A frequently asked question which occurred while reading One Hundred Years of Solitude was “is this real, or is it an element of imagination?” Garcia Marquez used magic realism to portray his ideal town of Macondo. In context, this element of magical realism is applied through the imaginations of the citizens. Because Macondo is a town in solitude, readers remain unaware if the events actually happened or if they were made up in the minds of Macondians. Once something is thought of as true by many people, it may actually become true, even if in reality it never occurred. Throughout this novel, the civillians of Macondo confuse their memories and imaginations with the truth.
The banana massacre remains a question of imaginary or reality throughout the story. The workers of a banana plantation rebel against the plantation because of the inhumane working conditions. The government then calls for a meeting to try to resolve these problems when actually the workers become surrounded by armies which kill all of the workers. However, this tragic event turns into a mere element of imagination when the town is in denial. “The survivors of the catastrophe, the same ones who had been living in Macondo before it had been struck by the banana company hurricane, were sitting in the middle of the street enjoying their first sunshine” (Marquez 331). When a catastrophe like this happens, and the town is destroyed, one would expect the remaining citizens to be frazzled and distraught. The strange reaction of the civilians creates the idea that the citizens decide to simply erase the event from their memories. “…they returned a crafty smile and a dreamy look, and without any previous consultations they all gave the same answer: ‘swimming’” (Marzues 332). Since Macondo is a village in solitude, the citizens hold the power to decide their own history and fate. Besides the few remaining Macondians, no one knows what actually happened to the village regarding the banana massacre. If these survivors wish to erase this event and say the town suffered a flood, then that is how it will be; there are no outside sources to prove them otherwise. Solitude causes memory and imagination to become intermixed with real events and change the overall history of the story.
Imagination and reality intermix when everyone in the village thinks that Rebeca started the plague of Insomnia, causing the whole town to lose sleep. “… Visiacion recognized in those eyes the symptoms of the sickness whose threat had obliged her and her brother to exile themselves forever from an age-old kingdom where they had been prince and princess. It was the Insomnia plague” (Marquez 43). Most readers stand aware that Insomnia is incapable of being contagious or a plague. With no outside references, the town believes that Insomnia is a spreadable disease and everyone in the town becomes infected with it because of Rebeca. “After several weeks, when Visitacion’s terror seemed to have died down, Jose Arcadio Buendia found himself rolling over in bed, unable to fall asleep” (Marquez 44). It is a fact that Insomnia cannot be a contagious disease, but when the citizens believe that they have caught it from Rebeca, they actually become incapable of sleeping. These imaginative elements become real to the civilians in Macondo because as citizens of an isolated village, they hold the power to decide their own destiny.
Confusion with reality also occurred in smaller instances throughout the book. Although impossible, the Macondians believed that it rained for four years, eleven months, and two days straight. Readers again are aware that this is not possible, but the citizens of Macondo would disagree. Even if the legend was first started as a symbol for Macondo being in a state of depression, as it was passed down it became a part of the history. In an isolated village, a myth being passed down often becomes the truth. There is no one to disprove of the myth so people believe it. This is how the years of rain, pig tail, and other strange myths throughout the story became true concerns of the Macondians.
The biggest downfall of a village in solitude is the confusion between imagination and truth. The civilians often became so lost in the memories and imaginations that these fictional elements became an actual part of the history of Macondo. “Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men…” (Marquez 417). In the final paragraph of the story, Aureliano Babilonia deciphers the parchments and discovers that everything written on them will be unrepeatable; the village along with the memories in it will no longer exist. Although readers did not realize it until the end, the town of Macondo was destined to only have one opportunity on earth. This is why it was acceptable for the citizens of the village to decide their own history and confuse their imaginations with the truth. Anything that happened or only seemed to have happened with the Macondians will remain solely in their memories forever.