Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, there are many different aspects of religion and cultures being introduced throughout the story. It is starting with the older generation, in which they hope that the younger generations will continue the religion and culture in their own lives. The religion and culture was seen in all aspects of what happens in everyone’s everyday life.
The new house, white, like a dove, was inaugurated with a dance. (59)
The religion and culture of someone you marry, may be hard to adjust to if it is not something you are culturally used too. Which in this case, it will take the people involved to adjust to their new lives, which may take them some time and they may not like everything at first. This process of joining forces will have to allow both parties to have to keep an open mind and take the time to adjust and not just rashly end things because they don’t like things right away.
The Marriage was on the point of breaking up after two months because Aureliano Segundo, in an attempt to placate Petra Cotes, had a picture taken of her dressed as the Queen of Madagascar. (203)
The younger generation is usually started at a young age so that is how they live their life. Their parents want them to live a life knowing that they will always have God, who is on their side and they can rely upon to put them in the right place. Marquez is writing in One Hundred Years of Solitude that most of that generation is baptized and put in a certain school when they are of age so that they are able to learn everything that they must know and so that they can become closer with the religion and become more wise in what they do in life.
Meme, his sister, dividing her time between Fernanda’s rigidity and Amaranta’s bitterness, at almost the same moment reached the age set for her to be sent to the nuns’ school. (245)
One Hundred Years of Solitude is a very exaggerated story. There are things that Marquez wrote that wouldn’t actually happen in real life. For example, they wouldn’t take kitchen knives because they symbolize that they are going to do something, it is seen as a common kitchen utensil. Also the length of the continuous days that it rained. In the real world that is not something that would happen, it would only rain for a few days and then stop.
I agree with what you said about all the different religions being introduced within the story. The older generations tend to try to keep things the same for their descendants.
Great point; it’s also worth noting that at the beginning of the story, Macondo is a peaceful place, but as time goes on, war and modern science start to make their way in, making it harder for the new generations to hold onto their faith.