One Hundred

Years of Solitude
Study Guide by Course Hero

TENSE
What's Inside One Hundred Years of Solitude is told in the past tense.

ABOUT THE TITLE

j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 The title, One Hundred Years of Solitude, refers to a century of
change in Colombia, the isolation of the fictional Macondo, and
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 the emotional isolation of the characters.

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3

h Characters .................................................................................................. 3
d In Context
k Plot Summary ........................................................................................... 10

c Chapter Summaries .............................................................................. 16

Colombia
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 28
By the mid-16th century the region that is now
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 29
Colombia—Gabriel García Márquez's native land—had been
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 30 colonized by Spain, and indigenous populations had begun to
be devastated by disease and enslavement in the mining and
b Meanings of Names .............................................................................. 31 agriculture industries. As a result, Colombia entered the
African slave trade to increase its labor force. The Roman
e Suggested Reading .............................................................................. 32
Catholic Church played a pivotal role in representing the
Spanish crown and providing social services in the region
during this time period.

j Book Basics Colombia struggled violently toward independence from Spain

in the early 1800s, finally accomplishing its goal when Simón
AUTHOR Bolívar (Venezuelan military leader, 1783–1830) led the
Gabriel García Márquez Republic of Colombia to its final victory. (At that time, Colombia
consisted of present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and
YEAR PUBLISHED Ecuador; the countries would later separate.)
1967
Colombia was plagued by civil wars in the years that followed,
GENRE leading to the development of two political parties: the
Fiction Conservatives, who favored land owners and the Catholic
Church, and the Liberals, who favored workers. The country
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
was riven with instability by factional fighting between the two
One Hundred Years of Solitude is told from a third-person point
parties and by continued civil war in the country, leading to the
of view.
War of a Thousand Days in 1899, in which approximately
One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide In Context 2

60,000 to 130,000 people died, and La Violencia in 1946, Buendías. The siblings, who have lost their land and social
during which approximately 200,000 people died often cruel position and strive to save their memory and identity, represent
deaths between 1946 and 1964. once-thriving inhabitants, such as the South American Indians,
and, eventually, the Buendías.
In 1930 Liberal Enrique Olaya Herrera was elected president, in
part a backlash against the Conservative Party that had used Parallels between Macondo and Aracataca—the bloody history
military force, likely with the banana company's knowledge, of civil wars and Spanish colonialism, the banana company and
against labor unions in the banana industry. The book's banana United Fruit Company's impact on the town—appear, yet the
company is based on United Fruit, now known as Chiquita, fictional town represents a greater experience, featuring "the
which made money by partnering with corrupt governments private lives of the people of Latin America." By writing about
and exploiting workers in Latin America. The economy of the deeply personal—family and town over the course of a
Colombia had long depended on plantation agriculture, which century—García Márquez succeeded by "writ[ing] from the
included the cultivation and export of coffee, bananas, and inside"—working against colonialism, against erasure. The
plantains. By the late 1920s, coffee and bananas accounted for intuitive and universal novel gives voice to a continent ravished
nearly 75% of the country's agricultural exports. by outsiders and dictatorships. In order to preserve memory,
Industrialization did not begin in Colombia until the 1930s, García Márquez offered a truer historical account with his
following the Great Depression. In 1953 Conservative general literature. In his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech,
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was installed as a dictator, ending La the novelist insists, "The interpretation of our reality through
Violencia. Following Pinilla's exit in 1957, Conservatives and patterns not our own, serves only to make us ever more
Liberals agreed to share the presidency for the next 16 years. unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary."

Politics and Place Gregory Rabassa, the

While working as a journalist in Bogota, García Márquez was Translator
influenced by the Lost Generation—the generation that
reached adulthood during and immediately following World Gregory Rabassa, a professor of Romance languages at
War I, a period of global instability during which many men Queens College in New York, read One Hundred Years of
died. The work of the American expatriates living and writing in Solitude, published in Spanish in the United States, "straight
Paris made García Márquez realize "their literature had a through." At the time, the former code breaker for the Office of
relationship with life" that his writing lacked. On April 9, 1948, Strategic Services had completed translating Hopscotch by
Jorge Eliécer Gaitan, an extreme leftist leader, was Julio Cortázar, a work that was named the National Book
assassinated. In response to his death the people of Bogota, Award winner for Translation in 1967. When Gabriel García
including García Márquez, rioted. The events of that day, which Márquez asked Julio Cortázar, his friend, to recommend a
led to a decade of civil unrest, helped García Márquez translator, he answered, "Get Rabassa."
understand "the kind of country [he] was living in, and how little
[his "intellectual"] short stories had to do with any of that." In 1969 Rabassa began translating the novel with the writer's
rules in mind. One of which, the translator reports, was that the
After the publication of his first novel, Leaf Storm, Gabriel patriarch's name must always be José Arcadio Buendía, "never
García Márquez realized his work failed to address Colombia's any truncated version." After Gabriel García Márquez read
"political" reality and attempts to merge "literature and politics." Rabassa's translation published in 1970 by Harper & Row, he
Originally, One Hundred Years of Solitude, formerly titled "The named Rabassa the "best Latin American writer in the English
House," featured strictly life inside the Buendía home. His language." Rabassa's translation served to bring One Hundred
concept eventually expanded to Macondo, a village that Years of Solitude to a worldwide audience.
deteriorates as it's exposed to outside forces. This circular
destruction is foreshadowed by Cataure and Visitación. The
Indian prince and princess, who fled their hometown's insomnia
plague that destroys memory, work as servants for the

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Author Biography 3

well. He describes the level of detail that makes One Hundred

a Author Biography Years of Solitude successful as a "journalistic trick" and a
technique his grandmother employed in storytelling. He
Gabriel García Márquez was born on March 6, 1927, in insisted that if one specifies that "there are four hundred and
Aracataca, Colombia, and lived in his maternal grandparents' twenty-five elephants flying in the sky, people will probably
house for eight years. Aracataca, the model for Macondo, was believe you."
a village "where everybody knew everybody else." The village
Before beginning to write the manuscript in 1965 at age 38,
was founded on a riverbank where clear water "raced over a
García Márquez hadn't written for five years despite having
bed of polished stones as huge and white as prehistoric eggs."
already written two novels, one novella, and a few short stories.
Those memories inspired the setting and events of One
While driving to Acapulco for a family vacation, the "ripe" voice
Hundred Years of Solitude.
arrived, and he turned around. He said, "I could have dictated
As an adult, he returned to the village with his mother to sell his the first chapter, word by word, to a typist." Afterward, he
grandparents' house. As they rode the train, his mother spent the next 18 months writing the manuscript while his wife,
showed him the square, where the army killed an Mercedes, tended to the house. When he finished, they were
"undetermined" number of banana workers in 1928. On this $12,000 in debt and had to visit a pawnshop to collect money
trip, inspired by everything, nostalgia "caught [him] by to send the entire manuscript to the publishing company
surprise." García Márquez describes returning to Aracataca as Editorial Sudamericana in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
a major influence on his literary life. Not only did he gain his
When his publisher told him they were printing 8,000 copies,
mother's blessing for his writing career during the trip, but he,
García Márquez became nervous. His previous books (such as
then age 22, viewed the village as if "everything I saw had
The Leaf Storm, published in 1955 by Ediciones SLB, and In Evil
already been written," and his only task was to sit down and
Hour, published in 1962 by Premio Literario Esso) never sold
record it.
more than 700 copies. He asked the publisher to "start slowly."
In addition, García Márquez modeled characters after The publisher, impressed with the story, felt confident the
important people in his life. García Márquez's grandfather—a copies would sell before the end of the year. Released in May
retired colonel, "the most important figure of [his] life"—shares 1967, the books sold out within the week. Reprinted and
similarities with Colonel Aureliano Buendía. The tone of his translated into many languages, the book has since sold more
masterpiece was inspired by the memory of his grandmother's than 50 million copies.
seriousness when telling stories: "She told things that sounded
In 1982 García Márquez won the Nobel Prize in Literature and
supernatural and fantastic ... with complete naturalness."
continued publishing. He died on April 17, 2014, from lymphatic
A political advocate for the Liberal left wing, García Márquez cancer and dementia. Months after his death, the University of
started writing stories for a local newspaper when La Violencia Texas's Harry Ransom Center purchased his archives.
erupted—a 10-year violent political civil war between the
Liberal and Conservative parties in Colombia fought primarily
in rural areas. By the mid-1950s after penning political criticism, h Characters
García Márquez's journalism career exiled him from Colombia
to Paris, and then to New York through the early 1960s. This
geographical and psychological distance from the conflicts of
his homeland influenced his thinking about Latin American Colonel Aureliano Buendía
politics. Against elitism and imperialist influences in Latin
America, García Márquez saw his writing as a means for Macondo's first born, Colonel Aureliano Buendía is the
creating "a Latin American identity" by drawing attention to youngest son and middle child of Úrsula and José Arcadio
Latin American culture. Buendía. Gifted in metalwork, he withdraws into the laboratory
and falls in love with Remedios Moscote. Subject to
Journalism not only supported García Márquez before he premonitions, he's a rebel commander for the Liberal Party.
achieved literary fame, but it influenced his literary writing as After his sons are hunted and killed, he proposes another war,

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 4

but his friend resists. Occupied and persistent, he finds to leave. After Fernanda's death, he remains a hermit, until
solitude in old age making gold fishes. Amaranta Úrsula urges him to leave. He makes several friends,
but his love for her tethers him to the house. One night he
sexually assaults her, then the two begin a secret affair and
José Arcadio Buendía she becomes pregnant with the last Buendía. Wondering why a
deadly fate has inflicted them, he translates the epigraph of
Stubborn and ambitious, José Arcadio Buendía marries his Melquíades's manuscripts, realizing they're about the family.
cousin, Úrsula, and founds Macondo. Imaginative, the patriarch Wanting to know his identity, he reads and learns that
of the Buendía family settles the town. When the gypsies Amaranta Úrsula is his aunt. As he reads the end of the
introduce him to the outside world he becomes infatuated with narrative describing his family's fate, he and the town are
new ideas, despite his wife's discouragement, and begins a destroyed by hurricane winds.
slow descent into madness.

Amaranta Buendía
Úrsula
The youngest child and only daughter in the second
Úrsula Iguarán is the matriarch of the Buendía family. Strong, generation, Amaranta Buendía remains in the Buendía house
clairvoyant, and serious, she strives to ensure the family's her entire life. As an adolescent she falls in love with Pietro
happiness, welcoming and taking in her children's lovers and Crespi, who has promised himself to Rebeca. After Rebeca
offspring. Owner of a candy animal business, she supports the marries Amaranta's oldest brother, she makes Pietro fall in love
family and the expansion of the house, which is eventually shut with her only to break his heart. Her initial heartbreak, jealousy,
down by Fernanda. Within the family and town she remains and bitterness permanently stunts her emotional growth, and
active and helpful most of her life. When Arcadio and Colonel she never becomes close with anyone her age, in or outside
Aureliano Buendía are affected by war and power, she warns the house. When Colonel Gerineldo Márquez falls in love with
them of their actions. Out of all the characters, she lives the her, she strings him along only to reject him. She cares for the
longest. In her final years, she bemoans that none of her children in the house, initially out of guilt of feeling responsible
children inherited her durability. for Remedios's death, and becomes romantically involved with
Aureliano José and José Arcadio. Her jealousy and illicit affairs
complicate life in the Buendía house and cause many to leave
Melquíades the house and Macondo.

