Marquez’ worldwide reputation of a prolific and outstanding author is undeniable. His international recognition reached its peak in 1982 when he got the Nobel Prize in Literature. Because of the poverty of Colombia, Marquez experienced and witnessed economic and social inequity that was one of the most dramatic on the Latin American continent. Marquez employs national history to produce plots that surprise readers because of the writer’s ability to combine techniques of the fantastic and realism. To be more exact, Marquez was the master of a style, which is known as magic realism. It helped the author to express the unique nature of Latin American reality, culture, and identity. Gabriel Garcia Marques deserves to be ranked as the classic writer due to his exemplary narrative technique and unique writing style; his works are relevant today because of their intriguing character development, enthralling plotlines, and painful themes of social inequity, violence, power, and economic disparity.
In another short story, “Tuesday Siesta,” character development is particularly captivating because the story centers on an unknown woman who undergoes several transformations. At the beginning, she is depicted as an exhausted, humble, and poor outsider, “She
bore
the
conscientious
serenity
of
someone
accustomed
to
poverty” (Marquez). However, finally, the reader sees her as a strong individual who is capable of defying the community and not afraid of telling the truth, “ He’s
the
thief
who
was
killed
here
last
week,”
said
the
woman
in
the
same
tone
of
voice.
“I
am
his
mother.” The
priest
scrutinized
her.
She
stared
at
him
with
quiet
self‐control,
and
the
Father
blushed” (Marquez). The woman is the mother of a thief; nevertheless, she does not lose her dignity and stoicism. The author does not reveal the woman’s thoughts but presents her description and emphasizes her actions to demonstrate that in spite of extreme poverty, the woman is strong-minded and determined till the end. Indeed, Marquez is able to create characters who surprise the reader by their real nature and how they deal with explicit problems of the society on the whole Latin American continent.
“ God damn it, he shouted, either them or me, he shouted, and it was them, because before dawn he ordered them to put the children on a barge loaded with cement, take them singing to the limits of the territorial waters, blow them up with a dynamic charge without giving them time to suffer as they kept singing, and when the three officers who carried out the crime came to attention before him with news general sir that his order had been carried out, he promoted them two grades and decorated them with the medal of loyalty, but then he had them shot as common criminals because there were orders that can be given but cannot be carried out, God damn it, poor children” (Marquez).
This horrifying description of an act of cruelty serves as an excellent example of stylistic techniques that were used by Marquez. The shocking impact on the reader is increased by the shift in the narrative point of view from the general to third-person narration, then to the officers, and again back to the general.
According to one of the critics, Pelayo, Marquez’s short stories have three things in common: fragmentation of narrative time, the subjectivity of plot, and its ambiguity (Pelayo 71). Another short story “Tuesday Siesta” is a vivid example of these characteristics. The author depicts a woman and her daughter wearing mourning clothes and sitting in the third class section of a train. The ambiguous introduction does not provide any explanation and details about their past. Nevertheless, the flashback tells that the woman and her daughter are going to visit a nameless town to bring flowers to the tomb of her son who was previously killed in a robbery. The end of the story is also left open for various interpretations. Significantly, Marquez employs the fragmented type of narrative to arouse the reader’s curiosity and interest.
In addition to the particular narrative technique, Gabriel Garcia Marquez employs magical realism as an effective literary technique for presenting the realities and problems of his society. In spite of the fact that magical realism has been applied by numerous writers, Marques employs it in a unique way: he combines this technique with literary devices, which makes his works more remarkable and believable. Besides, the author used to exaggerate the extraordinary phenomena that were deeply rooted in Latin American history and culture. For that reason, every magical element of his works serves as a hidden reference to the social and political realities of the Latin American continent. The short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a good example of magical realism because it has all elements of this technique, including having a magical element while being reality based and a deeper meaning beyond the surface. In general, the story narrates about an angel who falls on Earth due to a violent storm. When the creature is found by Elisenda and Pelayo, they are surprised but not shocked, and the neighbor also adds, “He's an angel," she told them. "He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down" (Marquez). Apparently, the angel is not considered as something supernatural but merely as a foreigner different from the rest of the society. Disgusted by the angel’s appearance, people showed the creature no compassion, and even instead, Pelayo and Elisenda took money for showing him. Marquez wanted to demonstrate the cruelty and ignorance of the society, and its changing preferences and demands. However, its impact on each personality is undeniable and inevitable. On the surface, magical realism resembles an amusing fairy tale; however, the stories’ interpretations reveal serious topics and problems that are encountered in the society of Latin America.
Among the most common themes and problem of Latin American society that are depicted by Marquez in his literary works are the themes of economic disparity, violence, and social injustice. As a rule, they focus on one character with his problems, dreams, and reality, but he lives within the society and has to obey its rules. In the short story “Big Mama’s Funeral,” Marquez created a character, Mama Grande, who represents the prevalent matriarchal system of Latin America. Big Mama is described by Marquez in the exaggerated terms characteristic of the author’s magical realism, “ no person who lived in a house had any property rights other than those which pertained to the house itself, since the land belonged to Big Mama, and the rent was paid to her, just as the government had to pay her for the use the citizens made of the streets” (Marquez).The theme of “Big Mama’s funeral” is the enormous power and unlimited influence of the Latin American landed oligarchy. However, Marquez does not attack on such landowners for various manipulations, the writer ridicules and mocks them. This satire is written without defiance or aggressiveness, but the reader does not forget its primary goal.
In his another piece of fiction, “The autumn of the Patriarch,” the author explores the theme of absolute power and narrates about a horrible dictator, “the presidential guard who with great pleasure and great honor carried out fierce orders that no one should escape alive from the meeting where treason was being hatched” (Marquez). In another short story, “One of These Days,” the author also returns to the theme of political and military power. The author emphasizes the fact that violence and despair are integral parts of the entire story and, generally, of the politics in Latin America. However, Marquez presents a situation, in which it becomes clear that any person despite his background tries to take advantage of his position and power. The dentist becomes similar to Mayor because he wants to punish him as he can and inflict pain on the man. Besides, Marquez wanted to demonstrate that ordinary people were of little importance in Latin America, and no social and political changes will take place.
Works cited
Márquez, Gabriel García. Innocent Eréndira, and Other Stories. New York: Harper & Row, 1978. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
Márquez, Gabriel García. The Autumn of the Patriarch. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
Pelayo, Rubén. Gabriel García Márquez: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001. Print.
