‘One Hundred Years of Solitude‘ dispenses insight from the perspective of different characters. These quotes add a layer of depth to the story and enhance the overall tapestry of the literary work.
Magical Realism
It was as if God had decided to put to the test every capacity for surprise and was keeping the inhabitants of Macondo in a permanent alternation between excitement and disappointment, doubt and revelation, to such an extreme that no one knew for certain where the limits of reality lay. It was an intricate stew of truths and mirages that convulsed the ghost of José Arcadio Buendía with impatience and made him wander all through the house even in broad daylight.
The phonograph, the telephone, and the electric lighting are just a few of the many new technologies that have inundated Macondo since the introduction of the railroad at the time this passage was written. The residents of Macondo have no faith in technical advancements yet accept flying carpets and miraculous rains of yellow flowers as natural occurrences. Consequently, this passage serves as a pivotal point for Macondo.
In contrast to their former belief that the magical and mythological realm was the only reality, the people of Macondo now have to accept both science and magic. The ghost of José Arcadio Buendía, who is much more unbelievable to modern eyes than any technological invention, is one of the persons who refuse to believe in the telephone, therefore García Márquez uses humor in this passage.
I don’t need cards to tell the future of a Buendía
Meme seeks Pilar’s advice after meeting Mauricio Babilonia because she is well-known for her astute tarot card readings. When Meme comes, Pilar recognizes her and quickly tells her what she feels.
Fate
Time put things in their place
José Arcadio Buendia and Colonel Aureliano Buendia take care of Amaranta and the house after Úrsula departs for Macondo to find José Arcadio and bring him home. They are assisted by Pilar and a nurse. They go back to their abandoned alchemy endeavor after a while. This also suggests how fate played a part in the Buendía family’s history.
Aureliano (II)] had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth
Aureliano (II) is reading Melquíades’ writings in the novel’s last pages when he realizes he will never leave since the predictions predict the demise of his family; he has complete faith in the outcome that those prophecies foretell. One Hundred Years of Solitude’s mention of fate has led some critics to label it a pessimistic book since it appears to imply that people have no free will and that all of their acts are predetermined.
When the pirate Sir Francis Drake attacked Riohacha in the sixteenth century, Úrsula Iguarán’s great-great-grandmother became so frightened with the ringing of alarm bells and the firing of cannons that she lost control of her nerves and sat down on a lighted stove. The burns changed her into a useless wife for the rest of her days. [Her husband] spent half the value of his store on medicines and pastimes in an attempt to alleviate her terror. Finally, he sold the business and took the family to live far from the sea in a settlement of peaceful Indians. [ . . . ] Several centuries later the great-great-grandson of the native-born planter married the great-great-granddaughter of the Aragonese. Therefore, every time that Úrsula became exercised over her husband’s mad ideas, she would leap back over three hundred years of fate and curse the day that Sir Francis Drake had attacked Riohacha
There is a philosophy known as determinism that, in essence, is predicated on the notion that everything that occurs is predetermined to occur (all events have been predetermined already). This philosophy was embodied in the prophecy of Melquíades. The Buendía family was destined to repeat the mistakes of their forebears that were foretold in the gypsy texts. The members of the Buendía family, it appears, have very little free will — if any — and are portrayed by Márquez as characters in a story.
Cyclical Nature Of Life
Children inherit their parents’ madness
Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s excessive time spent in the lab alarms José Arcadio Buendía, but Úrsula dismisses him by pointing out their similarity. This cyclical nature is prevalent in the Buendía family. Descendants of José Arcadio Buendía take on the attributes of their ancestors, even though such attributes have led to their ruin.
It’s as if the world were repeating itself
As another instance of the circularity motif demonstrating how members of one Buendía generation are impacted by another, José Arcadio Segundo recognizes the political tension as he quits his job at the banana company to join the rebellious employees. Again, Márquez emphasizes the inherent cyclical nature of life in Macondo.
Love, Sex, and Incest
Love is a disease
Remedios Moscote is the youngest daughter of Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s lone foe, and when the colonel proclaims his love for her, his father is furious. Additionally, this relates to the Buendía family’s history of incestuous relationships.
Where you put your eye, you put your bullet
After a passionate romantic encounter, Pilar observes Colonel Aureliano Buendía, afterward known as Aureliano, toiling away at his dull task. She is asked by him why she is there. He accepts her sourly and commented that he’d “be good in war” before assuring her that their child will be named after him.
Pietro Crespi took the sewing basket from her lap and he told her, “We’ll get married next month.” Amaranta did not tremble at the contact with his icy hands. She withdrew hers like a timid little animal and went back to her work. “Don’t be simple, Crespi.” She smiled. “I wouldn’t marry you even if I were dead
The part of this paragraph when the narrator says that Pietro mistook “passion” with “love” is essential to comprehending the relationships in this book. He is not alone in this; many of the individuals in the book don’t appear to understand the distinction between arousal and potential for a committed relationship.
FAQs
How similar is One Hundred Years of Solitude to Love in the Time of Cholera?
In both of these volumes, the text is clear, full of poetic sentence agility, and each idea is comprehensive and placed precisely where it is needed. Therefore, there isn’t much of a change in style between these two books by the great author.
But the two novels’ subject matters are different. ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ covers both long-term human fates and more complex topics like society, its development, and eventual fall. Maximum magical realism is employed throughout the work. On the other hand, the story takes place over a shorter time in Love in the Time of Cholera and has a simpler plot
Who said “Everything is known” and what is the context behind the statement?
Aureliano reads a lot while he is alone to show that he is familiar with the books’ contents. He repeats this response whenever someone challenges his encyclopedic knowledge. This was because he was losing his memories, after years of fighting for the Liberal army.
What is the most famous quote from One Hundred Years of Solitude?
“It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.”
García Márquez uses this phrase ironically, given that Macondo and its inhabitants were nothing more than a dream or perception whose fate has already between preordained.
What is the opening quote of One Hundred Years of Solitude?
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
Many critics have ranked it to be one of the greatest opening book lines of all time. There is no genuine equal in terms of originality, vividness, and the sheer intensity with which Márquez’s first sentence drives you to put everything aside and read his book from cover to cover.