Every March, Melquíades accompanies the gypsies to

Macondo to introduce new inventions, including magnets and a
telescope. The once-sturdy man ages rapidly, even though on
their first meeting he appears the same age as José Arcadio
Buendía. Following his death, he returns to the Buendía house
as a ghost, and they keep a room for him where his
manuscripts, which predict the history and fate of the
Buendías, are stored. Intermittently, the frank, wise, and
mystifying gypsy appears to only a few in the family.

Aureliano (II)
After Fernanda hides his identity, she contemplates killing him
but can't. Instead, she hides him in Colonel Aureliano Buendía's
workshop. After Aureliano is discovered, Fernanda forbids him

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 5

Character Map

José Arcadio Buendía

Patriarch of Buendía family;
founder of Macondo

Spouses Father

Father

Colonel Aureliano
Úrsula
Buendía
Buendía family matriarch;
Second son; becomes
lives to be 150 Mother Siblings a rebel commander
Great-great-great-
Mentor
grandfather
Amaranta
Lonely and bitter; fears men

Great-great-great- Great-great-
grandmother Great-great- uncle
aunt

Aureliano (II) Melquíades

Grows up a hermit; Prophet; brings modern
later a scholar Mentor inventions to Macondo

Main Character

Other Major Character

Minor Character

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 6

Full Character List The second daughter and third child

of Fernanda and Aureliano Segundo,
Amaranta Úrsula—playful,
Amaranta fashionable, and strong—marries
Character Description
Úrsula Gaston, begins an affair with
Aureliano, and delivers the last in the
The father of 17 Aurelianos and line of the Buendías before dying of
Colonel Aureliano José, Colonel Aureliano complications.
Aureliano Buendía is Úrsula and José Arcadio
Buendía Buendía's son and the widower of
Santa Sofía de la Piedad's lover and
Remedios.
father of Remedios the Beauty,
Arcadio Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio
José Arcadio Buendía is Úrsula's Segundo, Arcadio is the son of Pilar
José Arcadio husband and the father of Colonel and José Arcadio.
Buendía Aureliano Buendía, José Arcadio
Buendía, and Amaranta.
After arriving with the banana rush,
Aureliano stubborn Aureliano Arcaya is
Úrsula Iguarán is José Arcadio Arcaya exterminated after his father
Buendía's wife and the mother of threatens war.
Úrsula
Colonel Aureliano Buendía, José
Arcadio Buendía, and Amaranta.
Rebeca's servant, Argénida is the
Argénida only person who has contact with her
Melquíades is a prophet and José following José Arcadio's death.
Melquíades
Arcadio Buendía's friend.
The last of the Buendía lineage,
The son of Meme Buendía and Aureliano is the infant of Aureliano (II)
Aureliano (III)
Mauricio Babilonia, Aureliano's and Amaranta Úrsula; he is killed and
Aureliano (II) identity is unknown to others carried away by ants.
because he's born at the convent,
then delivered to the Buendías.
Dark skinned and green eyed,
Aureliano Amador, a carpenter from a
Aureliano
Amaranta Amaranta Buendía is the daughter of small village, escapes into the
Amador
Buendía Úrsula and José Arcadio Buendía. mountains when the extermination of
the Aurelianos occurs.

When José Arcadio Buendía's

Prudencio cockfighting opponent insults him Father Augusto Stubborn and bold, Father Augusto
Aguilar after losing, he kills Prudencio Aguilar Ángel Ángel replaces Father Antonio Isabel.
and is haunted by his ghost.
The son of Aureliano and Pilar, bawdy
Alfonso is Aureliano's friend from the and idle Aureliano José is adopted by
bookstore, who learns Catalan to Aureliano José Amaranta after Remedios passes,
Alfonso translate the Catalonian's and he receives early military training
manuscripts, and doesn't return from from Colonel Gerineldo Márquez.
a weekend trip.
Born and raised in Macondo,
Álvaro is Aureliano's friend from the whimsical and masculine Mauricio
Mauricio
Álvaro bookstore, who buys an infinite pass Babilonia is a mechanic for the
Babilonia
on a train to travel. banana company and Meme's love
interest.

The bartender has a disfigured arm

from disrespecting his mother, and
Bartender
serves Aureliano after Amaranta
Úrsula dies.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 7

Rich Mr. Jack Brown, the banana From the swamp, elderly Don
Don Melchor
company executive, arrives in a Melchor Escalona teaches at the
Mr. Brown Escalona
personal coach car with German school.
shepherds.

Fernanda del Carpio is Aureliano

A friend of Meme's, Patricia Brown is Segundo's wife and the mother of
Patricia Brown Fernanda del
the daughter of Mr. Brown. José Arcadio, Meme, and Amaranta
Carpio
Úrsula. She controls the house after
Úrsula becomes blind.
Aureliano Buendía is José Arcadio
Aureliano
Buendía's passive grandfather and
Buendía
the first Aureliano Buendía. A childhood vision, Fernanda's
Fernanda's
mother convinces her the woman in
great-
white was her great-​grandmother, a
After becoming partners with Úrsula's grandmother
late queen.
great-​great-​grandfather, Don José
Don José
Arcadio Buendía, a tobacco farmer
Arcadio Buendía
and José Arcadio Buendía's great- Don Fernando, Fernanda's idealized
great-​grandfather, becomes rich. and solitary father, sells household
Don Fernando items and goes into debt to ensure
his daughter receives a good
Known as "The Elephant," charming education.
and feminine Camila Sagastume
Camila challenges Aureliano Segundo to an
eating contest that causes her After viewing Remedios the Beauty's
opponent to lose consciousness. face, the aristocratic and attractive
The foreigner foreigner becomes an argumentative
insomniac, who is killed by a train
The squad leader, Captain Roque after falling asleep on railroad tracks.
Captain Roque Carnicero pulls the slip of paper that
Carnicero appoints him to execute Arcadio
when no one wants to kill a Buendía. Nearly two centuries old, the singing
Francisco the drifter stops in Macondo often to
Man share songs about what he has
Once a classic literature professor, witnessed.
the insightful and paternal Catalonian
The Catalonian owns the bookstore where Aureliano
buys materials to translate Colonel Gerineldo Márquez's great-
Melquíades's papers. great-​grandson, lethargic and
Gabriel haunted Gabriel is Aureliano's closest
friend from the bookstore, who
Helpful and aware, Cataure, a Guajiro moves to Paris.
Indian prince fleeing the insomnia
Cataure plague with his sister, cares for
Buendía children until he discovers A pilot, Gaston is Amaranta Úrsula's
Rebeca is infected. meek and imaginative husband, who
Gaston bides his time in Macondo with
entomology and developing an airmail
A war veteran, Father Coronel business.
Father Coronel
replaces Father Nicanor.

A former colonel in the Mexican

Bruno Crespi is Pietro Crespi's revolution in exile, Colonel Lorenzo
younger brother who helps him with Colonel Gavilán
Bruno Crespi Gavilán is a union leader who is jailed
the store and marries Amparo with José Arcadio Segundo.
Moscote.

Germán is Aureliano's friend from the

Handsome, particular, and pleasant, Germán bookstore who doesn't return from a
Pietro Crespi courts Rebeca, then weekend trip.
Pietro Crespi
Amaranta, whose rejection leads him
to commit suicide.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 8

A soldier who guards the Buendía A revolutionary who is sentenced to

house sells Colonel Aureliano death in Riohacha, Colonel Aureliano
The guard General Victorio
Buendía's gold fish in the swamp Buendía travels with seven men to
Medina
villages. Macondo to rescue Victorio Medina
and fails, thus beginning another war.

After José Arcadio discovers Pilar is

pregnant with his child, he has sex Renata Remedios, often called
Gypsy girl
with the young gypsy girl and leaves Meme, is the social and modern
with the caravan. Meme daughter and second child of
Fernanda del Carpio and Aureliano
Segundo.
When Mr. Herbert, a thorough
businessperson and traveler
responsible for the development of Mercedes Mercedes is Gabriel's girlfriend.
Mr. Herbert
the banana plantation stays with the
Buendías, he eats and studies their
bananas. The midwife and the mistress of the
"brothel of lies" helps Amaranta
The midwife Úrsula deliver Aureliano and seeks
Great-​great- help when she suffers from
Úrsula's great-​great-​grandfather is a
grandfather complications.
merchant.
Iguarán
When the war ends, José Raquel
Because she sat on the stove while Moncada, a smart and amiable
Great-​great- José Raquel
the area was under attack, Úrsula's "antimilitarist" and Colonel Aureliano
grandmother Moncada
great-​great-​grandmother became Buendía's friend, becomes
Iguarán
incompetent and reclusive. Macondo's mayor.

When Úrsula begins losing touch with José Raquel Moncada's wife lives in
Petronila reality, she mourns Petronila Iguarán, José Raquel Liberal territory and refuses to let
Iguarán her great-​grandmother, who died a Moncada's wife Colonel Aureliano Buendía in her
century ago. house.

Father Antonio Isabel replaces Destined for Aureliano José,

Father Antonio Carmelita
Father Coronel and shows signs of Carmelita Montiel is waiting for him at
Isabel Montiel
mental decrepitude. Pilar's house when he is shot.

A world traveler, José Arcadio is the Considerate and attractive Amparo

eldest son of Úrsula Iguarán and José Amparo Moscote, who later marries Bruno
José Arcadio
Arcadio Buendía, who marries Moscote Crespi, befriends Rebeca and
Rebeca and is covered in tattoos. delivers Pietro Crespi's letters to her.

The listless son of Fernanda and The sophisticated and competent

José Arcadio (II) Aureliano Segundo, José Arcadio (II) Don Apolinar father of seven daughters, the
is their oldest child. Moscote government sends Don Apolinar
Moscote to be Macondo's magistrate.

Son of a Macondo founder, Colonel

Gerineldo Márquez is Colonel Mrs. Moscote is Don Apolinar's wife
Señora Moscote
Colonel Aureliano Buendía's courteous friend and the mother of seven daughters.
Gerineldo and, following his departure, the civil
Márquez and military leader of Macondo who
pursues Amaranta and whom Úrsula Father Nicanor Reyna is the first
loves like a son. religious figure in Macondo who
Father Nicanor
raises money to build a church by
levitating.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Characters 9

The great-​granddaughter of Meme's first crush, the red-​haired

Red-​haired
Aureliano (II)'s friend, Nigromanta, a American boy vacations in Macondo
Nigromanta American boy
warm and kind prostitute, becomes with his parents.
Aureliano's lover.

