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Netflix is adapting One Hundred Years of Solitude, a Nobel Prize-winning novel by Gabriel García Márquez, into a series.
The platform has released its first teaser for the show. Announced by Garcia Marquez's son in 2019, the series enjoyed an exclusive preview by Netflix in October 2022, 40 years after the novel, Cien Años de Soledad was awarded.
Published in 1967, One Hundred Years of Solitude, the Colombian author presented a fiction with fictional characters in a fictional town. The author used illusion to present historical facts and socio-political statements. Considered one of the iconic works in the literary world, the book employs symbolism, magical realism and modernism to tell the story.
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The plot of One Hundred Years of Solitude follows the seven generations of the Buendia family as it starts with a utopian idea and perishes in an attempt to hold on to self-importance. The family establishes a town away from the changing world, and the seclusion destroys the town eventually.
What is the plot of One Hundred Years of Solitude about?
The synopsis of Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude reads:
"Married against their parents' wishes cousins José Arcadio Buendia and Úrsula Iguarán leave their village behind and embark on a long journey in search of a new home.
"Accompanied by friends and adventurers, their journey culminates with the founding of a utopian town on the banks of a river of prehistoric stones that they baptize Macondo."
Going by the synopsis, the setting of the story is utopian and fictional. While the outline reveals other people in the town of Macondo who had accompanied the lead pair, they don't get a spotlight in the story. The synopsis continues:
"Several generations of the Buendia lineage will mark the future of this mythical town, tormented by madness, impossible loves, a bloody and absurd war, and the fear of a terrible curse that condemns them, without hope, to one hundred years of solitude."
As the above lines suggest, the Buendia family tries to evade a curse while looking for love in the wrong direction. While they are witness to wars, they cannot escape the seclusion presented by the town they inhabit.
What is the central idea of the story as per the book?
According to the original book, Cien Años de Soledad, José and Úrsula marry and flee into the forest to live a peaceful life. While José dreams of a city of mirrors, Macondo, that he wants to establish, Úrsula fears the curse of having babies with animal parts as a curse for an incestuous marriage.
He sets up Macondo away from the world next to a river, and befriends a gypsy named Melquiades whose band visits Macondo yearly with scientific innovations from the rest of the world. While José becomes mad with his thoughts, his son, Aureliano Buendia becomes a revolutionary leader in the politics between the Conservative and Liberal parties.
Besides the political parties, the effects of the outer world are also seen in the construction of the railroad and the setting up of the banana plantation. With each generation of Buendias getting caught in misfortunes and perishing, the story comes to the sixth generation.
Illegitimate orphan, Aureliano Babilonia, unknowingly, has an incestuous relationship with his aunt Amaranta. He hopes to change the ruined history of the Buendias when his child is born. Unfortunately, Amaranta dies at childbirth, and the incestuous relationship gives him a child with a pigtail. Left neglected, the newborn is eaten away by ants.
In the ruins of Macondo, Aureliano discovers an ancient manuscript that belonged to the old gypsy Melquiades. As Aureliano starts decoding the book, he reads through the history of his family and the predictions made long ago.
While he reads about how ants will eat the last generation of the doomed lineage, a windstorm wipes him and his town from existence.
How does One Hundred Years of Solitude use symbolism?
In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez used symbolism to present some of the historical events. He used many metaphorical representations, like the Banana massacre of 1928, which was touched upon through José Segundo.
Naming all the characters as José or Aureliano is a metaphor for self-love that the Buendias had for themselves. He has also used mirrors and ice as symbolism. While a city of mirrors represents a self-contained society, ice represents the short-lived and transient parts of life.
The story focusing on one family despite the town having many people, is a symbol of the selfishness of the elite. For Gabriel García Márquez, the Buendia family depicts the decadent elites of the society.
What is Gabriel García Márquez's famed magic realism?
Gabriel García Márquez has successfully used magic realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
The term refers to using supernatural references blended with realistic situations. Quite popular in the literary world, this form of style uses magical elements to present realistic views.
Marquez used magical fantasy in the real world. While his setting is a fictional town with unknown locations, the banana plantations and railroads are real historical events woven into the setting. Again, he refers to the mysterious misfortunes of the family but displays a lack of judgment and prudence among the characters.
At the end of the story of Cien Años de Soledad, the pre-destined end of the Buendia family and the child with a pig's tail are myths. However, he justified them to put his message of social fabric and elitism across.
Watch the teaser of One Hundred Years of Solitude brought out by Netflix on April 17, 2024.
