A Comparison between the Protagonists: Jose Arcadio Buedia and King Oedius seen as outcasts who are responsible for their own downfall within the society.

IB Higher Level English A1

World Literature Assignment 1 for the May 2009 Session

Word Count: 1,307

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude based the development of his characters, specifically the protagonist Jose Arcadio Buendia upon the intriguing culture of Latin America. In Sophocles play, Oedipus the King, he focuses on a man called Oedipus who is in an attempt to discover his true past. Jose Arcadio Buendia and King Oedipus: two very intense and daring leaders with great insights in the beginning, turn out to be weak and disillusioned by their own acts leading to them being rejected by both family and society. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, the pathway leading to Jose Arcadio Buendia to being an outcast is slow and unexpected because the book starts off strong with him setting off into the wilderness and being the founder of a village called Macondo. Furthermore, he leads his family into modernity. However, Gabriel Garcia Marquez throws in clues foreshadowing on what would lead to his downfall- insanity through knowledge. “If you have to go crazy, please go crazy all by yourself!" (5). Ursula questions the protagonist’s sanity from the very beginning. In Oedipus the King however, the pathway leading King Oedipus to being an outcast is seen from the very beginning of the play. Since the very beginning, he was on a quest to find out a murderer and discover his past. This was his aim from the very beginning; and while the readers were able to predict his future and knew the answers to his questions, he himself had no clue. Because of this dramatic irony, at some point it seemed that Oedipus is trying to approach his fate as quickly as possible because of his swift attitude and his eagerness. A similar trend of a warning or foreshadowing can be seen in Oedipus the King as well when Jocasta, his wife and mother, solves the riddle of Oedipus’s identity before him and tells him to reject the prophecies and consider them false by projecting her love trying to protect him from his own knowledge. “What does it matter what man he means? It makes no difference now…Forget what he has told you..It makes no difference”. As we can see, in both cases it was knowledge that led to their downfall.

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Both Jose Arcadio Buendia and King Oedipus were intense and daring leaders with great insights in the beginning and they were both on a quest for knowledge. Jose Arcadio Buendia took the responsibility of entering the wilderness in hopes of finding a new city, which he named Macondo. He was always trying to civilize and modernize the society by his scientific means. It was once his goal to build a city entirely out of pure ice and another time he led an expedition in order to contact the outside civilization. Jose Arcadio Buendia was a hardworking man, but he withdrew from human contact, becoming unkempt, antisocial, and interested only in his pursuit of knowledge. It was only a matter of time until Jose Aracdio Buendia was overtaken by madness. "Ten men were needed to get him down, fourteen to tie him
up, twenty to drag him to the chestnut tree in the courtyard, where they left
him tied up, barking in the strange language." (Marquez 81). Jose Arcadio Buendia became a complete stranger when he was rejected by his family and tied to the chestnut tree. The chestnut tree is thus seen as a symbolism for loneliness and solitude that Buendia takes over. It was at this point of time that he lost almost all connection with his family. He had started to talk in Latin, making him incapable to communicate with other people. Furthermore, the fact that Jose Arcadio Buendia never learned Latin and became flawless at it only emphasizes his madness. Marquez is revealing Jose Arcadio Buendias mental state as a result of having an imagination too far ahead of what he is capable, thus being unable to obtain a purposeful outcome from his quest of knowledge. He was unable to handle the constant failures and when he thought that he discovered perpetual motion, his sanity was questioned. He was an alien to the existence of his sons and the quest of knowledge overcame his duties towards his family making him an abandoned and lonely person. These actions of his held him responsible for the outcast he became to his family.

Oedipus’ unraveled fate is apparent when his life falls apart after he finds out the truth about himself. Oedipus is a clever king who rules with confidence and absolute power. He rids Thebes from the great Sphinx and is chosen King. He is a tragic hero, who ultimately leads himself to his own downfall; his fate is not deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime he commits. Oedipus’ tendency to precede others in action and being over knowledgeable is what leads to his downfall. For instance, during the plague he had already taken action before the wise priests even confronted him. He tries to keep up with his fate even though it is way beyond his reach, just like Jose Arcadio Buendia who was unable to keep up with his quest for knowledge. Oedipus also, is on a quest for unknown knowledge about a murderer which slowly unfolds into his own past resulting in knowledge about himself unknown to him. He ignored the warnings that the prophets told off and was so eagerly determined to find the murderer who killed the King, that he actually acts as a catalyst trying to approach his destiny. Even after he knows the truth, he blinds himself and asks to be exiled. The swift characteristic trait is even seen in him at this time. Oedipus can be linked with grandiosity. Grandiosity can be seen when a person admires his qualities such as beauty, cleverness, and talents, and his success and achievements greatly. Even if one of these happens to fail, it would cause a catastrophic and severe depression. The blindness that Oedipus entrusted to himself was not only physically, but also emotional. “What use are my eyes to me, who could never see anything pleasant again?” (Sophocles 1293). He tries to say that he had been blind from the very beginning for not being able to identify the right from the wrong. The knowledge he was trying to seek from the very beginning led to his ultimate banishment- the most severe punishment making him an outcast not only to the entire society, but also to himself.

Jose Arcadio Buendia and King Oedipus: two very intense and daring leaders with great insights in the beginning turn out to be weak and disillusioned by their own acts leading to them being rejected by both family and society. Similar character traits can be seen in Jose Arcadio Buendia and King Oedipus and both the protagonists had to face humiliation as a result of them being over ambitious. They came from being respected members of the society to being rejected. Although this decline from a dedicated genius to being an outcast might
seem like a tragedy, the ventures pursued by the protagonists can be considered as a process of self-discovery. Through analyzing the psychological development of Jose Arcadio Buendia, the
reader can have insights on the complex motives, which Marquez provides. These
motives can help the reader understand Marquez's magical realisms or even the development towards the plot. Oedipus’s character is filled with pride preventing him to see the truth, and he refuses to believe that he could have been responsible for such a horrible crime. Both One Hundred Years of Solitude and Oedipus the King start off very strong and favor the protagonists acknowledging their great achievements, but towards the end talk about their doom and worthlessness in the society. The disillusionment takes place unexpectedly, but the quest for knowledge is the key factor leading to their downfall.

WORKS CITED

Marquez, Gabriel G. One Hundred Years of Solitude. USA: Harper and Row, 1970.

Sophocles. Oedipus the King.