Gabriel García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was a book that I really looked forward to reading. Truly, it was a masterpiece of magical realism, exploring multiple themes relevant to our study on Latin American literature. However, to stay aligned with our lecture content for the first week engaging with this book, I focused on the themes of chance and order, as well as repetition and novelty. Through the lives of the Buendía family, García Márquez explores the cyclical nature of time, the fragility of human existence, and the role of chance in shaping human destiny.

Throughout the novel, García Márquez shows how unexpected (chance) events continue to shape the lives of the characters. The Buendía family is constantly subjected to unexpected and unpredictable events, such as the arrival of a plague of insomnia, a flood that destroys the town, and a massacre of striking workers. These events exemplified how chance can disrupt order and create chaos, and how the characters are forced to adapt and respond to these events to survive. As stated by Colonel Aureliano Buendía, “a person doesn’t die when he should but when he can” (259). To me, this line emphasizes the role of chance in determining the timing of death, and how a person’s fate is ultimately beyond their control.

In addition to chance, García Márquez also explores the theme of order and repetition. The novel is structured in a cyclical manner, with events and characters repeating themselves over the course of the century. The Buendía family is plagued by incest, and the same names and personalities are repeated across generations. However, despite the repetition and order, García Márquez also introduces the theme of novelty. The arrival of Melquíades and the gypsies brings with it new knowledge and technologies, such as the magnifying glass, the telescope, and the microscope. These innovations bring change to the traditional way of life in Macondo and introduce new possibilities for the characters. In a way, it seemed as if García Márquez used the theme of novelty to show how the characters can break free from the cycle of repetition and order.

Lastly, reflecting on the length of the read, I enjoyed the “lostness” of the book. It was a “pleasurable lostness” for me. Perhaps that was because I allowed myself to stop seeking “hidden messages” and not create “force connections”. In a way, I just ‘flowed’ with the contrast between “chaos and order” throughout the book.

Question: Were there any events, people, or objects within the book that seemed “magical”? What reminded you of “magical realism” throughout the book?