22nd Annual Student Research Conference
The Psychology of Solitude in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
Paul R. Witte
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, solitude plays a significant role in the characters' manipulation of their environment, and the ultimate destruction of their surroundings. My study draws on an established connection between Garcia Marquez's representation of solitude and Octavio Paz's Labyrinth of Solitude, where it is described as a "nostalgic longing for the body from which we were cast out", while this body is a perception of reality where there is no gap "between satisfaction and desire" (208, 195). When this reality cannot be achieved, a state of psychological avoidance (solitude) is constructed to provide structure to an irrational world. This paper will examine how a process of isolation into solitude fuels the plots development and the Buendias' progression towards disaster. By examining the life of Jose Arcadio Buendia, I will identify the multiple phases of this psychological process of isolation, their distinct causes, and how they potentiate the Buendias' tragedy.
Keywords: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Solitude
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 19-2
Location: OP 2117
Time: 10:00