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Angelica Estrada

Latin American Lit

Dr. White

April 20, 2015

Response Paper III

The past four writers that we have covered in class definitely did their part to bring the

literature of Latin America to the limelight with their amazing works. Pablo Neruda, Octavio

Paz, Gabriel Garca Mrquez, and Alvaro Vargas Llosa are all very talented men who helped to

shine light on the great literature that has come out of the countries of Latin America. Although

their styles differ, all four writers have connections to each other and to Latin American literature

in general. Each of these writers has a connection to their own country of Latin America. Neruda

has his roots in Chile, Paz in Mexico, Marquez in Columbia, and Vargas Llosa in Peru. All four

of these writers are devoted to their home countries and include allusions to these places in their

writing. They are also connected by their love of nature and the vivid imagery that they use in

their poems and prose. It is also true that every one of these writers is passionate about their

writing. They all began writing at young ages and continued throughout their entire lives. The

four men also share the experiences of being well-traveled. All of them lived in countries other

than the one that they were born in and made an impact everywhere that they went. These writers

not only wrote about the things that they loved, but also used their influential voices to stand up

for their beliefs. All were courageous and knew that the power of their voices should be used for

a true purpose. Therefore, the writers mentioned were not only writers, but also well-respected

and influential members of their communities.

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Of the four writers, two of them were primarily poets. These two writers are Pablo

Neruda and Octavio Paz. These men had much in common including their love and talent for

poetry. Both published works of poetry and prose. Paz on the one hand is most well known for

his prose titled The Labyrinth of Solitude. On the other hand, Pablo Neruda is most famous for

his collections of poetry. In Labyrinth of Solitude, Paz focuses mainly on the motif of solitude

in relation to his home country of Mexico. He also discusses the issue of identity within his

prose. Pablo Nerudas collections of poetry deal with varying topics including love, war, and

politics. One major similarity shared between these two poets is their strong political

involvement. They both wrote poetry that reflected their political views. Yet another similarity is

their use of natural imagery in their poems. For example, one of Pazs more well-known poems

is titled A Tree Within. This poem includes the metaphor of a tree which can be interpreted as

a tree growing inside the mind of a poet. This poem shows how Paz uses nature to form

connections between humans and their environment. Similarly, in Nerudas, Poetry he uses

nature to explain the inner mind of a poet. Both writers were actively involved in the politics of

their time and used their poetry to express their views on Latin America as a whole.

The two novelists that we studied were Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alvaro Vargas

Llosa. These two writers crafted novels that are truly great and reflect the unique style of Latin

American literature. Marquez wrote novels and other non fiction works such as short stories. His

most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude is written with the themes and dialectics of

identity, tradition vs. modernity, and solitude. All of these unique Latin American characteristics

are also found in Vargas Llosas novel titled The Storyteller. In both novels the reader can see

the conflict that arises between tradition vs. modernity. The town of Macondo is constantly being

changed by the newcomers and in The Storyteller, the characters are also dealing with the
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indigenous peoples and the changes that come to them when the modern people attempt to

convert them and educate them. In both novels the main characters struggle to discover their

true identities. Mascarita tries to become one of the Machiguengas but he is constantly reminded

that he is not truly one of them. As for the characters of One Hundred Years of Solitude, they are

constantly being tested and trying to resist their destinies but in the end they always make the

same mistakes and this struggle shows their fight to discover who they truly are.

Most of all I enjoyed Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude

because it teaches so many important life lessons in one single novel. In my opinion, this novel

embodies life. It is not simply about one topic. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a novel that

deals with every life experience because it follows the characters throughout their entire

lifetimes. The novel includes life, death, birth, sickness, mental deterioration, love, lust and

everything else you could think of. Also the novel can be interpreted multiple ways and everyone

can take something away from it whether they are from a Latin American background or not.

