One Hundred Years of Solitude: a Masterpiece of Magical Realism

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' was first published on May 30, 1967, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In three and a half years, the book sold nearly one and a half million copies. When translations of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' were published, the novel garnered additional acclaim and respect; in the United States, it was chosen by Time magazine as one of the twelve best books of the year. Although difficult to read due to its literary technique, its appeal is that of a classic, one that bridges the worlds of academia and popular culture. As noted by several critics, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' was written in eighteen months, following a period in which Gabriel Garcia Marquez suffered from a writer's block. However, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' actually dates from the late 1940s, when Garcia Marquez was in his early twenties. 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' seemed as if using the cyclic form of time, in sections, with the invention of the legendary Macondo and Colonel Aureliano Buenda; and the repetition of events, images of magical realism, and elements of the underworld and the absurd; But suddenly, like pieces of a puzzle, everything was brought together and seemed to fit perfectly. Although Leaf Storm is chronologically the first to introduce Macondo's saga, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' includes the beginning and end of Macondo and his people, Alpha and Omega, Genesis and Apocalypse.

Plot of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'

It is the history of Macondo, a small town in an unknown region of South America, and the Buendia family, the founders of the city. The book follows the seven generations of Buondias and the rise and fall of Macondo. The patriarch of the family, Jose Arcadio Buendia, founded the city with his wife, Ursula Iguaran. Because Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran were cousins, they fear having pig-tailed babies; This fear will remain on the book. Jose Arcadio Buendia is a fearless, inquisitive man with a flair for exploration and science. He becomes engrossed in one scientific discovery after another and eventually loses his senses, forcing the townspeople to tie him to a tree. Both their strengths and weaknesses are displayed in the Buendia men throughout the novel, starting with their sons Jose Arcadio and Aureliano. Jose Arcadio has inherited his father's immense power and impulse; Aureliano has inherited her strong moral sense and her solitary intensity. As these two men go to their respective extremes, Jose Arcadio becomes the ultimate maniac and mysteriously dies after a land grab, with Aureliano one of the country's greatest and most infamous rebels during an extended period of civil war. Becomes. Macondo, once an innocent paradise, becomes acquainted with the outside world during a period of civil war. It is during this period that death and bloodshed first arrive at Macondo's doorstep, thanks to the fame of Colonel Aureliano Bendia that linked the city to the outside world. Unlike her husband, Ursula Iguaran is extremely practical and has a lot of common sense. She is energetic, determined and spends her life taking care of the family. Unfortunately none of the female Beaudias matches his patience, Amaranta, his daughter, is only resolute in personal bitterness, while his great-granddaughters Renata Remedios and Amaranta Ursula have his energy, but none of his common sense. Not there. Family history and modernity falter as Macondo storms into the next generations' failure to hold on to the strength of character of their ancestors.

After the civil war, foreign imperialism comes with devastating effects. The white bourgeoisie arrives in Macondo and begins to usurp God's powers with his ability to change the weather and water flow. They set up a banana plantation that exploits the residents of Macondo, when the workers organize and strike, they are all systematically killed in a government-sponsored massacre. One of the Buendias, Jose Arcadio Segundo, was a major organizer and could not face the world after the event. The banana massacre makes a big difference for Macondo as well. The night of the massacre begins to rain and does not stop for about five years; Washing down the banana plantation and leaving Macondo in a state of desperation. The poor city loses its importance and its modernity, since then, the city exists in a state of regression. For Budias as well, the rains indicate a faster pace of their downward spiral. Older family members are lost in nostalgia; The little ones are lost in adultery and solitary isolation. As soon as the city is abandoned, the last members of the family succumb to the will of incest and give birth to a pig-tailed child. At the end of the book, it is revealed that Bundias' history has been ordained from the beginning and that he will never have a second chance.

Relativity of Civilization

'One Hundred Years of Solitude' can be read as an allegory of Colombian history, with the book's hundred years of solitude standing in for hundreds of years of the country's past. Several events in the novel, such as the Buendia family's arrival in Macondo and the founding of a city, military conflicts between the Liberal and Conservative parties, the expansion of railways to link colonial settlements, and the American Fruit Company's hegemony over Colombian production, are echoed. The Most Important Events of the Colombian Nation. At first, the Marquez depicts a civilization that appears as the city reverses its course, falling into disrepair caused by the repetitive destruction of civil wars and the stagnation of local innovation. Therefore, the novel suggests that the progress of civilization is a futile illusion.

