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Since the beginning of time, man has clung to the notion that there exists some external force that determines his destiny. In Grecian times, the epic poet Hesoid wrote of a triumvirate of mythological Fates that supposedly gave "to men at birth evil and good to have". In other words, these three granted man his destiny. Clotho "spun the thread of life", Lacheis distributed the lots, and Atropos with his "abhorred shears" would "cut the thread at death"(Hamilton-43). All efforts to avoid the Fates were in vain. In every case their sentence would eventually be delivered. And it appears that once the Fates' ballot had been cast, the characters in Greek myths had no chance for redemption. One must wonder if man, like the Greeks portrayed, has any real choice in determining how he lives. That issue of choice arises when comparing Gabriel Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and Yasunari Kawabata's Thousand Cranes. The men in Yasunari Kawabata's Thousand Cranes and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude forever seem to be repeating the lives of their male ancestors. These cycles reveal that man as a being, just like the mythological heros, has no true choice in the ultimate course his life will take. The male characters' personal development is overshadowed by the identity of their ancestors. Clotho, it appears, has recycled some of her spinning thread. The new male generations, superficially, are perceived to be woven of like design. Kikuji Mitani and the male Buendia's face communities that remember their ancestors. As a result, their unique communities inadvertently compare the actions of the sons to their respective fathers', having recognized the apparent similarities. Eclipsed by his father's aura, within his village, Kikuji's identity has no separate definition. To most townsfolk, like those at Chikako's tea ceremony, Kikuji exists as "Old Mr. Mitani's son"(16). He and his father are therefore viewed as essentially the same person. Kikuji can take no action to change the village's preformed perception. In contrast, The Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios have been set into a self that their name, not their upbringing, dictate. Ursula, after many years drew some conclusions about "the insistent repetition of names"(106) within the Buendia family. While the eldest Jose Arcadio Buendia was slightly crazy, his raw maleness is transferred to all the Jose Arcadio's that follow. They tended to be "impulsive and enterprising" though "marked with a tragic sign"(186).
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