Power is not given yet it is transferred from
one source to another. Ursula Buendia
acquires her power from her husband in a series of events. First Jose Arcadio I Buendia goes senile and
the role as head of the family and the power that comes with this role is
transferred to Ursula. When Jose dies,
Ursula also takes on the role as the moneymaker of the family. By selling candy animals Ursula supports her
family even though adding this to her already full list of duties made it so
that she "did not have a moment's rest". This makes her an indispensable part of the
household and helps define the amount of power she has received.
Ursula uses this power that she received to
come out on top of many situations that might not have turned out so well
without her guidance. There are at least
two times when the state of Mocondo is in a horrible condition. Ursula prevails through the seemingly never
ending rainstorm and the Banana Company massacre. Also during these events she continues to
work in the house as best she can when many other Mocondo villagers just become
idle. Ursula ses her personal power when
her 17 grandsons are executed and yet she remains calm and collected. Ursula not only uses her power to help
herself she maintains it for nearly a century.
Incredibly Ursula
is able to maintain her power for more then three generations after the death
of Jose. Ursula accomplishes this not by
making decisions that are always necessarily agreed upon but by standing by her
decisions and not wavering. When money
is found in a statue of Saint Joseph, whose owner is unknown, Ursula decides to
bury the money, which she believes, is not rightfully theirs. Her children question her for years about
where the money is but she never divulges the answer. Even when she is about to die she refuses to
tell her grandson whose attempts "were useless once more". By not giving in Ursula sends a clear message
that she is strong and this strength allows her to maintain her power for most
of her life time.
Ursula's power
begins to diminish when she is about one hundred years old and go blind. In an attempt to hold on to her power and not
seem useless, Ursula doesn't tell a soul and actually succeeds in deceiving her
own family. She accomplishes this by
using her memory of smells and sounds "which saved her finally from the
shame of defeat." Ursula is even
able to find things people have lost in the house by remembering where that
person strayed from their everyday routine and looking there. Ursula is unable to keep up this charade
forever and eventually loses her power as head of the family.
During the
rainstorm Ursula becomes senile and begins to lose track of time. After four years the storm subsides and the
winds shift returning Ursula to her normal state. This doesn't last long because the winds
shift again and "She never got her reason back". Ursula soon died and the power she had
received, used, maintained and finally lost was transferred to Fernanda.
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