The Railroad In the book 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there are many motifs and symbols that show the reader different themes of the book. One theme that is very prominent throughout the book is innocence. The book shows how the town loses its innocence and what happens after the innocence is gone. One way Garcia Marquez illustrates how the loss of innocence is parallel with the symbol of the railroad. There are three parts about the railroad that relate to the theme of the loss of innocence, first is before the railroad arrived, second is when it did arrive all of the outsiders came in and brought with them corruption, and finally the railroad brought death and destruction to the inhabitants of Macondo.

The city of Macondo is much different in part 1, before the railroad comes in. Before, it is a town that is close-knit...