It was only on reading the second half of One Hundred Years of Solitude I began to view time as the central protagonist of the novel beyond its characters. Through the vignettes offered of Macondo and its residents, chronological events are shown to lead into future happenings. This is shown in one example through two characters who are mistaken for another, Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo: “They were so much alike and so mischievous during childhood that not even Santa Sofía de la Piedad could tell them apart” the author states (Márquez 174). In my view, this mirrors the reader as the confused historian studying a fictitious family tree charted from the beginning of the book, as several names are repeated with the only difference being, as it is stated, “[w]hile the Aurelianos were withdrawn, but with lucid minds, the Jose Arcadios were impulsive and enterprising, but they were marked with a tragic sign” (174). This also reflects the cyclical nature of time in the sense that their traits, positive or negative, can be inherited by the offspring of the original characters which helps to comprise the hundred years of solitude of the estranged family.

At one point this is further reflected through Aureliano Segundo opening the door to his great-great grandfather’s study to find that “a familiar light entered that seemed accustomed to lighting the room every day and there was not the slightest trace of dust or cobwebs, with everything swept and clean, better swept and cleaner than on the day of the burial” (Márquez 175). At first glance, this is a suitably “magical” phenomenon for a room which has been left alone for quite some time. But greater, I think, is the sense that time has left the study of Melquíades and Jose Arcadoio untouched in a symbolic recognition by the author that, so long as the generations live on, time does not ruin what has already been wrought by previous—as well as future—generations; and this adds to the perspective that the story remains in a constant state of unfolding.

Time, the narrative shows time and time again, is just as enigmatic as it is cruel. At one point Rebeca, a former inhabitant of Macondo, is revealed after years of being forgotten by her fellow residents. “The squalid woman”—as she is described—“[had] two large eyes, still beautiful, in which the last stars of hope had gone out, and the skin of her face was wrinkled by the aridity of solitude” (Márquez 206). Being one of many mentions of solitude in the novel, I believe it is fitting as Rebeca is a prime example of one who is ruined by the passage of time  where others thrive. By the end of the narrative, she is used as a casualty in showcasing the ambivalent nature of time just as much as the changes in Buendia’s political views to be unaffected by what he once hated throughout the years up until believing, in the present day, “‘[t]he only difference today between Liberals and Conservatives is that the Liberal go to mass at five o’ clock and the Conservatives at eight’” (Márquez 228). Through both extremes, time is shown to be the disillusionment and the death of beloved characters and their ideologies, adding to the depth of the novel’s ambiguity.

My question for the class is how do you view time in the novel as a whole, and do you believe the author presents it as favourable or an obstacle for his characters? S