One Hundred Years of Solitude
Overview: The rise and fall of a small town Macondo together with the Buendia
Family
1. Jose Arcadio Buendia founded the town with his wife Ursula and there sprung up generations of the Buendia
2. The town Macondo, from a rigid, filthy town, through time propagated, modernized and have become acquainted to the outside world
3. In between all the prosperity, growth, improvement, war and calamities that will happen, the town and the family will come to its downfall and will all end
I. FIRST ELEMENT (Theme)
A. Time Moves in Circles and Cycles
1. Repetition of the names of characters like Aureliano, Jose Arcadio, Amaranta which makes the novel confusing
2. Reoccurrence of events
3. The family lost their chance to redeem themselves
B. Modernity is not at all times Good
1. Macondo is transformed into a modern town which slowly destroys it
2. Modernity instead of helping improve the lives of people only makes the matters worst (Banana Company)
3. The Banana plantation exploits the residents of Macondo
II. SECOND ELEMENT (Symbolism)
A. Five years of Rain - - - which symbolizes the near end of the town and the Buendia family
1. Rain begins the night after the Banana Massacre and continues for five years
2. Rain cleans the town leaving Macondo in a state of depression
3. It washes away modernity leaving the town to its original state except that after the rain, people leave the town
B. Death of the baby - - - which symbolizes the lost of all ethics and the downfall of society
1. The baby, the last generation of the Buendia, was left eaten by ants
2. Aureliano, the illegitimate son of Renata and Mauricio, was to busy solving the Manuscripts given by Melquiades that he forgot about the baby
III. CONCLUSION
A. Marquez’s novel depicts humankinds comedies, faults and tragedies
B. People are not always progressing
C. Too much
solitude can be destructive to both the society and individuals
D. Modernization is meaningless without proper ethics and if it doesn’t help people get better with their lives
E. Time passes whether we like it or not, we have to make the best out of every second
F. The novel is full of symbols, themes and life lessons on which people of all ages could relate to