Use Irony and Magic Realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude Essay

Use Irony and Magic Realism in wholeness Hundred geezerhood of Solitude In Marquezs One Hundred eld of Solitude, the realistic description of impossible events is an example of both badinage and antic realism. Irony is the use of words, images, and so on, to convey the opposite of their intended meaning. Garcia Marquez employs irony on several levels. Sometimes a single word, such as a characters name, suggests something opposite to the characters personality for example, Prudencio Aguilar, who is not the least bit prudential. Sometimes a characters style of speech is ironic. For example, in the chapter on the banana tree tree tree workers strike, the court uses very stiff, pompous language to state something that is ridiculous that the banana workers do not exist, because they be technically not employees of the firm - an dodging of the governments responsibility that has tragic consequences. Another example is Fernandas long-winded proclamations of her religious devotio n. These argon obviously expressions, not of Christian love, notwithstanding of extreme self-centeredness and rigidity. The evidently patriotic declarations of Liberals and Conservatives alike also have nothing to do with truth to the country, but are really about the narrow ambitions of the politicians. More subtly, what the fabricator or the characters say may sometimes contradict what the involveer knows to be true. There are many examples in the solemn announcements of Jose Arcadio Buendia, including his finding that ice-skating rink is the great invention of our time. Much later, the apparent progress brought by the banana company to Macondo turns out not to be progress at all, but a prelude to devastation. Still more subtly, Garcia Marquez has reserved a... ...ecise figures for things. Thus, the heavy rains that authorize on Macondo-a perfectly normal, but impressive, event in northeastern Colombia-are verbalise to last precisely four years, eleven months, and two d ays. To a chela watching it rain, it might seem to last that long. Three thousand workers are massacred by troops during the banana strike. Colonel Aureliano Buendia fights, and loses, precisely thirty-two wars, and so on. When we read of such amazing events told in such an objective and nave voice, we get ahead it is up to us, the readers, to interpret their meaning. Whoever is narrating is simply too literal-minded and simple to have original opinions. Works Cited Drabble, Margaret The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford University Press 1995 Marquez, Gabriel Garcia One Hundred Years of Solitude, HarperCollins