CONNECTION JOURNAL

One of the main themes in One Hundred Years of Solitude is identity and the search for it. We can connect this with another work of literature. Identity is major theme in Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes as well. In Don Quixote, Don Quixote creates his own identity and believes he is truly what he imagines he is. He is so convinced that he is a knight, that he convinces others he is a knight. He applies to what he has read in fictious books to the real world, and that helps him develop his identity. Since he thinks he is a knight he forces himself to play and follow that role.
In One Hundred Years of Solitude each persons' identity is based on the ancestor who has the same name. For example all of the Jose Arcadios have to be strong and tall. While all the Aurelianos have to be passive and engaged in Melquiades' parchements. The family already knew that they had to act the way the other Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos acted, it was expected of them. In other words each character is bound to an identity, they do not have their own. The author illustrates this by giving the characters the same names. Another example can be Amaranta Ursula, the author says that she is small just like Ursula. Amaranta Ursula has that name already and she has to act like Ursula, depriving Amaranta Ursula of her own identity.
The only difference between Don Quixote and One Hundred Years of Solitude is that in Don Quixote, Don Quixote gives himself his title. Whereas in One Hundred Years of Solitude the characters titles are given to them. All in all the connection is pretty solid. Don Quixote and all the characters in One Hundred Years of Solitude have a title they have to fulfill. They fulfill it and by doing that they are deprived of their own natural identity. We never truly find out what each character would have been like if they did not have designated titles.
One Hundred Years of Solitude can also be connected with The Fall of the House of Usher. This may sound a little weird, because The Fall of the House of Usher is a "horror story" and One Hundred Years of Solitude is not. The connection traces back to identity. In The Fall of the House of Usher, Roderick Usher's identity is that of his sister. In a sense their identities are overlapping and the same but they are two different people. They are overlapping because Roderick sleeps right above the vault where Madeline is in and he dies on top of Madeline. The two characters act the same and even look the same, even though one is a male and one is a female. Like in One Hundred Years of Solitude, the characters all act and look like their family members, but of course are different people. Roderick and Madeline have the same identity and the characters in One Hundred Years of Solitude have the same identity of their family members.