Progress and innocence in One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Márquez is projected among the most famous and ambitious works in the history of literature. Epic in scope, Márquez weaves autobiography, allegory, and historical allusion to create a surprisingly coherent plot about his ancestors, his descendants, and ours. It has been said that there are only about 18 themes that describe the human condition. This quote was made in reference to Shakespeare and postulates that it can be shown that all the books and films we digest and assimilate have their roots in these canonical themes. In Cien Anos, Marquez addresses many of these themes in the subtle, intertwining ways they deserve. This article will focus on two related themes: progress and innocence. In exploring these concerns, this novel provides nothing less than a depiction of the trajectory of human evolution. The loss of innocence is a well-worn theme in the literature of every culture. Traditionally it takes the form of a kind of epiphany visited by an unsophisticated character as he grows up and encounters the larger world. The focus of this theme is normally personal, in an individual's point of view, or in the third-person omnipotent account of an individual's reaction. While this aspect can be found in the novel, it also explores the loss of innocence of a family, people, or race, called extirpation in the original edition. In Western sensibilities, the march of progress is normally considered positive and inevitable. In recent Western history, from the Middle Ages onwards, there have been successive improvements in the diffusion of knowledge, in the diffusion of culture, and in the... means of paper... of Solitude." In McGuirk and Cardwell, 65-79. Griffin, Clive. "The Humor of One Hundred Years of Solitude." McGuirk and Cardwell, 81-94. James, Regina Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Revolutions in Wonderland Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1981. McGuirk, Bernard and Richard Cardwell, ed. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: New Readings: Cambridge University Press, 1987). , 1984.Williamson, Edwin "Magical Realism and the Theme of Incest in One Hundred Years of Solitude." Review of One Hundred Years of Solitude. In Critical Essays on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. McMurray, George R., ed. Boston: GK Hall, 1987.