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1-Page Summary of One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a novel about the isolated town of Macondo and the family that founded it, the Buendías. The founder, José Arcadio Buendía, was impulsive and inquisitive. His descendents inherited these traits for years to come. Eventually, Macondo lost its idyllic state when it established contact with other towns in South America. Civil wars began as a result which brought violence and death to peaceful Macondo, previously untouched by either war or violence. One descendent became Colonel Aureliano Buendía who led the Liberal rebels during this time period and achieved fame because of his actions during this civil war period. Because of him (and other reasons), Macondo changed from an idyllic place into one irrevocably connected to outside world through notoriety associated with Colonel Buendía’s name. Governments changed several times throughout this time period; at one point Arcadio ruled dictatorially until he was shot by a firing squad; later on another mayor was appointed whose reign was peaceful until he too died after being killed in battle during another civil uprising; finally ending with peace treaty being signed between opposing parties after his death ended all hostilities related to previous government changes/conflicts.

The Buendias are a family that experiences many major events throughout the book. Some of these include births, deaths, marriages and love affairs. Most of the men in the family have an extramarital affair at some point in their lives. The women range from those who are more reserved to those who go out and get what they want without any fear or shame.

The family’s destiny for greatness remains alive in their matriarch, Ursula Iguarán. She works hard to keep the family together despite their differences. However, like the rest of Macondo, they are devastated by modernity and imperialism. Imperialism comes in the form of a banana plantation that moves into town and exploits its land and workers with little regard for them or their well-being. Eventually, angry at how they’re being treated, the banana workers go on strike; thousands of them are massacred by an army that sides with the plantation owners. This leads to years of ceaseless rain which eventually causes Macondo to fall apart as it floods—the city is beaten down by violence from both outside sources and within itself until it can’t take anymore. The Buendía family becomes alienated from each other as well as society at large; they become self-destructive due to nostalgia for past days gone by (which will never return). They live out a preordained cycle: great beauty intertwined with great sadness/tragedy because nothing lasts forever…

Chapters 1–2

Chapter 1

One Hundred Years of Solitude begins with Colonel Aureliano Buendía recalling the early days when Macondo was founded. At that time, gypsies frequently visited the town and brought technological marvels to everyone’s amazement. José Arcadio Buendía, the founder of Macondo, became obsessed with these magical implements and started experimenting with science in order to find the secret behind them. He spent his life looking for knowledge and eventually turned into a solitary scientist as he withdrew from human contact and became unkempt, antisocial, and interested only in his pursuit of knowledge. However, at one point during José Arcadio Buendía’s life he did not withdraw from society but instead led people to build their new home where they could live in peace without being bothered by outsiders or death itself.

In his quest for knowledge and progress, José Arcadio Buendía’s obsession shifts to a desire to establish contact with civilization. He leads an expedition to the north, since he knows there is only swamp to the west and south and mountains to the east. But he then decides that Macondo is surrounded by water and inaccessible to the rest of the world. When he plans to move Macondo to another, more accessible place, however, he is stopped by his wife who refuses because she does not want change in their lives. Thwarted from moving Macondo elsewhere or even having children other than José Arcadio (who has inherited his father’s great strength) or Aureliano (later known as Colonel Aureliano Buendía), who seems enigmatic at first but goes on later in life as being withdrawn; when gypsies come back again they bring word that Melquíades died earlier this year after returning from Europe. Despite his sadness at news of Melquíades’ death José Arcadio Buendía still doesn’t lose interest in new technology like ice which was one of many marvels that came about during those times in Latin America where it was still unknown for them seeing how cold it could get down there compared with other parts of South America like Colombia where people were used too seeing colder temperatures so when they saw ice for some reason it seemed like magic just appearing out nowhere without anyone doing anything just magically appeared before them which made things seem pretty interesting at least back then especially when you’re young kid growing up learning all kinds of stuff making you wonder if there isn’t something else out there waiting for us somewhere beyond our reach until we learn how too find its hiding spot between space & time connecting everything together bringing everyone closer together no matter what race color religion sex etc…