Main themes of book "100 Years of Solitude"

Time: For the characters in the novel, time alternatively moves quickly and stagnates for years. In general, children grow up quickly, but when they are adults

Solitude: The words "solitude" or "solitary" appear on almost every page of this novel.

Characters: Jose Arcadio Buendia, Amaranta, Ursula, Aureliano, Jose Arcadio Segundo--are left completely alone, even forgotten, for years at a time. Buendia men named Aureliano are said to have a "solitary" air. And the town itself is isolated and alienated from the outside world. At the very end of the book, the narrator concludes that the Buendias are a race condemned to solitude, and therefore they will not get a second chance. Marquez intends for the theme of solitude to be read in many different ways. It is a protest against the practice of the Western world to "condemn" people of color to solitude, denying them access to the resources of the developed world.

edited image of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, signing in...

19/03/2009 La Ministra de Cultuta de Colombia Paul...

English: map showing incest laws around the world,...

It is also a comment on the nature of man

Incest: Incest is a secondary theme of solitude. It plays an enormous role in the novel, from the very beginning with Ursula's warning that children born of incestuous relationships may be born with the tails of pigs. And indeed, at the very end of the novel, a Buendia is born with the tail of a pig. For most families, incest is not a great threat. The fact that it is something the Buendias have to keep dodging marks them as a family unable to escape the family homestead, unable to look outside themselves.They are too solitary. Essentially, incest is the practice of keeping family members within the family

"Magic Realism": Critics often classify Marquez's writing as "magic realism" because of his combination of the real and the fantastic. The novel carefully balances realistic elements of life,