Having finished reading “One Hundred Years Of Solitude” it is now fairly easy to see the Marxist interpretations that there could be of the novel.

However, on perhaps the most basic level, it could be argued that One Hundred Years of Solitude is not a Marxist novel because it does not show the community sliding inexorably towards communism as Marx suggested. Infact, the town of Macondo collapses without having installed a communist system, suggesting that Marx’s idea that the world will eventually see the workers triumph over their bosses is incorrect.

On the other hand, it could be argued that when the town is eventually wiped out by a huge gust of wind, it represents the way in which communism will wipe away the old system of capitalism according to Marxist theory.  If this is the case, then Melquíades who prophesised not only the destruction of the town but the many generations of the Buendía family that would eventually lead to the town’s doom, may be viewed as a Karl Marx-like figure under this interpretation.

A strong opposing argument would be the fact that time seems to repeat itself in the book. Indeed, during the course of the book Ursula notes that, “time was not passing…it was turning in a circle.”  This suggests that Macondo is not progressing towards becoming a more egalitarian society.  Instead the mistakes of the past are being repeated. Although, Marx famously said that history repeats itself, “first as tragedy, then as farce,” it can be argued that this was a fairly flippant remark with the aim of belittling Napoleon I and his nephew Napoleon III, as it seems to be fairly contradictory to much of his other writings.

The personal journey of Aureliano Segundo is in many ways a microcosm of Marxist theory.  He goes from being a complete hedonist who buys champagne to fill swimming pools and use bank notes to wallpaper houses, to a dying man desperately selling raffle tickets in order to pay for his daughter’s education.　 When he realises that he is dying of throat cancer it becomes clear to him that he must do whatever he can to help those around him. Firstly, he works with his concubine in order to raise money to keep his wife happy, but this is not done selfishly, because he feels that he needs to do so in order to continue with arrangements that suit him, but because he genuinely feels sorry for her. The book details how at times he would have only bread and water to eat and drink in order to save money to give to Fernanda, his wife.  Secondly, he makes money by selling raffle tickets to help fund his daughter’s education, even when others in the town mock him for his desperation. This is perhaps the clearest demonstration of Marx’s principle of, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs,” anywhere in the book.

In addition to this, the fight of Colonel Aureliano Buendía displays the fight against the Church in a manner that Louis Althuisser would have been proud of.　 Althuisser viewed the religion as an ideological state apparatus and it appears that Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s Liberal Party agree.  This is also a clear demonstration of ordinary people rising up to fight against those in control, in this case the Conservative Party.

The workers’ uprising led by Jose Arcadio Segundo and the subsequnet massacre that occurs also demonstrates Marxist theory.  Firstly, the idea of workers rising up to tackle their bosses over poor wages and conditions is fairly central to Marxist theory. Secondly, the idea that the establishment will be prepared to use repressive state apparatuses (RSAs) in order to suppress expressions of this discontent, is clearly displayed here.  Thirdly, this shows the Marxist idea that firms will put profits before people.  Finally, it is worth noting that Benito Mussolini, a fascist dictator himself, is often quoted as having said that, “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.”  This section of the book clearly displays an unhealthy fusion of the state and business as striking workers are gunned down by state soldiers and official government agencies work to cover the massacre up. Since Marxism is the ideological polar opposite of fascism, it can be argued very strongly that the fight of Jose Arcadio Segundo contains Marxist themes.

The fact Gabriel Garcia Marquez holds socialist view himself suggests that many of the left wing interpretations in the novel may be reasonable to make. However, it is hugely important to be cautious when analysing the book, as the author has claimed that, “Most critics don’t realise that a novel like One Hundred Years Of Solitude is a bit of a joke, full of signals to close friends; and so, with some pre-ordained right to pontificate they take on the responsibility of decoding the book and risk making terrible fools of themselves.”