One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
As the matriarch of the family, Ursula accompanied generations of children as they grew up. The book primarily focuses on describing the destinies of these children, and it seems that Ursula's story is rarely at the center. However, I believe Ursula also has her unique sense of loneliness. After her children all grew up and became adults, very few of them returned to care for this elderly matriarch. Her husband, upon realizing that he was not understood by others, chose to permanently tie his fate to that chestnut tree.
Her first-generation child, Colonel Aureliano Buendía, who became the leader of the Liberal Party, upon returning to Macondo, which was now a conservative territory, had soldiers form a protective circle around him, even preventing his own mother Ursula from getting close. When Ursula learned that her son, as the leader of the Liberals, was to execute the beloved conservative mayor of Macondo, José Raquél Moncada, she protested alongside the village mothers, but ultimately, Moncada's death was inevitable. This also highlights how pointless political dissent and war can be, to the extent that it pits children against their own mothers.
Many mothers are like Ursula. The role of a mother is always selfless and great. They seek no reward, and no matter what their children grow up to become, in their mothers' eyes, they remain children.
“You have taken this horrible game very seriously and you have done well because you are duty,” she told the members of the court. “But don’t forget that as long as God gives us life we will still be mothers and no matter how revolutionary you may be, we have the right to pull down your pants and give you a whipping at the first sign of disrespect.”
-- P81, One Hundred Years of Solitude