One Hundred Years of Solitude: Why does the book jump forward and backward in time so
much?
Unless you hop in your super cool homemade time machine, you most likely expect time
to move forward.
Naturally, we expect stories to be told in the same manner.
Sure, novels occasionally divert to a flashback or even a flash-forward, but most tales, like
life, unfold in a linear fashion.
A happens, then b, then c.
So, what’s up with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s clock in One Hundred Years of Solitude?
Why did he choose to tell this story in such a funky way?
Is it a sneaky tactic to keep us on our toes?
The author’s way of making sure we’re paying attention?
Sort of like a little wake-up call.
Or a sadist’s means of exacting pain.
Choosing to swing back and forth through time forces us to stay focused.
It’s all about watching an intense tennis match.
And therefore, we’re encouraged to stay alert and not miss any important details.
Marquez is simply ordering us to pay attention by structuring the book this way.
We have to reset our sense of time and timing on a regular basis.
He’s basically challenging us to keep up with him as we follow him on this zigzagging
journey.
Or maybe it’s to confuse and disorient the reader.
Sounds devious, but we wouldn’t put it past him.
Maybe Marquez wants us to feel as if we’re walking inside a dream.
Like a Salvador Dali painting, he creates a dreamlike atmosphere by telling the story
this way.
The dreamy concept of time whizzing around is simply there to provide us with a mood.
Marquez puts us under a purple haze-like spell and invites us to see the story through his
dreamy eyes.
We enjoy the experience of the story coming together in bits and pieces, like memories.
Or perhaps the title is a clue to the author’s intentions.
Maybe Marquez is trying to make a broader statement with his time-bending tactic.
Maybe it’s his way of saying we are all woven into the fabric of time.
And in a way, we’re all connected.
Maybe the story does its unique dance through time to remind us that beginnings and endings
are not as clear-cut as we would like them to be.
What do you think?
Is this video over yet?
Or maybe it has just begun…
Shmoop amongst yourselves.