Downfall of Two Microcosms in Midaq Alley & One Hundred Years of Solitude

In Midaq Alley

&

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Word Count: 1,488

Downfall of Two Microcosms

One Hundred Years of Solitude and Midaq Alley are two narratives that revolve around microcosms, threatened by modernization and trapped in a web of social and economic relationships. Both novels offer a lens through which all human history and human nature can be seen; a continuous, repeating cycle of time. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez brings to life a small town in an unidentified area in South America known as Macondo. Once an innocent paradise, this former Garden of Eden becomes acquainted and infected with many frightening aspects of civilization. In Midaq Alley, Naguib Mahfouz illustrates the struggle between old and new ways of life during a time of direct conflict, when the alley's residents were torn between their devotion to traditional practices, and their tendancy to leap headlong into Western-influenced modernization. In the social and economic context, both of these miniature universes are infested with moral corruption due to modernity and materialism, which eventually lead to the downfall of both microcosms.

Both societies are forced to respond to the combined promise and threat of modernity and materialism. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Macondo is transformed into a frighteningly modern town. In only a few years, Macondo goes from an archaic piece of land to a developed contemporary region through the intervention of technology, external intrusion and economic delinquency. Progress comes as a result of Jose Arcadio Buendia's obsession with change and extravagance. Gypsies arrive every year with outstanding new inventions like magnifying glasses, telescopes and ice. The train further advances Macondo by bringing in new technology such as movies, phonographs and more prostitutes. At first, the cutting-edge instruments and agricultural skills that arrive to Macondo make it a better place to live. After the civil war however, white, foreign businessmen organize a plantation which takes advantage of Macondo's residents. They trifle with the farming produce and the river. They even change the weather. Technological progress does not bring the townspeople the physical and material prospects they hope for. Instead, three thousand workers fall victim to moral corruption. "When the workers organize a strike, they are systematically killed in a government-sponsored massacre" (Millner, 2007). Eventually the plantation is washed away and Macondo is left in a state of hopelesness. The penurious town continually regresses and eventually ends in ruin because of moral corruption.

In Midaq Alley, Hussein, Mr. Kirsha's son, lives a life revolved around affluence and requiescence casting away Islamic customs and beliefs, disregarding his family and Allah. When the barber, Abbas, resists temptation from the world's opulence and sinful acts, Hussain cries, "Go and put your trust in God. You've never lived. What have you eaten? What have you drunk? What have you seen? Believe me, you haven't been born yet". (Mahfouz, 1992, p. 36). According to the profligate Hussein, it is ludicrous to place someone's fate in God's hands. He thinks an individual must pursue what he wants without God's help. From Hussein's dispostion, we see that he has broken free from old Muslim customs and has adopted a corrupt Western lifestyle. He symbolizes the Egyptian shift from tradition and ideals towards modernity and demoralization; a shift that many young Egyptians were experiencing at the time. Similar to Hussein, Hamida, an obstinate young woman, lusts after earthly possessions. She is extremely ambitious and seeks a higher status and material gain. While engaged to Abbas, she hears that an affluent businessman, Mr. Alwan, wants her hand in marriage. She instantly relinquishes her marital ties with Abbas, even though they proclaimed their love under Islamic oath. Hamida's mother, Umm Hamida, reprimands her for her acts, "Punishment for violating the Qur'an is harsh, you know.' 'I don't give a damn!' snarled the girl". (Mahfouz, 1992, p. 146). Hamida becomes morally corrupt because she is blinded by modernity and obsessed with materialism. She has only one goal - attaining a life of luxury and tranquility, making everything else irrelevant to her pursuits of happiness. Her unethical obsessions become her downfall; she becomes an unloved, demeaned prostitute.

