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Prostitution is the oldest and most abhorred business in the World. Yet,
despite the surrounding stigma, it continues to flourish not only in real life, but also
as a tool to authors. Both Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes, authors of
One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Death of Artemio Cruz respectively, use
prostitution in their story lines as a literary tool to create change and characters
while simultaneously commenting on the irony of Catholicism in Latin America.
Catholic culture in Latin America, with decided values of celibacy before marriage
and monogamy after, is a prevalent part of society that dictates much of the current
and former political and social atmosphere. In One Hundred Years of Solitude,
Márquez uses prostitutes to further the procreation of his main characters in the
heavily Catholic Latin America societies. Fuentes also uses prostitutes to comment
on the nature of married life for his main character, Artemio Cruz. In both novels,
the author’s use characters that are in relationships with prostitutes to comment on
the irony of Catholicism in Latin America, though the individual implications of the
Prostitutes and many of the main characters’, such as Aureliano José and
Colonel Aureliano Buendía, relationships play a vital role within Márquez’s novel
and contrast richly against the idea of Catholic Latin America. Márquez uses the
relationship between prostitute and client in his novel to further the illegitimate
familial line of his respectable main characters, the Buendías. The clearest example
comes from the second generation of the Buendías with the brothers of Colonel
Aureliano Buendía and José Arcadio. They both end up siring children with the local
prostitute,
Pilar
Ternera.
José
Arcadio’s
illegitimate
son
becomes
the
continuation
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of the Buendía line. The reason that the brothers’ relationships with Pilar Ternera is
important within the novel is that both of the brothers end up marrying, and in
neither case do they end up having children. This simple move by Márquez shows
family in sharp contrast to the stereotypical Catholic Latin America by saying that
Márquez continues by exponentially expanding this irony out beyond one
simple example. In the novel, Márquez also uses the local population to further
contrast the idea of stereotypical Catholic society by using Colonel Aureliano
Buendía, not as someone who pays for prostitutes, but as a stud himself. Márquez
writes that during the Civil War in Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s country, many
mothers would send their daughters to leading men, thinking that they possessed
better genetics. Marquez writes that many nights the Colonel would come to his
tent to find beautiful women waiting for him. Though Marquez doesn’t tell how
many nights the Colonel found women waiting, he does write that a total of 17
illegitimate “Aurelianos” come to the Buendía household. This again is a clever
device used by Márquez to comment on Catholic society, as the Church stipulates
that members should practice celibacy until after marriage, and these mothers (who
are most likely practitioners) are sending their daughters to be impregnated by
military leaders. This type of action directly contradicts the stated values of the
Church and offers a second way that Márquez uses his novel to comment on the
Catholic Church.
While Márquez uses prostitutes to comment on the irony of legitimate
relationships
in
Latin
America,
Fuentes
uses
The
Death
of
Artemio
Cruz
as
a
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commentary on how even relationships that are legitimate by Catholic standards
are not based in some of the most basic assumptions behind a modern western
marriage. In the novel, Artemio is married to Catalina Cruz, daughter of Don
Gamaliel Bernal. Artemio and Catalina wed in the style of a legitimate Catholic
marriage, but even in this legitimate relationship, the faint specter of prostitution
remains. The reason that Catalina marries Artemio is due to Don Gamaliel Bernal
selling Cataina as part of a deal with Artemio, who would further the empire built in
exchange for his daughter. This deal, while not explicitly discussed between Don
Gamaliel Bernal and Artemio is clear from a passage on page 46 where Don Gamaliel
Bernal explains to Catalina, “This man can save us. That’s all that matters…” and
continues on the same page in his explanation by saying, ”Think about your father’s
final years. Don’t I deserve a little [peace].” This quote clearly shows the contexts of
Artemio and Catalina’s marriage, one not based in love, but rather based on a trade,
a sale of Catalina for the comfort of Don Gamaliel Bernal.
Artemio’s relationship with his wife is anything but the stereotypical
relationship because, simply, there is no relationship. Artemio disgusts Catalina,
even from the first time they are together. Catalina describes her feelings on page
47, she is disgusted with him for the disgrace that he tarnished their good name
with. She every night is conquered, but this only reaffirms her conviction in
conquering him during the day by continuing with her acid and distance to the end
of her life. This is one of the main reasons that Artemio ends up turning to high-‐
class prostitutes for attention. Even in his relationships with prostitutes, Artemio
relationships is illegitimate and fake. The high-‐class prostitute on his arm, his lack
of a relationship with his wife; everything shares a similar quality of just being a
façade for the public. Fuentes uses these relationships, these prostitutes, to contrast
Catholic society of purity, piousness, and commitment with what Artemio does in
his life.
Fuentes further uses Artemio’s relationships to comment on his perceived
nature of Mexican society. Artemio is constantly with prostitutes and other women
in the novel. Fuentes uses this norm to comment on how this is actually part of
Mexican society. As the historian Frank McLynn writes, “Despite the Catholic
ceremony, the teachings of the Church had little weight: marriage was certainly not
about the ‘allayment of mutual concupiscence’ and it was not even about the
procreation of children; still less was it concerned with ‘love’… [what] would not
have remotely imagined that marriage committed [one] to sexual fidelity; nor would
Fuentes consistently and constantly shows this conclusion by Mclynn throughout
his novel through Artemio’s frequent relationships with prostitutes. Both, Márquez
and Fuentes use their novels in their own way, to accomplish the goal of creating a
stark contrast between the stereotypical Catholic society in Latin America and the
Márquez and Fuentes use their books to comment on the very similar irony
of Latin America Catholic Culture. Márquez uses his characters’ relationships with
prostitutes to promote an irony between the stereotypical Latin American culture
and
the
culture
that
Márquez
perceives.
Márquez’s’
critique
differs
in
respect
to
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Fuentes’, as Márquez’s technique is much subtler. Márquez will never say outright
that prostitutes are the only way families continue, or that every family has a past
with a prostitute, however, he will delicately lay a trail for the reader to follow.
Márquez presents his critique in a way that makes the reader look deeper than just
the surface print. Marquez’s use of prostitution, though subtle, is effectively used
along with many different literary devices to get his points across.
Fuentes, on the other hand, is very blunt and very direct in his approach.
Fuentes wants the reader to make no mistake or to forget that Artemio Cruz is
constantly with prostitutes. Fuentes explains every little detail to the reader:
describing every gritty detail, recapping events that are even unknown to Artemio
to make sure that the reader has understood the author’s point.
It is clear that the authors use relationships with prostitutes to comment on
Catholicism in Latin America, though the way in which each author does this is
unique. In their novels, Márquez and Fuentes effectively contrast conventional Latin
American Catholic society, a society filled with monogamy and celibacy, with how
they viewed their individual societies via the main character’s relationships with
prostitutes. Márquez may have used subtler technique, and Fuentes may have used
a stronger approach, but in the end, they both achieve their goals effectively. In final
conclusion, Márquez and Fuentes effectively and potently accomplish their goals of
contrasting conventional Latin American Catholic society with the true society that
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Bibliography:
McLynn, Frank. Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution. New York,