As the novel progresses, Macondo makes peace with itself as a city not completely isolated from the rest of society, and its measured embrace of outside influence allows it to flourish for a while: new residents. New facilities become commonplace, and the economy starts booming as industry arrives. However, these developments always come at a cost. For example, when the Colombian government sends a magistrate to rule over Macondo, Jose Arcadio Buendia pacts with him to maintain some of the freedoms that Macondo was accustomed to. However, the introduction of outside politics brings discord in their peaceful town as political parties move out of town and lead to decades of fruitless civil war. In addition, with the introduction of the railroad came the arrival of 'gringos' who seek a way to profit from the land, including Mr. Herbert, who sees bananas as a new investment opportunity, something that the people of Macondo do. Didn't know they could export. To develop their economy. While the city and its economy grew with the arrival of the American Fruit Company, the people of Macondo see the arrival of these newcomers as a challenge to their way of life, as the presence of newcomers increased gambling, alcoholism and prostitution. Is. Worse, the people of Macondo rely on the work provided by the plantations, the business that brings in an influx of new residents, and the imported goods that begin to flood the city. Eventually, when Jose Arcadio joins the workers to fight for their rights and 3000 protesters are murdered, Macondo's people become so devoted to the fruit company that they refuse to believe. That the massacre actually took place. When the weather turns bad and the American fruit company evacuates Macondo, workers leave, imported goods stop coming in, and there isn't enough work for everyone, the economy collapses, causing Macondo's boom. Falls from. Although history is often depicted as a continuous progression, Marquez makes the point in this novel that many events in history repeat themselves or regress rather than continually improve. By the end of the novel the town of Macondo has fallen into disrepair and abandonment, and the town is eventually completely destroyed by a storm, bringing it back to wilderness, as the Buendia family tries to develop the town. This shows that progress is an illusion and that all civilizations are bound to eventually collapse.

The Main Themes in the Fiction

• Solitude

The word 'solitude' appears on almost every page of this novel. The main theme of the novel, as the title suggests, is solitude. Each character has its own special form of solitude. Solitude here is not defined as solitude, but as a destined solitude by space or some neurotic passion. In fact, the danger of being marked by solitude is its effect on others. 'If you have to be mad, please go crazy yourself!' Ursula tells her husband. One form of solitude is that of insanity the first being Jose Arcadio's solitude tied to a tree, speaking a foreign language, and lost in thought. However, the ultimate expression of solitude is Colonel Aureliano's achievement of absolute power, an 'inner coldness that broke his bones'. The saddest expression of solitude is perhaps the last.

• Love and Passion

Loving individuals suffering from solitude is not a pleasant experience for those involved in the novel. The greatest symbol of doomed love is Remedios the Beauty, whoever follows him dies. Often the search for the beloved takes the form of writing. Love poems and letters are rarely sent. Rather, they accumulate in the bottom of the trunks and then eventually set on fire. Chasing can lead to enmity between siblings and can lead to the death of the innocent. In the end, the only Bundia child 'born out of love' kills its mother, is eaten by ants, and ends the novel's world.

• Fate and Chance

The story is much like the classic tragedy Oedipus Rex where the attempt to stop the prophecy guarantees its fulfillment. In a link with another seminal Western text, the fate of the women in the novel is the fate of Eve. They endure the pain of birth, knowing in advance that their children will be dictators, and will eventually have a pig's tail. Ursula's attempt to avoid running into this fate is not only sidelined, but her efforts lead to her family's eviction from the house under the shadow of a murder. Thus begins the cycle of violence, incest, and reproduction. It is mentioned in the greatest declaration of fate in the novel, Epigraph of the Manuscript of Melquiades 'The first line is tied to a tree and the last being eaten by ants'.

In conclusion, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is written from the third-person omniscient point of view. The narrator in the novel is omniscient and anonymous. The story focuses on the life of Buendias. Sometimes, the narrator uses realistic details to show us the world through the eyes of one of the characters.