By Gabriel Garcia Marquez Jiyu Lin

Gabriel Garcia Marquez  Raised by his grandparents in northern Colombia  His grandfather was a retired colonel and his grandmother a fervent storyteller.  Studied law for a while, but decided to be a journalist.  Wrote numerous editorials, short stories, and five novels, most notably OHYOS and Love in the Time of Cholera  Won the Nobel prize for literature in 1982  Married to Mercedes Baracha, and has two sons

Setting  Macondo  An imaginary village in Latin America  Inspired by Marquez‘s hometown Aracataca  He once said, “I have never renounced the nostalgia of my homeland: Aracataca, to which I returned one day and discovered that between reality and nostalgia was the raw material for my work.”

Characters Buendia Family Tree

Characters  Jose Arcadio Buendia – founding father of Macondo, exceptionally intelligent but impractical  Ursula Iguaran – Jose Arcadio Buendia’s wife, the steadfast and savvy matriarch of the family  Jose Arcadio – first son of the second generation, runs away with a gypsy and becomes a brute  Colonel Aureliano Buendia – leaves Macondo to join the Liberal revolution, becomes a war hero  Amaranta – only daughter of Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula, spends her entire life torn between various men but remains a virgin

Their children  Arcadio – takes over Macondo when his uncle leaves, transforms the town into a totalitarian state  Aureliano Jose – in love with his aunt Amaranta, is killed by Conservative forces  Remedios the Beautiful – empty headed girl with legendary beauty  Jose Arcadio and Aureliano II – twin brothers believed to be switched at birth, but then switched back in their graves

Those children’s children  Meme – in constant conflict with her controlling mother, gets sent to a convent against her wishes and refuses to speak for the rest of her life  Jose Arcadio II – raised to become a priest, but chooses to follow a life of indulgence instead  Amaranta Ursula – has an incestuous affair with her nephew Aureliano  Aureliano II – Meme’s secret son, forever resented by his grandmother Fernanda  Aureliano III – son of the previous two, the last of the Buendia line, fulfills the family prophecy

Plot  Jose Arcadio Buendia founds Macondo  The people live in isolation from the world, but are happy and safe.  His children and grandchildren come and go - joining wars, killing Conservatives, marrying gypsies, eating dirt, leading strikes, falling in love – causing chaos in general.

Themes  What is Reality? Literary style called magical realism Realistic events (war, affairs, deaths) highlighted by supernatural events Blurs the line between rational perception and mystical forces  The repetition of history

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