be that surprising since we previously saw José murder a man. I actually found it very touching how they took in and cared for this girl. As of now I cannot tell whether these acts are supposed to be so shocking or if maybe it has something to do with the culture, but I am excited to read more and to hopefully be able to decipher whether or not José Arcadio Buendía is a stand-up man and if his violent acts were actually out of love for his family.