Both works are salient portrayals of how moral corruption leads to the downfall of these two societies. Incest, prostitution, suicide, homosexuality, murder, pedophilia, stealing, and drug addiction are all prevalent. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, incest is Macondo's original sin. Seven generations of Buendias marry within the family since they are so disengaged from the world around them. Because of their incestuous relationships, a child is eventually born with a pig's tail. That child is the result of a love affair between Amaranta Ursula and her nephew Aureliano. Moral corruption is evident throughout the novel. Jose Arcadio, Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran's eldest son, is a physically built womanizer who spends his nights sleeping with various women. One of these women is Rebeca, who he seduces and then marries. An example of prostitution in the novel is seen in Pilar Ternera, a neighborhood prostitute, who sleeps with many young men and eventually works in a brothel. Suicide is also found in the novel. Pietri Crespi, an effeminate, emasculate Italian Pianola expert desires the love of both Rebeca and Amaranta. He is first heartbroken by Rebeca's hasty marriage to Jose Arcadio, and then heartbroken when Amaranta rejects him. He loses his sanity and commits suicide. Murder is yet another element of corruption present. Mauricio Babylonia, the mechanic who is in love with Renata Remedios, sneaks out one night to make lave to her. Renata's mother discovers their love affair, has the mechanic shot to death, and sends her daughter to a convent. Another example of murder is the death Jose Arcadio (II), the son of Arcadio, who returns to Macondo after going to Rome to become a Pope. When he arrives in Macondo, he discovers Ursula's buried fortune and invites four boys to share it with him. The boys kill him and steal the money. Finally, there is pedophilia. Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran's younger son, falls in love with the nine year-old Remedios Moscote, before she has even reached puberty. Macondo's citizens are physically and socially compromised and abnormal due to their morally corrupt behavior. Macondo is self destructing and it is only a matter of time before the entire town will die out. (Millner, 2007)

In Midaq Alley, Hamida, the daughter of Um Hamida, is an ambitious survivor who seeks every opportunity to escape the mind-numbing alley in the pursuit of love and material gain. She gradually turns to a life of crime when she realizes that her present life and efforts are futile. Unable to change her situation by acceptable means, she becomes a prostitute in order to improve her standard of living. She is lured to a nearby district by the pimp Ibrahim Faraj and ends up working as a prostitute. Kirsha, the café owner, is a homosexual pedophile involved in sexual misconduct, who indulges in young boys and drugs. He rejects his wife's pleas to turn away from veniality and justifies his illegal behavior with: "it gives peace to the mind, and comfort to life and apart from these it is an excellent aphrodisiac. I have my religion and you have yours." (Mahfouz, 1992, p. 46). Mr. Kirsha and his son Hussein are both more enticed by carnal and impure bliss than heavenly riches. They are heavy drinkers and suffer from serious drug addiction. Mr. Kirsha believes that his drinking and homosexuality are his life. When Mrs. Kirsha erupts at his evil-doings, he asks: "Do you want me to give up my whole life?" (Mahfouz, 1992, p. 77). Prostitution, homosexuality, alcoholism and drug addiction, corrupt lives and societies by breaking up the family unit; they are the downfall of society.

Whether we are ready or not, everything comes to an end, and someday we will too. Both writers intend to show that history repeats itself. History represents the ever-recurring cycle of time; that time is an endless repetition. The failure of the next generation to possess strong character leads societies and families to falter. Generations after generations make the same mistakes and give into moral corruption and greed. Technology and progress is useless unless accompanied by an improvement in ethics and a plan to breach the economic gap between people in order to provide some economic equality. Ursula shouted that it was "as if time had turned around and they were back at the beginning again." (Marquez, 1970). In One Hundred Years of Solitude, the Buendias and the town of Macondo live in regression from generation to another. The deterioration of town and family seems quite amusing at first, but quickly becomes catastrophic. Every newborn turns out very similar to their parents, however possessing some flaw, such as a pig's tail. People are not always progressing. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Naguib Mahfouz illuminate the ultimately meaningless pursuits of human life. In the end, the demise of the novel's characters is self-perpetuated. Within these novels lies the universal message about the consequences of the breakdown of the family unit, and the lack of proper purpose, vision or mission in life, which then affects the larger community and then society as a whole.

Bibliography:

Mahfouz, N. (1992). Midaq Alley. (T. Le Gassick, Trans.) Toronto/New York, Canada/United States of America: Anchor Books, Random House.

Marquez, G.G. (1970). One Hundred Years of Solitude. (G. Rabassa, Trans.) New York: Harper & Row.

Millner, C. "GradeSaver: ClassicNote: One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide - Character List." www.gradesaver.com. February 5, 2007. GradeSaver. February 5, 2007. .