The youngest Moscote daughter dies

From the West Indies and Remedios shortly after marrying Colonel
Nigromanta's resourceful, Aureliano learns Aureliano Buendía.
great- Papiamento to speak with him, the
grandfather only inhabitant that remembers
Aureliano's family. A "lucid" minimalist whose scent
Remedios the drives men crazy, Remedios the
Beauty Beauty is the daughter of Santa Sofía
A "charlatan" and political exile, Dr. de la Piedad and Arcadio.
Alirio Noguero arrives to Macondo
Dr. Alirio
with sugar pills and a forged diploma
Noguero When José Raquel Moncada's
to practice medicine and is eventually
murdered by the army. Captain Aquiles cockfights are suspended, Captain
Ricardo Aquiles Ricardo, who inhabitants view
as an agitator, replaces him as mayor.
A patron at Catarino's insults Arcadio,
A patron at
and to everyone's surprise, Arcadio
Catarino's Santa Sofía de la Piedad and
spares his life.
Arcadio's son, and twin to José
Aureliano Arcadio Segundo, Aureliano Segundo
A widow and Aureliano Segundo's Segundo is a generous homebody, Fernanda's
long-​term concubine, lucky and husband, and father of Meme, José
Petra
charitable Petra Cotes runs a raffle Arcadio, and Amaranta Úrsula.
business out of her home.
The glum twin to Aureliano Segundo,
Petronio is an impatient and ill church José Arcadio Segundo is the son of
Petronio José Arcadio
sexton. Santa Sofía de la Piedad and Arcadio
Segundo
who survives the banana massacre
and hides until his death.
When Arcadio seeks out his mother
for a relationship, Pilar pays enduring
Santa Sofía de
and faithful Santa Sofía de la Piedad Aureliano Serrador is one of the
la Piedad Aureliano
and her parents her life savings to Aurelianos, who arrives with the
Serrador
take her place. banana rush.

Known for her tarot card readings, Disguised as an old woman, Colonel
Pilar Ternera is the chatty and Gregorio Stevenson delivers Colonel
Colonel
intuitive mother of Arcadio, Aureliano Aureliano Buendía's unfortunate
Gregorio
Pilar José, and seven additional children, news to Arcadio regarding the Liberal
Stevenson
and whose friendship with and Party's poor condition and his order
knowledge of the Buendías spans to surrender the town.
almost all seven generations.
The first of the Aurelianos to stay in
The widow of José Arcadio, Rebeca Macondo, driven and adventurous
Aureliano Triste
arrives from Manaure with a bag of Aureliano Triste works for Aureliano
Rebeca her parents' bones and locks herself Segundo, then begins an ice factory.
in her house with her servant after
her husband's mysterious death.
When the trumpeter greets Arcadio
The trumpeter with "fanfare," he orders his
The young and stoic rebel colonel is execution.
the revolution's treasurer who
Rebel colonel
delivers the gold that Colonel
Aureliano Buendía surrenders.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 10

Úrsula's mother
Úrsula Iguarán's mother scares her
daughter by telling her that her
Second Generation
children will have pig tails.
Every March the gypsies arrive, toting new inventions.
Exposure to the outside world inspires ambitious José Arcadio
In command of the second assembly
General Teófilo of the principal rebel commanders, Buendía.
Vargas General Teófilo Vargas, wild and
deadly, is murdered in an ambush. When José Arcadio, the eldest son of José Arcadio Buendía
and Úrsula, runs away with the caravan, his mother forbids the
Son of a Macondo founder, Magnífico gypsies from returning. José Arcadio Buendía insists
Magnífico Visbal Visbal is Colonel Aureliano Buendía's Melquíades, the head of the gypsy caravan and his friend and
friend.
mentor, is always welcome, and Melquíades visits across the
generations.
A Guajiro Indian princess, helpful and
attentive Visitación flees the insomnia
Visitación When Rebeca, the Buendía's adopted daughter, and Amaranta,
plague with her brother and cares for
the Buendía children. the Buendía's biological daughter, reach adolescence, Úrsula
expands the house to fit the next generations. During
construction, the appointed magistrate arrives, introducing
government to the village. Following the marriage of Colonel
k Plot Summary Aureliano Buendía (son of Úrsula and José Arcadio Buendía)
and Remedios (daughter of Don Apolinar Moscote), Father
One Hundred Years of Solitude is the story of the rise and fall Nicanor decides to build a church in Macondo, introducing
of the Buendía family, which is mirrored by the development religion.
and destruction of their fictitious village, Macondo. Through a
series of flashbacks, scenes, and backstory, readers learn
about the seven generations of the cursed bloodline as they Third Generation
live, love, and die in their town.
Infamous for her tarot card readings, Pilar Ternera bears two
The narrative begins with one of the most iconic lines in children: Arcadio with José Arcadio and Aureliano José with
contemporary literature, which features Colonel Aureliano Colonel Aureliano Buendía. Even though their fathers are
Buendía, moments before his execution, remembering "that absent, both children are sent to live with the Buendías. Both
distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." sons are drawn to their mother with whom they have no
relationship.

First Generation While Colonel Aureliano Buendía leads the rebellion, he fathers
17 sons with 17 different women. Individually, each mother
The narrative returns to the beginning of the Buendía line with brings her son to be baptized in Macondo with the name
its patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, and matriarch, Úrsula, who Aureliano. Each son keeps his mother's surname.
meet and marry in their hometown.

Haunted by the ghost of a man José Arcadio Buendía Fourth Generation

murdered to defend his marriage, he, along with a group of
men and women, leave to find the sea and settle a new town. When Arcadio, whom Colonel Aureliano Buendía leaves in
They search for almost two years. While sleeping by a river, charge of Macondo to the inhabitants' dismay, seeks a sexual
José Arcadio Buendía hears the name of the town in a dream. relationship with Pilar, Pilar pays Santa Sofía de la Piedad to
He convinces the families to stay to found Macondo. take her place, and she gives birth to Remedios the Beauty. At
the time of Arcadio's execution, their daughter is eight months
old, and Santa Sofía de la Piedad is pregnant with twin boys,

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 11

Aureliano and José Arcadio Segundo. When he returns, ants are carrying his dead son, the last of the
Buendías, away. He translates the manuscript's epigraph.
Realizing it's about his family, he reads to discover what went
Fifth Generation wrong. Amaranta Úrsula is his aunt, and his family's fate is
sealed as the storm winds destroy him and Macondo.
Following José Arcadio Segundo's introduction of the French
matrons to Macondo, they organize a carnival. Remedios the
Beauty is named queen, and Fernanda del Carpio is scheduled
to be crowned queen of Madagascar. When someone voices
Liberal sentiments, the occasion turns into a bloody massacre.
The twins save the two women. After the mourning period,
Aureliano Segundo finds Fernanda in her "gloomy" northern
city, proposes, and brings her to Macondo, where she bears
three of his children, Meme, José Arcadio, and Amaranta
Úrsula. The banana company arrives.

Sixth Generation
During the banana plague days, Meme is befriended by the
Americans. While touring the plantation, she meets Mauricio
Babilonia and begins seeing him in secret. When her mother
discovers their relationship, she forbids Meme to leave. Every
night the couple spends time showering together.
Unknowingly, she becomes pregnant with his child. After
Fernanda sends Meme to a distant convent, a nun delivers
Aureliano to the Buendía's house, and Fernanda keeps his
identity a secret.

When the banana workers strike, the government is called in to

mediate the conflict. They massacre 3,000 people, then erase
the event from the town's memory. They release a statement
and claim to grant the workers their wishes after the rain
stops. It rains for almost five years. When it stops, the banana
company has vanished.

Seventh Generation
After Amaranta Úrsula returns to Macondo with her husband,
Aureliano falls in love with her. While Gaston busies himself
with projects, biding his time, the two begin an affair. After
Gaston leaves for business, she becomes pregnant. Amaranta
Úrsula suffers and dies from birth complications. Aureliano, in
shock, roams the town, leaving his pig-tailed infant, Aureliano,
at home.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 12

Plot Diagram

Climax

11

10
12
9
Falling Action

Rising Action 8
13
7

6 14
5
15
4
Resolution
3

2
1

Introduction

9. Colonel Aureliano Buendía returns to finish his war.

Introduction
10. Colonel Aureliano Buendía attempts suicide after armistice.

1. Úrsula marries José Arcadio Buendía; they found Macondo.

Climax

Rising Action 11. The banana company arrives.

2. José Arcadio Buendía takes his sons to see ice.

3. Government arrives; the colonel marries Remedios.

Falling Action
4. Religion arrives; Remedios dies.
12. Colonel Aureliano Buendía dies.
5. José Arcadio Buendía goes mad and is tied to a tree.
13. The army kills striking workers, erases event, flees town.
6. Colonel Aureliano Buendía commits to the Liberal Party.
14. Amaranta Úrsula dies having Aureliano's pig-tailed baby.
7. The colonel leads uprisings and returns hardened by war.

8. At the colonel's execution José Arcadio saves him.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 13

Resolution

15. Aureliano reads the manuscripts; he and Macondo

disappear.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 14

Timeline of Events

Macondo's fifth year; March

Looking for Melquíades, José Arcadio Buendía takes his

sons to see ice.

First–third generations

Don Apolinar Moscote arrives. José Arcadio Buendía

declares him an enemy.

Amaranta's adolescence

Colonel Aureliano Buendía falls in love with Remedios.

The patriarch, crazy, is tied to a tree.

March

Colonel Aureliano Buendía marries Remedios. The

Father decides to build a church.

Three years later

Remedios dies, pregnant with twins.

December

Colonel Aureliano Buendía commits to the Liberal Party.

May

The war ends. Colonel Aureliano Buendía faces

execution; José Arcadio Buendía saves him. Another war
begins.

After 40 years of war

The colonel returns, changed. After Úrsula confronts

him, he rescues Márquez to finish the war.

Almost a year later

After reaching armistice, Colonel Aureliano Buendía

attempts suicide.

First–fifth generations

The banana company arrives, bringing violence. The

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Plot Summary 15

colonel asks Márquez to go to war. He refuses.

Friday

The army massacres workers and covers it up. The

company agrees to the workers' wishes after the rain.

Nearly five years later

The rain stops. Macondo is in ruins. Úrsula and the twins

die.

Fifth–sixth generations

Amaranta Úrsula returns. She and Aureliano begin an

affair.

Two years later

Amaranta Úrsula gives birth to Aureliano and dies of

complications.