One of my favorite quotes from the entire novel is when the narrator states Thus they went on

living in a reality that was slipping away, momentarily captured by words, but which would

escape irremediably when they forgot the values of the written letters (47). This reminded me

that even though the way that time passes in the book is not exactly how it does in reality, they

are not that different. Sometimes we live our lives in a blur forgetting what it is we really live for

and when we look up so much time has passed that it feels unreal. That is the beauty of this book

and magical realism in general. Everything seems so extraordinary yet it always relates back to

the lives that we live everyday. The story is written in such a creative and interesting way

because of how time moves throughout. Everything is cyclical and still linear at the same time

This book was my first introduction to magical realism and I absolutely loved it. The style makes
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the reader think about real life and how closely it relates to this magic in the novel. I loved that

the story was neither as complex nor as simple as it seems on the surface. You could read the

book and just focus on the story and the characters and be completely happy with it, or you could

go into deep discussion of the novel like we did in class and never run out of something to talk

about.

The idea/ theme that most interested and surprised me from this novel was the idea that

everything moves in cycles and that destiny is predetermined. Of course this seemed slightly

familiar because of the saying that history repeats itself, but mostly it is different than any other

novel I have read. The cycles were surprising because I kept expecting for the cycle to change or

end but it instead continued until the very end. Then, when it finally did end it was just as

shocking. The magically real ending was surprising because it all ended so quickly, but in reality

that is how life ends, there is a big battle and story behind it, but then it ends in one sentence. At

the very end of the book the narrator states that races condemned to one hundred years of

solitude did not have a second opportunity on Earth (Marquez pg). After four hundred pages of

reading the novel ends with a line that leaves the reader feeling hopeless and as though the book

has ended so quickly because of the finality of the last sentence. The Latin American belief in

predetermined fate differs from the views of the average American living in the United States

because here in the U.S. we are brought up with the idea that we create our own individual

destiny. The American Dream fosters that with hard work you can go from rags to riches. I

found this difference to be extremely interesting. It is definitely good to see things from a

different perspective and I feel that anyone who reads this book will gain a better understanding

of the Latin American views on fate and destiny. Additionally, there is a strong family theme that

prevails throughout the novel. This is intriguing as well because the novel was about the family
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all together and most novels I have read focus on one or two main characters individually.

Instead, this novel is about the destiny of an entire family not just one person.

Even though the novel only included the Christian faith, it is interesting to think about the

idea that the characters were being continually reincarnated through each other. This goes along

with the cycles of behavior that are repeated throughout the novel. There are several different

religions that study the belief of reincarnation including Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Each

of these religions has different beliefs on who or what is reincarnated but when reading the novel

I could not help but think about reincarnation. For the hindu religion, this idea of being trapped

in a repetitive cycle of life and death is called Samsara. Liberation from this cycle is called

Moksha and the way to reach Moksha is to come to enlightenment or a state of ultimate

knowledge and unity with God. If reading this novel with this knowledge in the back of your

mind, the end of the story leads one to believe that the last Jose Arcadio reaches enlightenment

when he finally is able to decipher the writings that Melquiades leaves at the very last moment.

After he discovers that the writings are spelling out his life and the lives of his family, the town

of Macondo is swept from the face of the earth by the wind and this can be viewed as the

Moksha of the Buendia family. They have finally been liberated from the constant cycle of

mistakes that they continued to make through each generation. Although, the fate of the Buendia

family is predetermined and those who believe in Hinduism believe that individual action has

some effect on what happens, they also believe that destiny plays a huge role in the lives that we

live. Some Hindu beliefs state that moksha entails annihilation of the soul's false sense of

individuality and realisation of its complete non-difference from God. The dualistic traditions

claim that God remains ever distinct from the individual soul. Union in this case refers to a

commonality of purpose and realisation of one's spiritual nature (brahman) through surrender
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and service to the Supreme Brahman (God) (Heart of Hinduism 1). In either case, Moksha

requires a sort of unity which makes sense in the context of the book because throughout the

entire novel the characters struggle with their solidarity. Even though this reading of the novel

may not fit perfectly, it does help to see the novel from yet another perspective. The story can

also be taken as simply a story that shows that fate and destiny are the true rulers of our lives and

what is meant to happen will happen no matter what kinds of personal freedom we think we

have.

