Symbolism in 100 Years of Solitude

    100 Years of Solitude, as a piece of literature within the magical realist latin american tradition, is a very surreal work. It features some of the strangest events, some of which might be almost within the realm of possibility (for instance, children born with pig tails or being carried away by ants) and others that completely defy reality (for example, mentally handicapped girls floating into the sky or a phantom gypsy that teaches small children alchemy). However, though these events are themselves strange and create an interesting narrative, it is difficult to believe that, as talented a writer as Gabriel García Marquéz, they are not meant to represent anything more. Especially after reading more about symbolism in literature prior to this course, I decided to go back and exam 100 Years from a more critical perspective.
    It is impossible to discuss all the strange little occurrences in the book. However, the biggest examples of symbolism within the story are probably the Buendía family and the town of Macondo. Both are, in themselves, symbolic of humanity (or any one people) and civilization (or any given society) respectively. One can see this in the way the story progresses. Macondo is founded by the Buendía's more or less, who begin exploring and building up their little village. Ursula is very industrious and establishes businesses and a very nice household in which to raise her children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (she dies a very, very old woman). With her help and the help of other members of the Buendía family, Macondo reaches a golden age. This can, in many ways, represent a golden age of humanity, where the Macondo's more or less "reign" powerfully (they aren't exactly rulers, but they are held in high esteem). However, from the beginning their are cracks; the first male in the line,  José Arcadio Buendía, ends up insane and tied to a tree and remains largely ignored after that. With time, more and more problems begin to plague the society. War breaks out, a war which by its ending is empty and meaningless. Their is a plague where no one sleeps (perhaps a commentary of the arguably excessive industriousness of modern society). Foreigners come in to establish a banana company (a yes, good old fashioned imperialism) which results in a kind of racial segregation among the town's residence and concludes with the murder of three thousand civilians (which is covered up by the government...). By the end of the novel, a four year long rainstorm has washed away the remnants of that corpocratic oligarchy (I'm sorry, I just really wanted to use that expression) and left only a few residents in the barebones of that which was once a thriving little town, perhaps as a symbol of natural disasters or time washing away human power and dignity. What remains is decadent decay (featuring a very weird house of prostitution filled with exotic animals and colorfully glad women and run by a 100 year old matron) and the final members of a once great lineage; the last member of this great line, Aureliano III, is only an infant when he is carried away and eaten by ants because his father fails to watch over him in his grief after his aunt/wife, Amaranta Úrusula, dies from childbirth (fitting, that the last of mankind is consumed by insects).
    The book is filled with innumerable other happenings that are filled with some possible symbolic nature. The murder of every one of the general Buendía's sons (each of which has a ashen cross on his forehead) could represent the unfortunate eventuality whereby human conflict destroys even the most remote vestiges of authentic religious belief). Perhaps the fact that Macondo is destroyed as soon as Aureliano II decodes the manuscript which tells the future of the Buendía line (which ends with Macondo's destruction via hurricane) represents the pointlessness of human endeavors as death gets us all in the end. All of these things could represent any number of possibilities, all open to the interpretation of the reader. That is why 100 Years is, and remains, such an interesting story to read.