A day later

Aureliano finds his dead baby. He reads the manuscripts

to learn he and Macondo are destroyed.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 16

elements:
c Chapter Summaries
José Arcadio Buendía experiences a "hereditary memory," a
relative passing on information to blood family
instantaneously.
Chapter 1 Aureliano, who was born with open eyes and "wept in his
mother's womb," has psychic abilities.

Summary
Chapter 2
Every month of March the gypsies, a derogatory term that
refers to traveling ethnic groups, visit the city of Macondo and
introduce modern inventions to its inhabitants, such as
magnets, the magnifying glass, and the telescope. Each visit,
Summary
José Arcadio Buendía, the patriarch and founder of Macondo,
Despite their families' disapproval, cousins José Arcadio
becomes infatuated with another idea. While he's distracted
Buendía and Úrsula marry. Because of the "sinister predictions"
with his new obsession, his wife, Úrsula, resists or foils it.
of Úrsula's mother, Úrsula avoids consummating their marriage,
fearing their children will have pig tails.
With navigational tools, José Arcadio Buendía discovers the
earth is round. The gypsy prophet Melquíades gives him
A year later, José Arcadio Buendía wins a cockfight. His
alchemy materials, and the two become close friends. When
opponent, Prudencio Aguilar, mocks him and his wife, so José
Úrsula turns the town against the gypsies, José Arcadio
Arcadio kills him. After the murder, the couple see the ghost of
Buendía expresses his frustration with human limitations.
Prudencia; José Arcadio is tortured by this apparition. They
decide to leave.
Wanting to discover other "civilizations," José Arcadio Buendía
leaves. After he and his group stumble across a Spanish ship,
After sacrificing roosters and burying the murder weapon, they
they discover the sea and realize Macondo is a peninsula.
cross the mountains, searching for the sea. Because of a
When he suggests moving Macondo to a better location,
dream, José Arcadio Buendía convinces his family and friends
Úrsula refuses. When the gypsies return, José Arcadio Buendía
who have accompanied him to remain at the river. There they
tries to find Melquíades but learns he's dead. Saddened, the
found Macondo.
three children drag José Arcadio Buendía to the "novelty" tent,
where they discover ice. Shortly after their daughter Amaranta is born, José Arcadio
discovers he's going to be a father with Pilar, sleeps with a
young gypsy, and leaves with the gypsy caravan. Úrsula tries to
Analysis track them. José Arcadio Buendía follows her but returns to
care for Amaranta. After several months, Úrsula returns to
The novel begins in the middle, "Many years later," with Colonel Macondo with a group of people who live across the swamp.
Aureliano Buendía remembering the discovery of ice with José
Arcadio Buendía. In the memory, he faces a firing squad, which
creates suspense. Quickly the narrator introduces the theme Analysis
of past and present by immersing the reader in the history of
the gypsies in Macondo. The juxtaposition of rebellion and fate creates tension. The
legend of their pig-tailed uncle doesn't detour José Arcadio
The first chapter grounds the reader by introducing the first
Buendía and Úrsula from getting married. This choice seems
and most of the second generation of the Buendía family. Their
like youthful rebellion, even though the narrator states "their
"truly happy" town is also introduced. At the time, Macondo
marriage was predicted from the time they had come into the
consists of 20 riverside houses. Through fantastical language
world." This presence of fate supports the magic realism
and images, the reader learns that Macondo contains magical
theme. When the patriarch hears a "supernatural echo" in his

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 17

dream, naming the town they're sleeping in, he entices Macondo (a symbol of Colombia, Gabriel García Márquez's
everyone to stay. It becomes clear this family's future is native country) is developed in the first and second chapters.
dictated by dreams, strengthening the presence of magic. With the introduction of government, the reader sees the town
begin to change, alluding to Colombia's conflicted history. After
With such fantastical elements, the story is balanced with Don Apolinar Moscote arrives and begins making demands,
concrete and specific details. Amaranta is born on a "January José Arcadio Buendía tells him he doesn't want to kill him and
Thursday at two o'clock in the morning." This information suffer the burden of being haunted by it. This shows how
grounds the reader and contributes to the story's believability. Prudencio Aguilar's murder continues to cause him
psychological anguish. Learning from his mistake, he
The ability to navigate between past and present creates a
peacefully escorts Moscote out of the area by the shirt.
circularity. José Arcadio, named after his father, rebels by
sleeping with "provocative" Pilar. After his father strikes him for
saying his "recovered gold" resembles dog feces, he leaves
with the gypsies, rebelling against his rebel parents. Chapter 4

Chapter 3 Summary
Following the renovation of the Buendía house, Úrsula
furnishes it with "costly necessities" and organizes a dance.
Summary Pietro Crespi arrives to set up the pianola. He teaches them
how to use it.
Shortly after Arcadio's birth, Pilar brings him to his
grandparents' home. When the gypsies arrive, Úrsula forbids Aureliano sleeps with Pilar, who promises to help him win
them from staying, blaming them for José Arcadio's Remedios. When Aureliano confronts his parents about his
disappearance. When José Arcadio Buendía invites intention to marry her, his father, upon his wife's agreement
Melquíades's tribe to return, he's informed of their extinction. that Rebeca marry Pietro, seeks Remedios's hand. After a
Aureliano predicts Rebeca's arrival. discussion, Aureliano promises to wait until she reaches "the
age of conception."
After adopting Rebeca as their own, the Buendías discover
she's infected with the insomnia plague. The disease erases Melquíades passes away. José Arcadio Buendía gives him an
memories, and the entire town contracts it. Melquíades arrives, honorable and well-attended funeral.
as if back from the dead. When José Arcadio Buendía doesn't
recognize him, he cures Macondo. A magistrate named Don After asking Pilar to read her cards, Rebeca discovers that she
Apolinar Moscote comes to Macondo and orders all houses to must bury her parents' bones to find happiness. José Arcadio
be painted blue. José Arcadio Buendía carries him to the Buendía finds the bones in the wall and buries them next to
border. When Don Moscote returns with his family and Melquíades. Prudencio Aguilar begins visiting José Arcadio
soldiers, José Arcadio Buendía lets them stay but names him Buendía again and begins to drive him mad. Aureliano, unable
an enemy. Aureliano develops feelings for the mayor's to stop his father's madness, seeks help. José Arcadio Buendía
daughter, Remedios. is tied to the chestnut tree.

Analysis Analysis
Úrsula expands the Buendía house. The theme of love—in this A representation of Colombia, Macondo, previously without
case, familial—is shown in the matriarch's action, who ensures death, is complicated when it buries Melquíades, then later,
there's enough room for the next generation in their home. This Rebeca's parents. Both are outsiders, yet the deaths have
shows her expectations for her family to remain close, also different effects on the Buendía family. Melquíades's death
displayed when she follows her runaway son. seems to trigger José Arcadio Buendía's descent into

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 18

madness, and burying the bones of her parents enables Nicanor reveals they aren't siblings.
Rebeca to move on from familial love to romantic love, a theme
that drives the plot. As the Moscotes gain popularity from their association with the
Buendías, Don Apolinar implements more government. After
Romantic love disrupts the harmony in the house. Rebeca is in Aureliano discovers that his father-in-law fixes the election and
love with Pietro, who returns to fix the pianola that the supports the town being under martial law, he joins forces with
patriarch takes apart and assembles incorrectly. Lovesick, she the Liberal Party and declares war on the Conservative Party
returns to her bad habit of eating earth. When Amparo delivers with an army of 21 men. He is henceforth known as Colonel
a letter to Rebeca from Pietro, the girls become friends, which Aureliano Buendía.
stirs Aureliano's desire for Remedios. When the mail is late,
Rebeca acts out.
Analysis
After Rebeca's love is revealed, Amaranta's romantic feelings
for Pietro arise. During Melquíades's wake, Amaranta The introduction of religion to Macondo complicates the town
confesses her love to Pietro, who doesn't take her seriously, dynamics even further. At an impromptu mass, Father Nicanor
and confides in Rebeca. Love and jealousy become intertwined levitates "six inches" above ground, then repeats the act door
in this love triangle. Rebeca has buried her parents' bones to to door to gain donations for the church. The use of magic
find happiness but returns to her miserable habits of eating dirt realism in this monetary situation displays the church's
on account of Pietro. Pietro cares for Rebeca but Amaranta manipulation. José Arcadio Buendía, the only person who
may be a more suitable mate for Pietro. However, Amaranta's doubts Father Nicanor, demands proof of God. Because José
behavior shows that she, much like Rebeca, is overcome with Arcadio Buendía is ostracized, Father Nicanor tries to help him
desire for Pietro, and this affects her relationship with Rebeca out of a desire to save his soul, then simply because he feels
in a negative way. Even though one love is reciprocated and sorry for him when he realizes José Arcadio Buendía has no
another isn't, both amorous feelings are discovered by Úrsula interest in converting. The church is unable to manipulate José
when she finds exchanged and unsent letters in the girls' Arcadio Buendía into donating money. Father Nicanor
rooms. The letters are packaged the same: perfumed, tied with abandons the project, fearing for the security of his own faith
a pink bow. After Amaranta threatens Rebeca's life, Úrsula as he cannot prove the existence of God. In this scenario, the
arranges Amaranta's trip. two represent polarities: religion and science, old and new,
conservative and liberal.

Chapter 5 During the celebration, Remedios delivers cake to her father-

in-law, a symbol of their new bond of familial love. Her "sense
of responsibility" and "natural grace" allude to her positive role
in the family. The presence of Remedios within the Buendía
Summary family brings a refreshing peace that feels foreign to the family
but is welcome. This peace is short-lived as Remedios dies
A month after Remedios becomes a woman, she and Aureliano
shortly thereafter. Úrsula demands a mourning period of one
marry. Father Nicanor introduces religion to Macondo and
year without talking and keeps Remedios's picture with a lit oil
starts building a church. Rebeca and Amaranta's fighting
lamp next to it. Out of guilt, Amaranta adopts Aureliano José,
continues as Rebeca and Pietro plan the inaugural wedding. To
whom Remedios was raising as her own. After Rebeca leaves
expedite the building of the church, Úrsula and Pietro donate
Pietro for José Arcadio, Pietro maintains his routine visits and
large sums. Amaranta intends to poison Rebeca.
seeks out Amaranta for a romantic relationship. Typical of the
Unexpectedly, Remedios, while pregnant with twins, dies after Buendía family, Rebeca and José Arcadio engage in a lustful
Amaranta prays for something to delay her murdering Rebeca. relationship, even though they grew up together. Pietro, who
After the wedding is postponed, Rebeca eats earth again. was once the object of desire of both Rebeca and Amaranta,
When estranged José Arcadio returns, the family rejects him. now moves from one to the other. Amaranta now has the
Attracted to him, Rebeca sneaks into his room, and they begin upper hand, knowing that Pietro is very fond of her.
a romantic relationship. Soon after, they marry, and Father

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 19

the death of many men.

