One Hundred Years Of Solitude Climax

Morgan Grace

English 12 Period 4

Mr. Hickerson

August 28, 2014

Word Count: 504 In a novel such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez with so many characters and a dense plot, it is difficult to determine what is most important in the story, and where the action rises and falls. However, the climax is when the banana factory workers go on strike and then are massacred for their actions. It separates the rise and fall of Macondo, its entrance and re-entrance into solitude. Throughout the entire beginning of the novel, with the rise of the village of Macondo, it is engaged in so many civil wars. It has no connection with anyone outside of Macondo. The Buendía family is expanding and so is the solitude of Macondo. Finally, a railroad is built, bringing in people from the outside world, including America, drawing Macondo out of its previous solitude and joining it with the rest of civilization. The rising action ends with the building of the banana factory and the planning of a strike by the workers.

The falling action begins once the workers are massacred near the train station, and José Arcadio Segundo is the only survivor. After the massacre, the banana factory then shuts down, bringing Macondo back into its former ways of living. This event represents the permanency of solitude in the village. There are only a few members of the Buendía family remaining, and the story begins to wind down. The massacre of the banana factory separates the rise of Macondo from the fall, along with the rise and fall of the Buendía family. Later, when Aureliano II is able to translate the texts of Melquíades, it is revealed that the story of Macondo and of the Buendía family was predicted from the