Allusions In 100 Years Of Solitude

In Gabriel García Márquez’s 100 Years of Solitude, death is something that the town of Macondo had never witnessed. However, as time progressed it seemed that death was something that was constantly reappearing. The deaths that occurred would usually be preceded or succeeded by an event that referenced the bible. Márquez used these biblical references to give the related deaths more meaning.
When looking at the deaths alone they seem unimportant, as if just another character died. However, if you pair the death with the related story in the bible, the death soon becomes more significant. Before we barely get into the book Marquez uses a biblical reference. “The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them

it was necessary to point” (1). From the beginning, Márquez gives the story more meaning through his reference to The Garden of Eden. It relates to The Garden of Eden due to the fact that it was a new place that wasn’t touched by others, everything was new, He takes the town of Macondo and makes it seem as if it has some sort of higher meaning. The narrator then continues to say “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad,” (1). Around that same instance that the reader is made to think about The Garden of Eden, they are told that at some point that death will occur. This is the first time that death and a biblical reference are placed together in the novel.. .
“And then he saw the child.

It was a dry and bloated bag of skin that all the ants in the world were dragging toward their holes along the stone path in the garden.” (445). The instance when the baby is found dead is a shocking death. It was shocking because of the fact that Aureliano left his newborn child all alone while he tried to reveal the manuscript . “Aureliano could not move. Not because he was paralyzed by horror but because at that prodigious instant Melquíades’ final keys were revealed to him and he saw the epigraph of the parchments perfectly placed in the order of man’s time and space: The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants.” (445-446). Márquez takes the death of the child and makes it seem like there is a higher meaning. He has it happen while the manuscript is being revealed so it can be seen as something that was going to happen regardless. Like there was some sort of higher power at hand, other than Melquíades. Melquíades writing the Buendía’s family history before it has even occurred relates him to God, playing off the all knowing aspect. God is all knowing and in this respect so is

Melquíades.
There are many more biblical references throughout Márquez’s novel. “It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days. There were periods of drizzle during which everyone put on his full dress and a convalescent look to celebrate the clearing, but the people soon grew accustomed to interpret the pauses as a sign of redoubled rain.” (339). This is a reference to Noah’s Ark. God had this man, Noah, obtain 2 of every animal, one male and one female because He was planning on destroying the world and ridding it of all the sin, but before this he wanted some people and things still left around the start a new, purer race. The raining for almost 5 years symbolizes that. It was to get rid of the bad people in the town of Macondo. “No sooner had Remedios the Beauty ascended to heaven in body and soul than the inconsiderate Fernanda was going about mumbling to herself because her sheets had been carried off.” (269). Remedios the Beauty is the symbol of a angel returning to God. The thought that when your time is done on earth you get to go up to live in Heaven with God.
Previously in the novel, before the instances that happen above occurred we witnessed a few more deaths.

“Then they went into José Arcadio Buendía’s room, shook him as hard as they could, shouted in his ear, put a mirror in front of his nostrils, but they could not awaken him.” (153). Here is someone that you would expect to be alive just heavily sleeping but you soon realize that death has found them. “So many flowers fell from the sky that in the morning the streets were carpeted with a compact cushion and they had to clear them away with shovels and rakes so that the funeral procession could pass by.” (153). This happens for the funeral of the first Jose Arcadio Buendia. This is a special case however. We have the death of Jose Arcadio Buendia but all also the death of a lot of animals. The animals were suffocated by the

flowers.
There have been multiple biblical references explained but none of them had a person who was a biblical reference on their own, this is where Amaranta comes in She is a biblical reference all by herself because of her virtues. Amaranta’s virtue can be related back to the Virgin Mary to a certain extent. The point is Amaranta and Mary were too people than despite the things going around them did what they felt was right and kept their virtues intact. Looking at many characters in the book you see that virtue is not something any of them have, but then you have a character who was able to keep it intact despite others’ actions. “Two policemen who had been chasing Aureliano Amador for years, who had tracked him like bloodhounds across half the world, came out from among the almond trees on the opposite sidewalk and took two shots with their Mausers which neatly penetrated the cross of ashes.” (403). Finally the last of the 17 Aureliano’s was killed. However, it is ironic due to the fact that the ash cross on their foreheads that they were given in church is what eventually aids in their deaths . The ash was what distinguished them from others. EvVen though no one knew who they were by name you knew they were one of the 17 Aureliano’s due to the fact they had the ash mark on their forehead. “His name was Aureliano Amador and he was a carpenter, living in a village hidden in the foothills. After waiting two weeks for the telegram telling of his death, Aureliano Segundo sent a messenger to him in order to warn him, thinking that he might not know about the threat that hung over him.” (258). Before the 17th Aureliano was killed he received a warning message that he was still in danger but he never got it.
The bible is a book that has high praise and many people feel that what you get from it is true. Márquez played off of peoples’ reverence for the bible to make the deaths of certain characters seem more important. Keeping the deaths and the biblical allusions close made his task effortless.