Overall, this text has taught me a lot about Latin American Literature and I can honestly

say it is different from any novel that I have read before. One Hundred Years of Solitude contains

the main dialectics of LA lit that we talked about in class and shows the talent that has been born

from the Latin American countries suffering along with the changes that they have endured. This

story truly makes literature that is also a gateway to understanding the people of another culture

which is important especially to those of us who live in the United States and come into contact

with people from other countries and backgrounds. Even for those who have a background in

Latin America this novel helps to form connections to personal history and ancestors. The theme

of the lifelong connection to family and past is prevalent in this novel and the story shows that no

matter what, you cannot escape the roots embedded in your blood. This cyclic behavior is

relevant to anyone who reads it, not just those people with origins in Latin America and these

cycles make us question our choices and goals in life. Furthermore, Marquez makes every

character lovable no matter how messed up they seem to be on the surface. His use of real

language including swear words and his great sense of humor makes the stories and characters

relatable and entertaining. This novel is a great choice for readers who do not know much about

Latin American literature to read because it includes so many of the main themes that are
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unique to Latin American literature including tradition vs modernity and the struggle to find

identity. One Hundred Years of Solitude also shines light on the political passion that many Latin

American poets have and fight to inform the people about, the growth of commercialism in

changing economies and the culture shock that comes when outsiders invade the land of the

indigenous. Marquez uses magical realism to bring forth the atrocities that have been performed

against the people of Latin America that are hard to believe could ever happen showing the

willingness of people to ignore the ugly truths that surround them. The novel also contains

themes that are universal including the way that age affects us with time and the destruction that

solitude can create. With all of these different themes and motifs included in the story, I think

that this is the ultimate example of great Latin American literature and every writer that we have

studied in class can be found in this novel. Neruda and Paz can be found in the Colonels fight

against the conservatives. Mistral and Vargas Llosa can be recognized in the natural imagery and

the struggle of the indigenous peoples throughout the book.

Of course Marquez was one of the literary figures that put LA on the map because his

novel was extremely popular when it first came out and sold out several times. In reality, all of

these writers are amazing and have been recognized for their talents. They were not only writers

but also well respected educators and political figures. Both Neruda and Paz have written prose

that has circulated and been translated so that others may read about and learn from what they

have to say. Not only do they teach us more about LA culture, but they also remind us that we

are all the same. Their poetry and prose contain themes that are relatable to everyone: love,

destiny, religion, tradition, modernization, and identity.

In conclusion, these Latin American writers have taught me that literature is reflective of

so many different factors including the culture and belief system in which it was written. Even
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though literature relates closely to the culture that shapes it, it also can be enjoyed by anyone

with an open mind. It is true that literature connects us no matter where we are from because the

human experience is conveyed in literature which is why we love it. We are able to see ourselves

in certain characters and this brings us joy and satisfaction and validity. Learning about these

texts and their authors has shown me the strong and deep connection that Latin Americans have

with poetry and literature. I have been able to see that in Latin America poets are treated with

great respect and their opinions are valued not only in literature but also surrounding many other

areas such as education and politics. I have also learned about the rich and deep history

surrounding the Latin American countries and have seen the beauty of magical realism. This

experience has also solidified in my mind the importance of studying about different kinds of

literature so that I may gain knowledge and diversify my taste in literature which will help me

become a teacher who is able to introduce different types of literature to my students. Finally, the

texts have strengthened my connection with my Latina background and introduced me to writers

that I have grown to love.

Works Cited

"Moksha: Liberation/Salvation." Heart of Hinduism:. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

<http://hinduism.iskcon.org/concepts/106.htm>.