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Summary
When Colonel Aureliano Buendía leaves, he appoints Arcadio
as Macondo's leader. In his absence, he reigns as the "cruelest
Summary
ruler that Macondo had ever known." When he attacks Don
After Colonel Aureliano Buendía is captured, the war ends. As
Apolinar Moscote's house, Úrsula whips him back to the
a lesson, he's scheduled for execution in Macondo. When he
courtyard and takes over leadership. Noticing that sad news
arrives, he asks Úrsula to visit him in jail. She comes alone and
depresses her husband, she begins lying to him.
brings him a satchel. When she leaves, she gives him a

Obsessed with Pilar, Arcadio visits her, seeking a sexual revolver. After realizing executing the colonel may have severe

relationship. She tells him to return at night and pays Santa consequences, soldiers postpone his punishment and draw

Sofía de la Piedad to be with him. After Colonel Aureliano names to decide who will shoot him.

Buendía directs Arcadio to surrender the town, he decides to

On the dawn of the execution, José Arcadio, armed,
"defend the town to the death." Within 30 minutes, the defense
intervenes. War breaks out. Úrsula houses Santa Sofía de la
is depleted, and Arcadio is executed the next morning. For his
Piedad and her three children, Remedios the Beauty and the
last request he asks that Santa Sofía de la Piedad give his
twins.
children family names.
José Arcadio mysteriously dies (an unexplained murder or
Even though Úrsula supports Amaranta and Pietro's
suicide) and Rebeca retreats into her house. When someone
relationship, when Pietro proposes, Amaranta refuses cruelly,
attempts to poison Colonel Aureliano Buendía, his mother
sabotaging an opportunity for romantic love. Mourning,
nurses him back to health. He names Colonel Gerineldo
Pietro—a romantic and sensitive man—commits suicide.
Márquez as Macondo's leader so he can "die of old age making
little gold fishes." In José Arcadio Buendía's last days, he only
converses with Prudencio Aguilar, who visits twice a day.
Analysis
After the Buendía descendants leave their childhood home,
Úrsula complains to her husband, "the two of us alone again,
Analysis
the same as in the beginning."
Magic realism offers hope to a story with such a solemn

In a story that explores solitude, humor relieves the reader. subject matter. When José Arcadio Buendía passes, it rains

Arcadio, whose character spirals when he receives power, is yellow flowers, creating a sense that even nature mourns the

shown as an awkward child in ill-fitting, hand-me-down clothes dead patriarch. In the beginning of the chapter, Úrsula, knowing

with "female buttocks," which he inherits from his biological her son is a prisoner of war, hears his voice, his signal to her

mother. Because of the omniscient narrator, the reader knows that he's alive. Both Úrsula and Colonel Aureliano Buendía have

his only friend was a ghost and he cried "in secret." With this premonitions. Both of their intuitions are inconsistent. Pilar is

intimate knowledge of characters, the story examines the only person who can tap into their psychic faculties at will.

masculinity. When a messenger, disguised as a woman and

After José Arcadio dies in the house that he and Rebeca
armed with one of Colonel Aureliano Buendía's gold fish,
rented after Úrsula banished them, a drop of blood from his
delivers Arcadio war orders, Arcadio is suspicious. Instead, he
gunshot wound travels across town to his mother's house. It
ignores the advice and 350 soldiers die. The proud and
avoids the rugs to keep from staining them and goes into the
masculine dictator that he is, Arcadio will not take orders from
kitchen, where she prepares bread. An incredibly long
a woman—or in this case, a man disguised as a woman—but
sentence displays how much distance the blood travels to
chooses instead to act according to his own volition, leading to
notify the matriarch. Úrsula then follows the blood in another

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 20

long sentence and distance to discover her son's body in his antagonist by consistently disrupting the harmony of the
bedroom. The combination of a fantastical image of a son's family. As an adult she has a responsibility, as guardian, not to
blood seeking its mother with the long sentences shows the cross the line of familial love with Aureliano José. When he
depth of familial love. confronts her, she reasons that she fears their children will be
born with a pig tail, mirroring Úrsula's fear. He responds,
mirroring José Arcadio Buendía's sentiment, "I don't care if
Chapter 8 they're born as armadillos." This mirroring between generations
illustrates the theme of past and present. After the possibility
of romantic love with Amaranta disappears, Aureliano José

Summary withdraws from the family.

When General Moncada is jailed, the town's mothers complain.

After Aureliano José—the son of Colonel Aureliano Buendía
Úrsula is the last to speak, threatening the power of a mother
and Pilar—begins shaving, Amaranta pursues a sexual
to whip her sons when they are wrong. Despite her resonating
relationship with him. When Amaranta realizes her mistake—an
words, General Moncada is scheduled for execution. The
"autumnal passion"—she ends the affair. Aureliano José,
mothers' disapproval illustrates Colombia's unsettling history
completing military training, moves to the barracks.
through the symbol of Macondo.

When the parties seem "on the verge" of reaching armistice,

Colonel Aureliano Buendía orders Colonel Gerineldo Márquez
to leave with him and "five of his best men," including Aureliano Chapter 9
José, for an uprising. In his years-long absence, he leads many
revolts, and José Raquel Moncada, a Conservative, becomes
mayor of Macondo. Aureliano José returns, determined to Summary
marry Amaranta. She avoids and then discourages him by
locking him out of her bedroom permanently. Colonel Gerineldo Márquez tires of the war and finds solace in
visiting Amaranta in her sewing room. After four years of
Over 12 years, 17 different mothers bring sons of Colonel courtship, she refuses his proposal. When Colonel Aureliano
Aureliano Buendía to Úrsula to be baptized. While at the Buendía returns to Macondo "at the most critical moment of
movies, Aureliano José is murdered by Captain Aquiles the war," he withdraws and his relationship with Colonel
Ricardo, who has taken over "municipal power." He is Gerineldo Márquez suffers.
immediately shot to death. José Raquel Moncada assumes
power again. When Colonel Aureliano Buendía, "condemned to After organizing and leading a second rebellion group, Colonel
death," attacks the Conservative Party, General Moncada is Aureliano Buendía loses sight of himself and develops an "inner
ordered to resist. He's captured trying to escape. coldness." When the commission arrives for an interview, he
betrays the Liberal Party by signing a treaty to appease the
opposing Conservatives, which goes against everything he
Analysis fought for and believed in. When Colonel Gerineldo Márquez is
sentenced to death, Úrsula denounces Colonel Aureliano
Much of the chapter outlines the many religious, economic, Buendía, which catapults him into reflection. He rescues his
political, and educational changes that occur in Macondo. An friend from jail to continue their war.
extremely long paragraph that spans a few pages begins with
José Raquel Moncada wishing Colonel Aureliano Buendía was With the approach of armistice, Colonel Aureliano Buendía
a Conservative. Eventually, the enemies forge a friendship and returns, distracted and drained from the brutal year. He
Aureliano José returns. Amaranta enters the room and the attends the day of the armistice. After the document is signed,
previously romantic relatives face each other. This seamless Colonel Aureliano Buendía shoots himself in the heart.
transition accentuates the political climate's effect on family. Because his doctor circled his heart with the intent to save his
life, Colonel Aureliano Buendía lives and makes a full recovery.
Even though Amaranta is a Buendía, she serves as an His mother prepares the house for his return, which

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 21

reinvigorates the family. When Aureliano Segundo begins sleeping with a woman his
brother also sees, he keeps it a secret. After they both fall sick
and heal, Aureliano Segundo remains with Petra and becomes
Analysis rich.

After organizing the second assembly of the principal rebel José Arcadio Segundo introduces French women to the town,
commanders, the author uses magic realism to display the who promote a carnival, and Remedios the Beauty is named
change that occurs in Colonel Aureliano Buendía who loses the queen. The carnival is attended by Fernanda del Carpio,
himself in the "solitude of his power." His soldiers take matters the royal guard, and Macondo. Someone yells, "Long live the
into their own hands, killing those who they believe are making Liberal party!" Afterward, the royal guard shoots up the
him unhappy, giving the impression that his power is out of his carnival. The twins carry the queens to safety.
control.

While he destroys all evidence of himself except for Analysis

Remedios's daguerreotype, which Úrsula forbids him to touch,
the narrator likens his action to the ceremony of his father The theme of past and present is explored further with the
burying the weapon he kills Prudencio Aguilar with. This "mischievous" twins. Úrsula notices by observing the past
contributes to the theme of past and present. A son repeating generations that a child's name determines their attributes.
the actions of his father contributes to the circularity of the She notes Aurelianos are "withdrawn" and "lucid" while José
Buendías' existence. Arcadios are ambitious, obsessive, and "marked with a tragic
sign." The chapter explores their development, which supports
When Colonel Aureliano Buendía attempts suicide, Úrsula Úrsula's belief that the twins have changed identities. Aureliano
uncovers a pot of milk to discover worms inside and assumes Segundo becomes gigantic, and José Arcadio Segundo is
that the Conservative Party has killed her "Aureliano." This skinny. Magic realism possibly explains José Arcadio Buendía's
moment, full of premonition, displays Úrsula's motherly love. reason for talking to himself. When Úrsula discovers Aureliano
Since committing to the Liberal Party he is known as Colonel Segundo talking to the ghost of Melquíades, she likens him to
Aureliano Buendía, or Colonel. That Úrsula simply calls him her deceased husband.
Aureliano shows the bond, her grief, and the magic of
motherhood. The circularity that is seen with names is also displayed in
Colonel Aureliano Buendía, who dedicates himself to making
gold fishes again. The colonel uses gold coins, a symbol of the
Chapter 10 Spanish Golden Age, which he melts and makes into fishes.
After completing the process, he exchanges the gold fishes for
more gold coins: "an exasperating vicious circle." He enjoys the

Summary task because the tedium distracts him from thinking about war,
but his hobby gives his character a ghostlike quality: stuck in a
lifeless loop.
When José Arcadio Segundo asks to see an execution and his
brother Aureliano Segundo asks to access Melquíades's room,
The political unrest of Macondo, which symbolizes the turmoil
Úrsula wonders if the twins, who trick others by switching
of Colombia, is shown in the "bloody carnival." Thirty-nine are
places, have swapped places accidentally. After reading
injured or dead. Yet the chapter ends with romantic love. After
Melquíades's stories, Aureliano Segundo asks Úrsula if they
a six-month mourning and healing period, Aureliano Segundo
are true, which she confirms. While studying the manuscripts,
finds Fernanda and marries her. In the same sentence, the
the ghost of Melquíades visits Aureliano Segundo, and only he
flowers on the mass grave containing those who died in the
can see him. When José Arcadio Segundo takes an interest in
massacre finally wither, and Aureliano Segundo and
church, Colonel Gerineldo Márquez is upset by his
Fernanda's wedding celebration lasts 20 days, complicating
Conservative values, while Úrsula hopes religion enters the
the plot by contrasting the political madness with a personal
house.
milestone.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 22

hears the train approaching, she is scared by the sound of "a

Chapter 11 kitchen dragging a village behind it." The railroad symbolizes
progress and the future but also brings with it an increase in
population and its associated problems.
Summary
After two months of marriage, Fernanda leaves Macondo Chapter 12
because Aureliano Segundo has initiated an affair with Petra.
When Fernanda confronts him, he claims it's only to secure
fortune through the luck she brings with his animals, and the
three ignore the reality of their situation.
Summary
Because of Fernanda's "rigidity," the environment of the The railroad introduces new things and people to Macondo

