Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende use unconventional story structures, complex themes, and characterizations to convey the social, political, and cultural realities of Latin America. One Hundred Years of Solitude traces the evolution of one town, through the eyes and soul of its most prominent family. In spite of the radical transformations that transpire over the course of one hundred years in the life of Macondo, Marquez shows that some things never change. In particular, social and political realities and the realities of human nature remain the same. Allende conveys a similar theme in The House of the Spirits. The del Valle family shares much in common with Marquez's Buendias family. Moreover, like One Hundred Years of Solitude, The House of the Spirits traces the evolution of a family within its social and political environment. Time is cyclical and nonlinear in both One Hundred Years of Solitude and The House...
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