Study Questions

1. What does García Márquez means by his closing comment that "races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth"?

2. How does the introduction of technology affect the town?

3. Explain the negative or positive influence of the government in Macondo.

4. What kind of place is Macondo, describe how it changes during the course and events of the novel?

5. José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán not want to consummate their marriage. Why? Explain their fears. Were their fears justified?

6. Compare the roles of women versus men in this novel.

7. What is the meaning of "solitude" in the novel?

8. What were the political and social differences between Liberals and Conservatives? Why were they constantly fighting? How different were their actions?

COMMENT ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

The study of literature is not like the study of math or science, or even history. While those disciplines are based largely upon fact, the study of literature is based upon interpretation and analysis. There are no clear-cut answers in literature, outside of the factual information about an author's life and the basic information about setting and characterization in a piece of literature. The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; each
person brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading. As a result, no two people see the piece of literature in exactly the same light, and few critics agree on everything about a book or an author.

In this study guide for a well-known piece of literature, we have tried to give an objective literary analysis based upon the information actually found in the novel, book, or play. In the end, however, it is an individual interpretation, but one that we feel can be readily supported by the information that is presented in the guide. In your course of literature study, you or your professor/teacher may come up with a different interpretation of the mood or the theme or the conflict. Your interpretation, if it can be logically supported with information contained within the piece of literature, is just as correct as ours. So is the interpretation of your teacher or professor.

Literature is simply not a black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas that are open to varying analyses. Your task is to come up with your own analysis that you can logically defend. Hopefully, these booknotes will help you to accomplish that goal.

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