Active Reading Blog

In the epic, One hundred years of solitude several characters carry distinctive attributes that determines the outcome of the book. Characters such as Jose Arcadio Buendia and his decendents are are natural leaders and scholars who are intent on mastering science to improve their lives, but their mad obsessions lead them to to brink of insanity. Jose is the leader of a group of migrants who left civilization to start a new life. He would eventually found the prosperous town of Macondo in the middle of a desolate swamp.

Macondo is visited by gypsies who bring with them great and mysterious inventions from the outside world. Jose spent much of his life attempting to master inventions such as alchamy and would eventually influence his children with his passion for learning. The gypsies also made a large impact on Jose Arcadio Buenda's son Jose Arcadio II. After his love affair with Pilar Ternara, Jose Arcadio II leaves his family to join the gypsies in an attempt to escape from the responsibility of being a father.