Buendía house and the family dynamics change. After Úrsula weekly. When Hotel Jacob is full, Aureliano Segundo invites

becomes blind and weak due to age, Fernanda takes control of visitors to stay at the Buendías'. When Mr. Herbert appears in

the house. She gives birth to a son and daughter by her their dining room, he eats every banana while examining the

husband, José Arcadio and Meme. fruit. Shortly after, his colleagues arrive to study the land.
Before a year passes, the original inhabitants hardly recognize
When Colonel Aureliano Buendía is honored with a jubilee, his Macondo.
17 sons stay with the family. When each leaves with a
permanent Ash Wednesday cross on their head and a gold fish A year after Mr. Herbert's initial visit, the town learns of the

from their father, Aureliano Triste stays and begins an ice plans to plant banana trees in the "enchanted region." Two

factory. When the Aurelianos return, Aureliano Centeno stays more of the Aurelianos arrive. Remedios the Beauty continues

and improves production at the ice factory. To expand the bewitching men. While helping fold sheets one day, she floats

business, Aureliano Triste leaves and, eventually, returns with a to heaven.

train.
After Colonel Aureliano Buendía, angry at the development,
claims to plan another war, all of his sons are executed, except
Aureliano Amador. He disappears in the mountains. Colonel
Analysis Aureliano Buendía mourns for three months, then seeks
Colonel Gerineldo Márquez's support in ending the war they
This chapter explores the backgrounds of Fernanda and Petra.
began. Márquez refuses.
Guided by a "spiritual adviser," Fernanda carries a calendar
with little gold keys. It lists 42 days when the couple can have
physical contact. Gold, a symbol of the Spanish Golden Age
and its influences, estranges the spouses. Aureliano Segundo
Analysis
seeks out Petra to continue their lustful relationship.
The polarities alluded to in the previous chapter's last sentence

Magical elements appear throughout the chapter, which are explored further in this chapter. Macondo's changes and

support the theme of magic realism. Before the Aurelianos period of adjustment are outlined as the town is flooded with

leave, Amaranta takes them to Ash Wednesday mass. Later, "foreigners," then electricity, and finally, the banana company.

after scrubbing with numerous objects and products, they The effects on Macondo's original inhabitants consist of "a

discover the crosses on their foreheads are permanent, an permanent alternation between excitement and

ominous target. disappointment, doubt and revelation."

This chapter introduces the railroad, symbolic of Macondo's The changes affect the family, both past and present. The train

transition into a thriving hub, to the village. When Aureliano takes the place of the gypsy caravan of yore. Colonel

Triste draws a diagram of how to connect with the outside Aureliano Buendía withdraws from the visitors and into his

world, Úrsula, again, suffers déjà vu, overlapping the past and workshop. José Arcadio Buendía's ghost begins pacing the

present. When a villager, hand-washing laundry in the river, house again, invoking the theme of magic realism. An

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 23

encampment of zinc-roofed houses and a separate town for

mansions with "palm trees" and "screened windows" are
Analysis
erected, symbolizing Colombia's colonization.
As the Buendía matriarch's eyesight deteriorates, her
Remedios the Beauty's attractiveness possesses men. Her clairvoyance strengthens. Through deep motherly love, she
beauty and presence have magical elements. Úrsula recognizes Colonel Aureliano Buendía's "incapacity to love," as
quarantines her, making the 17 Aurelianos sleep elsewhere. No well as Amaranta's "hardness of heart" and "concentrated
matter what she does, even shaving her head, her beauty and bitterness." She realizes the only child who has the bravery she
scent disturbs others. When a man climbs onto the roof to tried to cultivate in her family is Rebeca—their adopted,
watch her bathe, he tries to jump down into the bathroom, estranged child—and suffers guilt over turning her away.
against her warning, and falls to his death. Because of the
Colonel Aureliano Buendía witnesses several signs of his
violence she causes, people believe she has "powers of death,"
impending demise. On the day of his death, Santa Sofía de la
and she remains alone because no one can love her, causing
Piedad asks him the day, October 11th. It makes him recall a
her to move in a "restless circle." This restlessness is created
lover who died next to him in bed on the same day. The
with a long paragraph detailing her daily existence, which
moments preceding his death are full of images foreshadowing
spans over two full pages, in which she sleeps and eats
his end. When he counts the gold fishes, there are 17, the same
according to her "whims," and between her whims indulges in a
number of his sons who were tagged by permanent ash
"ceremonial" bathroom routine.
crosses for extermination. The labeling and the murder
suggests corruption in the church. During his siesta, he dreams
a recurring dream set in a house that recalls his father's vision
Chapter 13 before death, a house filled with identical rooms. The first thing
he sees in the approaching circus is a woman dressed in gold,
a symbol of the Spanish Golden Age, which he has rebelled
Summary against most of his life.

Learning she has cataracts prior to the birth of her great-

great-grandson, Úrsula hides her blindness because she wants Chapter 14
to remain involved. With her failing eyesight, she perceives the
truth about her children. She is distressed that she can't help
José Arcadio become Pope, and he leaves for seminary.
Summary
As "banana fever" calms Aureliano Segundo, an overseer for
the banana company, he prefers Petra's company to The town mourns for Colonel Aureliano Buendía. During
Fernanda's. From his time with Petra his business prospers, Meme's last summer vacation, Aureliano Segundo stays at the
and they continue entertaining. When he challenges "The Buendía house, and Fernanda conceives Amaranta Úrsula.
Elephant," he loses consciousness and, fearing death, asks to Because of Meme's clavichord talent and success, Fernanda
be taken to Fernanda. allows her a social life, and Meme befriends the Americans.

After he heals, fond feelings return for his wife, and he spends While Amaranta sews her shroud and Úrsula succumbs to
more time with her. Colonel Aureliano Buendía stops selling his blindness, Fernanda maintains power in the house. Hoping
gold fishes and withdraws from the family. José Arcadio Rebeca dies before her, Amaranta sews her shroud first. When
Segundo returns home, and Úrsula is certain the twins have Rebeca doesn't die, Amaranta tries to prolong her own life by
switched identities. During the carnival parade, Colonel delaying the completion of her shroud. After Amaranta's death,
Aureliano Buendía dies while urinating in the courtyard. Úrsula doesn't get up again, and Santa Sofía de la Piedad
cares for her.

After Amaranta's mourning period, Meme sleeps with Mauricio

Babilonia. When Fernanda catches Meme kissing someone at

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 24

the movies, she forbids her to leave the house. After statements of officials, and authorizes the soldiers to shoot the
suspecting Meme is meeting Babilonia in the shower, Fernanda crowd. They kill over 3,000 people. José Arcadio Segundo
asks the mayor to place a guard next to their chicken coop. He wakens on a train among the dead and jumps to safety. After
shoots and paralyzes Meme's lover. walking back to Macondo, he discovers no one will speak of
the tragedy. Santa Sofía de la Piedad hides him in Melquíades's
old room. A proclamation is released granting the workers their
Analysis wishes, to be implemented after the rain. When soldiers search
the house, they're unable to find José Arcadio Segundo, who
Due to Fernanda's "strictness," Meme prefers the values and knows the war is over and dedicates himself to deciphering
company of her father's concubine over her mother. While Melquíades's manuscripts.
drunk on cane liquor and empowered by time spent with a
female friend, Meme experiences a "rare feeling of bravery."
She wants to run away from school and abandon the Analysis
clavichord. When Fernanda questions her, she tells Fernanda
and Amaranta, who don't speak to one another, "I was only Fernanda's character is a contrast to Úrsula's. Úrsula wants
now discovering how much I loved you both." She is, of course, her daughters to stay at home, so she allows them
being sarcastic, and this shows how much the two active relationships and keeps watch. Severe Fernanda not only
women of the house have negatively affected the family. denies Meme romantic love but also orders her daughter to
accompany her. Meme, who hasn't spoken since Mauricio
Rebellious Meme, modern in her thinking and actions, still Babilonia is shot, obeys. Fernanda takes her daughter to the
suffers at the hand of Fernanda. When her mother notices the convent where Fernanda was raised. The lovers die of old age,
yellow butterflies at night, which represent "bad luck" to her, mute. While returning from her hometown, Fernanda notices
she spies on Meme. Connecting her showers, the mustard the rising "tension."
plasters for preventing pregnancy, and the man, without
consulting anyone Fernanda kills her daughter's spirit by The rising political discomfort coincides with the fate she
meddling in her romantic love. By manipulating the authorities, delivers the Buendías: Fernanda, an antagonist, tells José
Fernanda has Meme's lover maimed while her daughter waits Arcadio that Meme is dead. She considers killing Aureliano but
"naked and trembling with love among the scorpions and instead hides him from others. It takes Aureliano Segundo
butterflies." In this case, the yellow butterflies are a symbol of three years to learn of the child's existence.
imperialism and do bring bad luck to the family.
Fernanda's suffocating motherly love, steeped in tradition, is
also contrasted with Santa Sofía de la Piedad. She hides her

Chapter 15 son in Melquíades's room for his safety, not out of shame. She
feeds him and tries to conceal him, even when faced with
potential death. At José Arcadio Segundo's urging, she
promises to verify that he's dead before he is buried. He fears
Summary being buried alive by the Conservative Party, a lingering trauma
from surviving and escaping the invisible train of dead bodies.
When Meme's baby is delivered to the Buendía house,
Fernanda convinces Santa Sofía de la Piedad she found him.
After quitting his supervisor position, José Arcadio Segundo
encourages the employees to strike. Someone tries to kill him
Chapter 16
because he's identified as contributing to the "international
conspiracy against public order." The union leaders are jailed
and released. Summary
Under martial law the workers rebel, and "authorities" ask the The rain continues for several years. To busy himself, Aureliano
workers to gather in the square to mediate the conflict. An Segundo fixes the Buendía house. After discovering "little
army lieutenant asks the crowd for silence, reads the Aureliano" (Aureliano [II]), he cares for him and his sister,

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 25

Amaranta Úrsula, and entertains them with stories. Anxious she mistakes him for his brother José Arcadio Segundo
about her inability to physically reconcile with her husband, because he's lost so much weight.
Fernanda corresponds with invisible doctors for her uterine
pain, which Úrsula mistakes for intestinal trouble. When
Colonel Gerineldo Márquez passes, Úrsula, at the door, yells Chapter 17
"my son" to him and alludes to her death.

