Angela Pham Mr. Kakes World Lit/Writ 8 October 2012 Big Mama’s Funeral Big Mama is a rather large person, giving her the name Big Mama. She is considered to be a mom to the people of Macondo because she provides them with everything they need and she is a queenlike figure to them. Big Mama’s Funeral by Gabriel Garcia Márquez is about a woman given the title of Big Mama. She is the leader of Macondo. Marquez uses her to represent corruption on government and in this case, the government she runs. Big Mama is a corrupt leader. Then, her funeral became a festival and celebration of her death and everyone who came did not care that she had just passed away because she was a corrupt leader and they are happy that she has passed away. It is humorous that there is entertainment and fun at a funeral. This is an instance of dark humor because instead they have entertainment and food carts at a funeral and are not mourning. They do not really care that she died. The “Duke of Marlborough... overcame their centenarian hatred of Big Mama... and came to her funeral to ask for... the payment of their veterans’ pensions which they had been waiting for for sixty years” (212). They came to the funeral and asked for the money Big Mama owed them after 60 years. They know that she has just died. That is the perfect time to collect the money she owes them because she cannot prevent them from getting their money. They have hated her for over a hundred years and decide that the day of her funeral is the day to finally get their money back. After the funeral, “No one noticed that the nephews, godchildren... of Big Mama closed the doors as soon as the body was taken out, …pulled the nails out of the planks, and dug up the foundations to divide up the house” (214). The family of Big Mama and everyone that is considered to be family to her do not even care about her and as soon as her body was out of the house they start to tear apart the house. Her nephews are ecstatic that she has died because now they can move on and forget about her. They are happy instead of sad. Márquez uses dark humor to show
