Themes

What is reality? The way Marquez writes, weaving together elements of harsh reality and fantastic magic, makes the reader question what is really happening to the characters in the story. In their world, the ghosts, potions, and flying carpets seem commonplace, but the reader is often left wondering, "Did that just really happen?" The supernatural events in the book do present the question of what is reality and how do we cope with what we see life as. The embrace of solitude appears in the novel as one method of dealing with reality. When Jose Arcadio Buendia fails to succeed in his lofty scientific dreams and begins to grow old, he chooses to live alone, tied to a chestnut tree. When the Colonel returns from war, broken by the disaster of the revolution and the brutality of enemy forces, he retreats into his workshop to make little gold fishes. Jose Arcadio Segundo also chooses solitude in his old age, studying ancient manuscripts from an old gypsy family friend. When reality becomes too difficult to accept for the characters, they withdraw from their world, from their loved ones and old hobbies. That is what those who survive do anyway. The lives of the rest end just as tragically, often ending with an ominous, predestined death.

Why is history important? You may have noticed the repetition of names throughout the Buendia family tree. The men are named either Jose, Arcadio, Aureliano, or a combination of the three. The women born into the family are Ursula, Amaranta, or Remedios. Christening children with the name of a beloved ancestor is a family tradition in many cultures, but the author emphasizes the recycling of names to represent the tendency for history to repeat itself. The boys named Aureliano tend to be have reserved and pensive character traits while the Jose Arcadios have more outgoing personalities. Besides sharing personality traits, similarly named characters also make the same mistakes. Third generation Aureliano Jose fell in love with his aunt Amaranta, who was a virgin. Amaranta had had many previous struggles with love - the men she loved only had eyes for someone else and the man who loved her she purposely scorned as if to torture herself. She also rejected Aureliano's affection and remained rigid for the rest of her life, wearing a bandage on her hand as a symbol of her chastity. Years later however, another Aureliano is born, and he happens to have an aunt named Amaranta Ursula. Because this Aureliano was born out of wedlock and kept hush-hush by his strict grandmother, Amaranta was not aware of their common blood. She and Aureliano had an affair, a shadow of the forbidden love between the elder Aureliano and Amaranta. Their indulgences, however, lead to the birth of a son with a pig's tail. Their son, the last Aureliano, and the last Buendia, is eaten by ants after his parents more or less abandon him.