Worried about his animals, Aureliano Segundo returns to

Petra's. When he arrives, one mule has left. He stays for three
Summary
months.
While reviving their lottery business, Petra and Aureliano
When Fernanda nags Aureliano Segundo about the waning Segundo host a weekly fair. As Úrsula loses lucidity, she
food supply, he avoids her. In an outburst, he smashes shrinks and passes away on Good Friday.
everything he can break, then returns with food. When Úrsula
When birds begin flying into things, the residents of Macondo
begins losing a sense of reality, Aureliano Segundo hires
suspect another plague has arrived. At Easter Mass, Father
diggers and seeks guidance with Pilar's cards, searching for
Antonio Isabel announces the arrival of a creature they call the
the buried gold. After an earthquake, the rain clears, and the
Wandering Jew. At first they distrust him, but when a woman
inhabitants are left to repair the damage from "banana fever."
spots tracks, they vow to capture it. They catch the "monster"
When Aureliano Segundo returns to Petra's, she's making
in a pit covered with leaves. After displaying it, the town burns
lottery tickets for the last mule.
it.

At the end of the year Rebeca dies, and the gypsies return.
Analysis While Fernanda sleeps, the invisible doctors operate but they
can't find anything wrong. José Arcadio Segundo discovers
The master of magic realism balances magical elements with
that the manuscripts are written in Sanskrit. When Aureliano
realism. In the previous chapter, to avoid giving the banana
Segundo realizes he's dying, he earns enough money to send
workers what they deserve and what the company has
his daughter to school in Brussels. Shortly after Amaranta
promised, Mr. Brown "unleash[es]" a storm. To accentuate the
Úrsula leaves, the twins die simultaneously.
unlikeliness of rain, it's mentioned the area had been suffering
a drought. The opening sentence of the chapter begins, "It
rained for four years, eleven months, and two days." The
Analysis
preciseness of this statement encourages doubtful readers to
believe.
In this chapter, the house is renovated three times:

The rain even softens some of Fernanda's edges. When she

After the rain, Úrsula restores it.
realizes that her husband reacts to Aureliano's hidden identity
When José Arcadio announces he's returning after his final
with the "fine pleasure of a grandfather," she regrets hiding
vows, Fernanda renovates.
him. For unexplained reasons, the two don't speak of his
After Úrsula's passing, the Buendía house is ignored until
identity or tell others.
Amaranta Úrsula revives it.

After Aureliano Segundo notices his physical looks are

The house tracks the deterioration of the Buendía family and
changing—aging and losing weight from his entertaining
Macondo. When Úrsula wants to clean the chamber pot room,
days—his character begins changing, too. He takes a more
Melquíades's old room where José Arcadio Segundo hides,
active role in the children's lives. His romantic relationships
Santa Sofía de la Piedad detours her. After three days they let
evolve. When he's "thinking about Petra Cotes without
her in. When Úrsula tells José Arcadio Segundo to help his
quivering," he realizes his primarily sexual relationship has
twin, he rants about the hidden massacre, and Úrsula realizes
changed. When he initiates lovemaking, she refuses pleasantly,
that he's "in a world of shadows more impenetrable than hers."
insisting they're too old. When he returns to Petra for good,

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 26

When Aureliano Segundo hears what had happened to appreciation. After Aureliano Segundo's death, Petra continues
Macondo—the banana company took advantage of the thriving sending Fernanda food—first out of spite, then out of ego, then
village and corrupted it—he recalls his twin's story. Even out of platonic, human love.
though everyone thinks José Arcadio Segundo is crazy, he's
described as the "most lucid inhabitant of the house." The act In the story the power of names is explored, their repetition

of renovating the house becomes a form of denial and working like logic. In this chapter, a similar effect is created

circularity. When the gypsies return, they introduce the same with rooms. When José Arcadio moves into Meme's old room,

inventions they brought at the beginning of the narrative. he takes on qualities she exhibited while living there: the
restless lovesickness in his pacing and breathing. Also
adopting qualities of Remedios the Beauty in his bathing ritual

Chapter 18 and minimalistic clothing, he displays Meme's obsessiveness in

his repetitive thoughts of Amaranta, who initiated an
incestuous relationship with him during baths. After falling in
love with Mauricio Babilonia, Meme never went a day without
Summary thinking about him. This quality is shown in José Arcadio's
differing actions that are haunted by the same thoughts, in life
Aureliano (II) immerses himself in Melquíades's manuscripts. At
and death, and represent unrequited love:
Melquíades's suggestion, Aureliano asks Santa Sofía de la
Piedad to buy a primer from the Catalonian's bookstore for "pacing, breathing like a cat and thinking about Amaranta"
translating. After her sons die, Santa Sofía de la Piedad admits "floated on his back ... remembering Amaranta"
her exhaustion. She leaves to live with family in Riohacha. "bloated and still thinking about Amaranta"
Aureliano (II) assumes the domestic chores while Fernanda,
believing elves are toying with her, loses touch with reality and
time. Chapter 19
It takes three years for Aureliano (II) to translate the first sheet.
When Melquíades recommends more books from the
Catalonian's, Aureliano waits until he finds Fernanda dead. He Summary
visits the bookstore and attempts to pay with a gold fish, but
the Catalonian gives him the books. Determined to rescue Macondo, Amaranta Úrsula returns with
a husband, Gaston. After two years, Gaston, uncomfortable,
José Arcadio returns and restores Meme's room. To distract resurrects an old project, developing "an airmail service" for a
himself, he entertains kids at the house who, while snooping, remote area, which he adjusts for Macondo. While studying the
discover the gold. After the four children destroy the house, area, inhabitants become suspicious of his plans, fearing
José Arcadio orders them to leave. While José Arcadio bathes, another banana company. After a year, he waits for a plane
the four children break in, murder him, and steal the gold. sent by his business partners in Brussels.

With Amaranta Úrsula home, Aureliano (II) alters his routine to

Analysis be near her, visiting the bookstore and wandering the town.
When sounds of the newlyweds' lovemaking drive him mad, he
Even though these last chapters are filled with death, there's begins an affair with Nigromanta. During a bookstore visit,
much evidence of the theme of love, too. Santa Sofía de la Aureliano, at the Catalonian's prodding, makes friends and
Piedad, an example of motherly love, fulfills her promise to ignores Melquíades's pages.
ensure that José Arcadio Segundo is dead by cutting his
When Aureliano returns to the manuscript, Amaranta Úrsula,
throat. After outliving her kids, she leaves Macondo. Even
lonely, begins visiting him. When he confesses his feelings, she
though she's a minor character, she's a positive one:
is disgusted and decides to leave for Belgium. He finds comfort
hardworking, respectful, pleasant. When she says goodbye
in Pilar's company. When she, knowing the "unavoidable
with a peso and 25 cents, Aureliano gives her 14 of the 16 gold
repetitions" of the family, informs him that Amaranta Úrsula is
fishes, a symbol of his familial love and a sign of his

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Chapter Summaries 27

"waiting for" him, he pursues her. Pregnant, Amaranta Úrsula remembers Aureliano's mysterious
identity. Fearing they're siblings, he unsuccessfully searches
the town's baptism records. In denial, they accept Fernanda's
Analysis lie. Their son Aureliano (III) is born with a pig tail. Distracted by
Amaranta Úrsula's excessive bleeding, they shrug it off, and
After attending school in Brussels, Amaranta Úrsula's return Amaranta Úrsula dies the next day. Heartbroken, Aureliano
creates tension. The modern girl judges Macondo, which often leaves to drink.
rejects modernity and is negatively affected by development. In
turn, the newlyweds, outsiders, are also judged and When he returns, ants carry his dead baby away, recalling
misunderstood. There are constant references to Gaston with Melquíades's epigraph about the end of their line. He realizes
a "silk rope tied around his neck," a beautiful metaphor for a tie. the manuscript is about his family written a century prior. As
Yet Amaranta Úrsula is still a Buendía. Her intuition is directed winds blow the house away, he learns about his conception,
toward fashion. In the renovations, she rids the house of the that Amaranta Úrsula is not his sister but his aunt. While
clutter of the past—"superstition." Out of respect for Úrsula, reading his fate, the winds wipe the Buendías and Macondo
she keeps Remedios's daguerreotype, the same reason from existence and memory.
Colonel Buendía kept it, but not without mocking it, "A
fourteen-year-old grandmother!"
Analysis
Both of Amaranta Úrsula's relationships are problematic.
Because of her devotion to Macondo, Gaston agrees to The theme of love, combined with the theme of past and
accompany her on the condition that she marry him. He thinks present, help complete the circle, which the entire family has
her love of the place will fade, and when it does, he hopes to avoided up to this point. The Buendía line begins with Úrsula
return to Europe. Amaranta Úrsula, a strong woman, is also and José Arcadio Buendía, who marry despite being cousins.
pursued by her brother Aureliano (II) despite her calling him a Their knowledge of a similar relationship in their family bearing
"fool," despite saying she's moving back to Europe, and despite a son with a pig tail haunts them and prevents them from
her fighting off his sexual advances. Because she lets her consummating their marriage, mostly because of Úrsula's fear.
guard down for a moment—"frightened by what she herself The matriarch spends her entire life trying to ensure the
had made possible, it was too late"—and because of a vague harmonious survival of their line, but shortly after she passes,
suggestion from Pilar, Aureliano rapes her, sealing the tragic the line ends with a pig-tailed son.
fate of the Buendías.
As Aureliano (II) and Amaranta Úrsula withdraw from the world
into the bedroom, the house begins to rot. While Macondo, a

Chapter 20 symbol of Colombia's sad history, is in disarray, the house,

through all of its renovations and revivals, is a physical
representation of the Buendía line and its health. The ants take
over. Even though the "noise of the red ants" is loud enough to
Summary disturb sleep, the couple is happy "in their delirium" as the
house crumbles around them. The only room they protect is
The Catalonian sells his bookstore and leaves. He begins
the porch and Fernanda's bedroom, representative of their
corresponding with Germán and Aureliano (II). The Catalonian
lustful, incestuous relationship that Fernanda, in a way, fosters
urges them to leave, and they eventually obey. Aureliano and
with her actions and lies. Because of the theme of magic
Amaranta Úrsula begin an affair. When Gaston goes to
realism, Fernanda's guilty conscience is shown with the image
Brussels, their relationship accelerates.
of her "bones trembl[ing] with horror in her grave."

Gaston writes to say his return might take two years. Amaranta
Úrsula ignores the likeliness of it. When Gaston announces his
return, Amaranta Úrsula, wanting "death before separation,"
admits her attachment to Aureliano. Gaston sends an
unexpected, calm response.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Quotes 28

He asks her why she's visiting. She sullenly tells him he'd "be
g Quotes good in war," which he welcomingly accepts before telling her
that their child will take his name.

