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Gabriel García MárquezA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Márquez names the hair of the young woman in the crypt, Sierva María de Todos Los Ángeles, as the inspiration for the novel. Dominga de Adviento's promise of the girl's hair to the saints links it inextricably to Sierva's acceptance into the black slave community. It also represents the only thing about her life over which she seems to have any control. After it's cut during her exorcism, it begins to grow back, gushing "like bubbles" (147) from her lifeless head.
Music has many valences in the novel. It first enters via the chorus of madwomen at the Divina Pastora, whose singing provides the "lullabies" (34) of the Marquis' childhood. The morning and evening prayers of the convent mark the passing of Sierva's days in captivity. The Marquis' first wife, Doña Olalla, brings musical training with her from Spain and teaches him to play the theorbo. When the Marquis tries to bond with Sierva, he brings out the dusty instrument and plays her a song that makes her ask whether "love conquered all" (49). Later, when Father Delaura comes to ask the Marquis about Sierva pre-possession, the Marquis plays the song for him and its melody reveals more about Sierva than words ever could.
By Gabriel García Márquez
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Gabriel García Márquez
Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon
Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon
Gabriel García Márquez
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Gabriel García Márquez
Death Constant Beyond Love
Death Constant Beyond Love
Gabriel García Márquez
Eyes of a Blue Dog
Eyes of a Blue Dog
Gabriel García Márquez
In Evil Hour
In Evil Hour
Gabriel García Márquez
Innocent Erendira
Innocent Erendira
Gabriel García Márquez
Leaf Storm
Leaf Storm
Gabriel García Márquez
Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel García Márquez
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Gabriel García Márquez
News of a Kidnapping
News of a Kidnapping
Gabriel García Márquez
No One Writes To The Colonel
No One Writes To The Colonel
Gabriel García Márquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel García Márquez
One Of These Days
One Of These Days
Gabriel García Márquez
Strange Pilgrims
Strange Pilgrims
Gabriel García Márquez
The Autumn of the Patriarch
The Autumn of the Patriarch
Gabriel García Márquez, Transl. Gregory Rabassa
The General in His Labyrinth
The General in His Labyrinth
Gabriel García Márquez
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World
Gabriel García Márquez
The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor
The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor
Gabriel García Márquez