TIME+AS+A+MAJOR+THEME

BY: MEGAN HAHLBEBCK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude The thing I really focused on in this page about the book was the major theme of time that Gabriel Garcia Marquez explores. In 100 Years of Solitude, time is essentially a methaphor. Throughout the book, Marquez repeats, stops, speeds up, and relapses time. Sometimes he uses all the methods at once. He explores time in basically three different ways. One way to look at the story is as a timeline of events and the time passes by the order of events. The second way is to look at it as a circle. There are six generations in the story, and in each new generation, the circle starts over again, starting time all over again. An example of this is how the same names are used (Jose Arcadio and Aureliano) and how with each name, there are certain characteristics that appear over and over again. All the Jose Arcadios are very physically strong, think rationally, and scientifically. All the Aurelianos are more quiet and withdrawn. However, they are all very curious and intense in their thinking. The last way to look at the story is in a timelessness, like there is no time. An example given is the alchemkist laboratory attached to their home. It never changes and is always used by the men to have some peace and quiet and to study.

I think it's important to understand this theme of time. It's going to be reoccuring throughout the book and I think we'll be able to draw a lot more conclusions knowing about Marquez's use of time. For me, the most interesting aspect of this was about the families and how time is going in a circular motion. Knowing that every Jose has certain qualities and every Aureliano has other certain qualities will help us make predictions about the characters and upcoming events. We might also better understand why some things happened the way they did based on the character's personalities. Already in the first chapter the time has bounced back and forth a little bit. It starts with the son, Colonel Aureliano staring at the firing squad, and the last thing he's thinking about is when his father takes him to go see the ice. Then, there is almost a flashback, and now the point of view is with the father, Jose. The chapter then describes his love of the gypsies' inventions and how he studies and makes a few scientific discoveries. Then, at the end of the chapter he takes his sons, Aureliano and Jose, to go see the newest display, which turned out to be ice. Then, it fast forwards again, to when Colonel hears the word "fire" and can only picture "that warm March afternoon on which his father had interrupted the lesson in physics...listening to the gypsies...coming into the village once more, announcing the latest and most startling discovery". When I first read the chapter, I was a little confused with the flashbacks and change of point of view, but now after reading about Marquez's use of time, it makes a lot more sense to me, and hopefully this will help the other students as well.

I researched the theme of time a little further, and found this lecture on 100 Years of Solitude.  [|http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/introser/marquez.htm] This lecture mostly covers the idea of the linear vs. circular time throughout the story. For linear time, the lercturer describes how the history of the city, Macondo, is all linear. Time is expressed in the way of the "outsiders" coming and, by what kind of inventions they bring, the reader can tell what time period the city is in. The city's history was also broken down into four main time periods. The first was being the utopian stage, when the city is all new and innocent. The second being the military struggles with civil war and revolution. The third stage was of economic prosperity and spirtiual decline. The last was the full physical destruction of the city. For the circular time, the idea of the reoccuring characteristics of the family was brought up again and how every Jose and every Aureliano all have the same kind of preordained death.

I thought this was important because it gave a little more background on the idea of time throughout the novel. The lecture gave some really interesting information about the history of the city which can help our class understand the book better and maybe make better predictions. Since we know the book will end with the city's demise, we can probably guess the climax and falling action better as well. Also, knowing that the characters die in similiar ways according to their names will help us make connections and better analyze the story.