Daguerrotype of the Buendia Family

            Early in the novel, Marquez writes that the patriarch of the family, Jose Arcadio Buendia, wanted to prove the scientific existence of God, so “through a complicated process of superimposed exposures taken in different parts of the house, he was sure that sooner or later he would get a daguerreotype of God, if He existed, or put an end once and for all to the supposition of His existence” (58).  This is—essentially—what is happening in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Through the superimposition of various stories of this family line, Garcia Marquez attempts to explain the existence of supernatural forces as they intertwine with this extraordinary family.

            One element that interested me most within the first section of the novel was the interaction between what is predicted (via fortune tellers or myths/superstitions) and what actually occurs—however unrealistic it may be. Fortunetellers or other supernatural predictors are a part of many cultures and while each exist with their own myths surrounding them, they cannot function in society unless others believe in them.

            In One Hundred Years of Solitude, these superstitions play a huge role in the (not so) everyday life of Macondo. Take for example, the plague of insomnia. It was “brought on” when a nurse noticed that the young Rebeca was unable to sleep, and had the eyes of a cat. The nurse noted that she had seen it before, and it was why she and her brother left their old home. The insomnia then “spread” to the whole town, but only because the residents believed that it was possible.

            This is only one example of the scenes which give a portrait of the Buendia family, but it is definitely a significant one. Over the course of the novel there will be many visions of this family and many of them will be supernatural or unbelievable. But the reason that these experiences illuminate this family is that they do believe