North and South 477meet the challenges posed by political and economic
realities. Aureliano, the last survivor in Macondo,
opens Melquíades’s papers, which magically relate
the history of Macondo 100 years before it occurred.
Aureliano begins to read, turning each page, advanc-
ing toward the past, seeking his origin. As he finds
his beginning, and that of Macondo, a strong wind
begins to blow, sweeping away the town. Such
destruction implies that memory, presented here as
a memoir of a people written before the fact, can-
not offer salvation from the fatalistic forces that
have consistently eaten away at the fabric of Latin
American community. Moreover, it is in the exact
moment before Aureliano discovers the answer he
has been seeking—the true nature of his origins—
that the destructive winds prevail. That is to say, just
as Aureliano, society’s sole survivor, is about to have
revealed to him not only his beginning but also the
origin of his community as a whole, this moment of
revelation and its power to rescue an entire people
from a repetitious cycle of destruction are ripped
away. Memory fails to rescue a society from its inevi-
table fate. In broader terms, Latin American history,
doomed to repeat itself, cannot save a people who
fail to remember the pitfalls of the past.
Anne Massey
gaSkELL, ELizabETH North and
South (1854)
Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South contrasts life
in the agrarian south of England with the livelier,
more energetic way of life afforded in the manufac-
turing center of Milton-Northern, undoubtedly a
pseudonym for Manchester, the industrial capital of
19th-century England.
With this backdrop of regional and cultural
transition Gaskell introduces questions about soci-
ety and authority. She contrasts the typical “mar-
riage of convenience”—matches made for economic
advantage—with Margaret Hale’s dismissal of two
successful prospects without consulting her parents.
The Hales also question “justice” when hearing
from their son Frederick of the horrid treatment of
fellow sailors at the hands of their captain. Because
of Frederick’s intervening for the men, the captain
places Frederick adrift. Authorities label the incident
a “mutiny”; Frederick would be hanged if he were to
return to English soil. How can justice prevail when
loyal subjects cannot receive a fair hearing?
Similarly, Gaskell raises questions about the
justice of the factory system and its operation under
the principles of “supply and demand.” Wages are
kept low, and workers can barely survive. Again,
Margaret Hale raises difficult questions about what
owners owe workers and how the two groups might
cooperate for the benefit of all. Gaskell advocates a
greater sense of community between these groups,
which had traditionally been economically and
socially separated.
A revolutionary look at the elements of society,
North and South demonstrates the need for mutual
understanding to break the barriers of class and eco-
nomic disparity. Through the presence of a strong
female protagonist, Gaskell ultimately seeks to pre-
vent the kind of systemic abuses with which most
people of her day were all too familiar.
Anthony GrassoGender in North and South
Readers first encounter Margaret Hale in London
at the Hawley Street home of her Aunt Shaw and
cousin Edith as the family is preparing for the
latter’s marriage to Captain Lennox. One is led
to assume that only the traditional Victorian plot
complications will arise. However, once back home
in Helstone, a small agricultural community in the
south, Margaret is wooed by Henry Lennox, brother
of the captain and a successful attorney who has
come expressly to propose. She rejects him politely
but abruptly. Margaret’s action is surprising on at
least two counts: First, a young woman of 18 rejects
an excellent proposal; and, second, she does so with-
out parental consent or involvement and this notion
is anything but Victorian. Later the Hale family is
required to move to the industrial city of Milton-
Northern when Mr. Hale, a minister, struggles with
conscience over the autonomy of the church and
gives up his living. Once settled there Margaret is
placed in a similar situation when John Thornton,
a successful mill owner, proposes. Although she
and the Hales are considered economic and social
inferiors, and this offer would have been prized by
Victorian standards as an excellent match for her,