La Hojarasca tells the story of the ups and downs of the human experience in a Caribbean town in

the late 19th century. That town is none other than Macondo, a town that in this work makes its
debut as a mythical town first than in One Hundred Years of Soledad (1967).

The Colonel, one of the central characters in La Hojarasca, has the moral obligation to give a
dignified burial to a foreign doctor who arrived in Macondo years ago and who is dead.

The enraged people refuse to allow him to be buried and in exchange ask to leave him to rot in his
house where he lived in isolation and supposedly died by hanging.

The people's refusal to allow his burial is associated with hatred that is unfounded, because in the
war years this doctor flatly refused to help the wounded.

Above the will of the people is an elderly Colonel of sensible judgment, who despite his advanced
age expresses his desire and commitment to give the dead doctor a dignified burial.

After the confrontation generated by the funeral of the doctor, the colonel receives from the
mayor the signed papers authorizing the burial of the hated doctor. Inevitably the funeral
procession takes place, which is carried out by the Colonel, Isabel his daughter, and her son.

La Hojarasca tells the story of a hatred and betrayal that the people of Macondo refuse to forgive
and forget.

On this subject, García Márquez develops a narrative regarding what remains of that town, which
is conquered by the misfortunes left by wars and the social changes caused by the industry that is
installed in Macondo.

The dead doctor is the key to the development of the themes that overwhelm the people.
Table of Contents [hide]

1 Summary, analysis and synopsis

2 Literary genre:

3 Characters

4 Symbols

5 Famous phrases in the book

6 Importance in the literature

Summary, analysis and synopsis

The title that Gabriel García Márquez assigns to this his first novel is a metaphor, in order to cite all
that unruly, rowdy, conflictual, violent, catastrophic and unpleasant world of displaced people
who have caused the civil wars and who settle in Macondo behind of the arrival of a Banana
company.

Three different narratives can be found in La Hojarasca that are key in the novel and that involve
three different views on the situation that generates the death of the doctor in Macondo.

On the one hand, there is the narration of Isabel who is forced by her father to attend the funeral,
worrying her greatly about what the people think of her and how they will treat her for
accompanying her father.

The narration of Isabel's son, García Márquez leads her into the curious and the fantastic that for
the Colonel's child, the grandson of the Colonel ends up turning out the theme of death.

The Colonel focuses his narration, on the unknown history of the doctor, on his vision of a just and
honorable man. It is the perspective of an individual of judgment that goes beyond the prejudices
of the people. It is the other voice that distances itself from the crowd and makes a difference in
the visions of life in Macondo.

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