"Time put things in their place."

"You don't deserve the last name
— Narrator, Chapter 2
you carry."
After Úrsula leaves Macondo to find José Arcadio and bring
— A patron at Catarino's, Chapter 6
him home, José Arcadio Buendía and Colonel Aureliano
Buendía, with Pilar's and a nurse's help, care for Amaranta and
the home. After several months, they return to their abandoned When power has a terrible effect on Arcadio's character,
alchemy project. This also foreshadows the role of fate in the strangers and family are ashamed of him.
Buendía family's existence.

"Many of them did not even know

"Children inherit their parents' why they were fighting."
madness."
— Narrator, Chapter 10
— Úrsula, Chapter 3

After many years of war turns Colonel Aureliano Buendía cold,

When José Arcadio Buendía worries Colonel Aureliano he assembles another rebellion, taking anyone who will fight
Buendía is spending too much time in the laboratory, Úrsula and losing sight of his original goal.
dismisses him by pointing out their likeness.

"I don't need cards to tell the

"Love is a disease." future of a Buendía."
— José Arcadio Buendía, Chapter 4
— Pilar, Chapter 15

When Colonel Aureliano Buendía confesses his love for

After Meme meets Mauricio Babilonia, she seeks Pilar's
Remedios Moscote, his father is angry because she is the
guidance, who is infamous for her keen tarot card readings.
youngest daughter of his only enemy. This also alludes to the
When Meme arrives, Pilar recognizes her and reports what she
repetition of incestuous relationships in the Buendía family.
senses immediately.

"Where you put your eye, you put "It's as if the world were repeating
your bullet." itself."
— Pilar, Chapter 5
— Úrsula, Chapter 16

After a romantic meeting, Pilar watches Colonel Aureliano

When José Arcadio Segundo leaves his position at the banana
Buendía, then simply Aureliano, laboring over his tedious work.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Symbols 29

company to unite with the rebelling workers, Úrsula, afflicted Colombia's controversial history of civil wars, colonialism,
with cataracts, senses the political tension, another example of plantation economy, and industrialization. Because of its
the circularity motif showing that members of one Buendía symbolism and intricate entanglement in the plot, the setting of
generation are affected by another. Macondo, in a way, acts as a major character. In Chapter 1 the
town begins as "twenty adobe houses" along a riverbank—"so
recent that many things lacked names, and ... to indicate
"The spirit of her invincible heart [things] it was necessary to point." As government, religion,
military, and the banana company are introduced, most
guided her through the shadows." inhabitants accept the changes. Others, such as José Arcadio
Buendía, Colonel Aureliano Buendía, and José Arcadio
— Narrator, Chapter 17 Segundo, become ostracized.

As the story comes to its end in Chapters 19 and 20, the

Following Amaranta's death, Úrsula, who vows she will die after inhabitants of Macondo, the Catalonian and four friends, and
the rain stops, restores the house without her family knowing Amaranta Úrsula's imported canaries flee the ruined town.
she is blind. Whoever and whatever remains is annihilated by the
prophesied apocalyptical winds. Once a bustling city, Macondo
has now faded into obscurity, mirroring the growth and demise
"Cease, cows, for life is short." of the Buendía family.

— Aureliano Segundo, Chapter 17

Railroad
At the height of his success and youth, Aureliano Segundo
says this during a party. For his funeral, his friends emblazon
the saying on a wreath for his coffin.
In Chapter 11 of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Aureliano
Triste introduces the railroad as a way to not only expand the
ice factory's business but to connect with the outside world.
"Everything is known." When he proposes it, the inhabitants are bewildered: "That was
the first time the word [railroad] had ever been heard in
— Colonel Aureliano Buendía, Chapter 19 Macondo."

The railroad, a symbol representing Macondo's evolution from

In Aureliano's seclusion, he reads extensively to affirm he
village to bustling city, introduces many modernizing
knows the contents of books. When others question his
technological changes (electricity, film, telephone) and people
encyclopedic knowledge, he repeats this answer.
(travelers, business people). Circularity is once again seen in
the railroad as the modern equivalent to the gypsy caravan
that brought with it instruments and technologies the residents

l Symbols
had never before seen. The changes cause both infatuation
and disgust, creating tension in the area. In Chapter 15, the
railroad station is the site where the army tragically massacres
over 3,000 innocent, unarmed banana workers and their
Macondo families, Macondo's "fatal blow."

For over 100 years the mythical town of Macondo grows,

experiencing advances and setbacks that represent

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Themes 30

Yellow and Gold Past and Present

In One Hundred Years of Solitude, the colors yellow and gold Because characters are haunted by their pasts—decisions,
are symbols of the Spanish Golden Age and imperialism. As history, ghosts, knowledge gained retrospectively—nostalgia
colonialism infiltrates Macondo, it is marked by yellow and gold, complicates their futures. Fernanda del Carpio's upbringing
one of the colors of the flag of present-day Colombia. In affects her expectations, which estranges everyone in the
Chapter 11, the train Aureliano Triste leads into town is yellow. Buendía house. Amaranta Úrsula's memory of home leads her
In Chapter 12, the fruit that is grown and harvested in Macondo back, where her life takes unexpected turns.
is a yellow banana. This banana company unfairly employs
Macondo's people while ravishing the area. With the past and present theme, Gabriel García Márquez
develops a dizzying feeling of circularity by manipulating a
The defeat of characters who rebel against the pressures of linear, forward-moving timeline with flashbacks, backstory, and
power are also connected with the colors. When José Arcadio background information provided by the narrator to catch the
Buendía, who challenges and polices Don Moscote's authority, reader up to the present plot. By including the ghosts of
dies in Chapter 7, it rains yellow flowers. Whenever Colonel characters, Prudencio Aguilar's journey to find and haunt José
Aureliano Buendía withdraws from the Liberal Party and Arcadio Buendía, and recycling characters' names throughout
others, he makes ornate gold fishes to distract his mind from seven generations, the author creates the sense that
the wars. In Chapter 14, Meme's lover—who works for the everything is happening at once, giving another feeling of
banana company and is critically and unjustly shot by one of circularity to the novel. The characters—especially Úrsula and
the mayor's guards—is surrounded by yellow butterflies. Pilar (because they live the longest)—acknowledge events are
repeating, so readers understand that time, the Buendías, and
Macondo are digressing.

m Themes
Magic Realism
Love
Coined by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier in the 1940s, the
term magic realism refers first to a literary genre where
In One Hundred Years of Solitude, love's various forms—lustful authors factually weave the "supernatural" and the "real." The
(Amaranta and Pietro), familial (Fernanda del Carpio and genre exists across cultures and time, but it was popularized
Meme), platonic (José Arcadio Buendía and Melquíades), and by writers from Latin America, including Jorge Luis Borges,
incestuous (Aureliano (II) and Amaranta Úrsula)—drive the Isabel Allende, and of course, Gabriel García Márquez. The
narrative. Lust makes José Arcadio run away. Familial love genre enables writers to pit realities of the postcolonial era
urges José Arcadio Buendía to discover a town to begin anew. (time period following the end of colonization or rule by
It draws characters back to their crumbling village. Sometimes another country as citizens struggle to redefine their cultural
familial love lifts its relatives up to queenly and papal heights. identity) against one another: the colonizers versus the
Sometimes familial love veers into devastating incestuous colonized. Scholars consider magic realism a "natural outcome
relationships. Love's many forms motivate the characters. of postcolonial writing," but the genre can be problematic
because it often leads to polarities that appear to benefit
systemic power. The difficulty for readers lies in being able to
tell the difference between real versus fake and truth versus
lies in matters affecting those in power and those under
oppression.

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Meanings of Names 31

One Hundred Years of Solitude and other works of the genre locals)
allow authors to experiment in different ways. Junot Díaz, a
native of the Dominican Republic and author of the Pulitzer These irritants create conflict and contribute to the fall of the

Prize–winning book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Buendías and Macondo.

views magic realism as a "political tool" that "enables

Caribbean people to see things clearly in their world, a surreal
world where there are more dead than living, more erasure and
silence than things spoken." Nobel and Pulitzer Prize–winning b Meanings of Names
novelist and former colleague of García Márquez, Toni
Morrison, says One Hundred Years of Solitude invited her to As Gabriel García Márquez recounts seven generations of the
write Song of Solomon: García Márquez's book's characters Buendía family, he pays careful attention to character names.
"were on intimate terms with the supernatural world, and that's Family names are repeated, several characters bear a
the way stories were told in my house." namesake, and certain names have futher meaning.

In fictional Macondo, a symbol of a war-torn and postcolonial Aguilar: haunt of eagles

but preindustrialized Colombia, magic realism transcends
Alfonso: noble and ready
genre to represent a unique and thematic worldview. This is a
world that rejects logic and reason and embraces magic,
Álvaro: guard
superstition, and religion as ways of perceiving grim realities
that may appear fantastical in another context. In Macondo, it Amaranta: flower
rains yellow flowers because the patriarch passes, the
insomnia plague is contracted like the common cold, and Ángel: angel
ghosts pass through the house like dinner guests. The blend of
Arcadio: pastoral
magic and realism creates a truth that is more true than reality
alone. Aureliano: golden

Babilonia: Babylon

Identity Carnicero: butcher

Fernanda: adventurous

Macondo's characters search for a sense of Magnífico: magnificent

identity—especially a common cultural identity—which drives
Pilar: pillar
the plot.
Prudencio: good judgment
The only outsider folded into the family is Fernanda, the
family's antagonist, who imports her beliefs and traditions into Remedios: remedies
the house (squashing Úrsula's candy animal business; erasing
her daughter for engaging in a romantic relationship). Other Santa Sofía de la Piedad: Saint Sofía of Piety
outsiders serve as antagonists for the inhabitants of Macondo,
Segundo: second
who share an identity. These outsiders represent the following
aspects of colonialism:
Triste: sad

the government (policing of freedom; political violence and

Úrsula: bear
erasure)
religion (imposed morality; corruption) Visitación: visitation
the banana company (cheap, unethical labor and land)
vacationers (commodification of place at the expense of

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One Hundred Years of Solitude Study Guide Suggested Reading 32

e Suggested Reading
Elie, Paul. "The Secret History of One Hundred Years of
Solitude." Vanity Fair. Condé Nast, 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 31 July
2016.

García Márquez, Gabriel. "The Art of Fiction No. 69." The Paris
Review. Winter 1981. Web. 28 July 2016.

García Márquez, Gabriel. Living to Tell the Tale. Trans. Edith

Grossman. New York: Knopf, 2003. Print.

Kandell, Jonathan. "Gabriel García Márquez, Conjurer of

Literary Magic, Dies at 87." The New York Times. 17 Apr. 2014.
Web. 28 July 2016.

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