Topic: Magical Realism in 100 Years of solitude Description I have an annotative bibliography, need someone to piece together that information make sure they are are peer reviewed sources and discuss

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Magical Realism

Magical Realism in One Hundred Years Solitude

By including elements of the fantastic stories become true. Mythological or fairytale or just the whole make believe will give you another perspective on truths.  It is like another door into the truth. Magical realism is not only about the magical or fantasy aspect in it. Realism is also important. This is what keeps it grounded in the real, to do more in enhancing reality. Techniques used express a truth in the story.  Examples of essayist who have played a role in helping shape this form of writing and who employed this technique included Alejo Carpentier, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar and several others. Their works used elements of fantasy and dream. narrates. Wood narrates how Gabriel Marquez used imagination with the real, (20).

He further delves deeper to show how it was used, and why. This widened my perspective on realism and its magical undertone to bring out a certain aspects in reality. Magical realism in the novel shows how the supernatural and the strange occurrences are a part of their daily. There are flying carpets, children with pigs tails, reflecting the sudden confusion that comes with an abrupt change they encountered.

Its literally style is a means to get to the issue being talked about and conveys life over a period of one hundred years for the people in Colombia. It is the magical realism in the

novel that makes it such a masterful book to read. This technique provides more details about the character’s characteristics. As for the book, the writing style may try to portray more about the politics in Latin America, the nature of the people and the place, the wars, suffering and the constant tragedy. The fictional story is in a fictional setting but realism plays in part where he shows poverty and home management. The mythical aspect comes to play when we are introduced to the levitating priest. He introduces Marquez Colombia, a gypsy with sparrow hands and big beard who uses technology and mythical legends. Another reason is so that the reader can question and know what is real and what is not. This will better shine light in the political arena as well forcing the reader to question the extravagance of everyday life. The mythical aspect of the novel acts intends to transfer history to the reader with truth found hidden in myths and supernatural elements.

Magical realism hits in the magical world of Macondo. It is a geographical place, but it also a made up state of mind. There is little about it but one should be prepared to take whatever the author’s imagination presents. In this place, there is the inescapable repetition of history. The protagonists are haunted and disturbed by ghosts, acting as a constant reminder of their past.

Garcia Marquez brings out and shapes characters using magical realism. Merquez, as he says, is a fugitive from all plagues and catastrophes that have ever lashed mankind  (Marquez, 33). He further goes on to explain how he survived pellagra in Persia, leprosy in Alexandria, beriberi in in Japan, scurvy in the Malaysian archipelago, bubonic plague in Madagascar, an earthquake in Sicily and a shipwreck in the Strait of Magellan. He perfectly makes the unbelievable seem believable (Bell Villada, 59).

Magical realism is used to surprise and bring humor in their daily habits. Again, it is better knowing that anything is possible and you get to meet the unexpected. Examples include the priest who we see levitating to chocolate, characters whose farts are so strong no plant survives it, the man who runs around the house balancing bottles of beer on his parts or the yellow butterflies that flutter around Babilonia.

Magical realism does not however, exist alone. It takes imagination, knowledge, writing and literary skills. Garcia explains that when he was growing up he remembers seeing an electrician come to change the meter. He also remembers his grandmother shooing away a yellow and saying, ‘Whenever this man comes along the butterfly follows him’. You could also reason that was Mauricio Babilonia in the making.

Also knowing how to blend the exaggeration with aspects of realism is important. In the book One Hundred Years of Solitude, we see events as the discovery of the rusty armor that had a skeleton inside and the bloody war. These are indeed Colombian historical events. The armor is said to have come from the fifteenth century when the Europeans visited Colombia (Wood, 23).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is seen to have gathered details and information from his personal experience growing up, characters from other writers, the geographical and historical aspects of the locations. As we saw earlier that magical realism is an enhancement of reality in a creative way, Garcia is not a god or a mythical legend narrating to us what happened. He uses his nostalgia and experiences and imagination and creativity to create something.

Works Cited

Marques, Gabriel Garcia. ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’: Harper and Row Press, Colombia. 1967; 33-55

Wood, Michael. Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990; 20- 33

Bell-Villada. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years in Solitude: a casebook Oxford: Oxford University, 2002; 56-63