Gabriel Garca Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude is a historical novel about the secluded town of Macando. It also focuses on the Buendias, the family that established the town. Only when visiting gypsies came into town did they have any contact with the outside world. The arrival of the gypsies brought with them new inventions such as ice and telescopes. Throughout the novel, José Arcadio Buendía begins to show his character traits such as his recklessness and curiosity. These traits were passed down by his ancestor. Jose Arcadio, José Arcadio Buendía older son, acquire his ill-heartiness and strength. Aureliano, the youngest child, obtain the power to focus intensely. Over time, the village begins to change and expands their connections with neighboring towns and villages in the area.
In time, civil war begins, introducing brutality and demise to the pleasant state of Macondo. Aureliano, the leader of the Liberal rebels, obtains a reputation as Colonel Aureliano Buendía. Over time the village of Macondo changed from a magical and protected place to a place that is extremely connected with the outside world due to Colonel Buendia. The government changed multiple times during and after war. Arcadio inevitably takes control of the government which ends in his death. The government goes through a momentary peace with the new appointed mayor, but it does not last. Another civil war breaks out, which results in a peace treaty. Throughout the story, the Buendias experience love, war, and additional conflict, which eventually guides the village to its ultimate fate. Its fate is to be an exclusive, alienated island. At the ending of the book, the last Buenda interprets a series of ancient prophecies and discovers that everything has been foretold: the community and its residents have just been living out a predetermined cycle, complete with tremendous grandeur and heartbreaking misery.
“[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.”
This quote is important because Aureliano comes to the realization that he will never leave the island. The prophecies portended the downfall of his family. No matter how he decides to change the outcome, it will always end the same way. In this quote, he describes Macodo as the city of mirrors which leaves the mind to wonder. Aureliano realized that everything he was looking at or imagining happening around him has been looking back at him. He sees a reflection of his future even though his memory will fade away once he finishes reading the prophecies. So what id Macondo never existed. It was a place described in writing, but never existed in reality. So was this all in his imagination? This also builds off of the concept of human isolation. The Buendias spent most of their lives with each other. The moment they decided to leave their comfort zone, madness and chaos break out among the people within the village. Is the other building of the idea that staying ones safe space better for them? Or is it better for people to leave that zone?