The Bible in 100 Years of Solitude

In class we discussed 100 Years of Solitude can be seen as a representation of the bible and a metaphor for the whole human race really. I think of the things that allows 100 Years of Solitude to be applicable to almost any situation is the lack of a specific setting. Colombia is never actually mentioned in the novel, and time is seemingly a complete mess. The repetition of the cycles of Macondo strung together with the linear timing of the Buendia family creates a form of time that is seemingly incoherent. Coupled with this is the delivery of new inventions by the train and the gypsies in a not so linear manner. The inventions come every year but they don't seem to come in an order that matches up with time as we know it. For example, one year the gypsies bring a telescope and magnifying glass for Jose Arcadio Buendia to use and mess around with. The next year however these gypsies bring a compass as the newest and greatest invention. But hold on, that doesn't make much sense as the telescope was invited in 1608 in our timeline by Hans Lippershey . The compass however, was invited hundreds of years before the compass in 206 BC by the Han dynasty in China. The lack of a clear definitive setting, and the way time is presented in the novel allows for the narrative of the novel to be picked up and placed in almost any situation of human history.