In 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', which character deciphers Melquíades's manuscripts?

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In 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', Aureliano Babilonia is the character who deciphers Melquíades's manuscripts.

Aureliano Babilonia is the final major member of the Buendía family in Macondo. Raised in isolation and hidden from much of his family history, he spends years studying the parchments left by Melquíades, the mysterious gypsy who repeatedly visits the Buendías.

The manuscripts are written in coded Sanskrit and contain the complete history of the family, including events that have not yet occurred. Aureliano finally understands them after the death of Amaranta Úrsula and their child. As he reads, he realizes that the parchment describes his own life in real time.

Readers sometimes confuse Aureliano Babilonia with Aureliano Segundo, who also investigates the manuscripts earlier. Aureliano Segundo studies them but cannot fully decipher them; Aureliano Babilonia completes the task. His reading coincides with the destruction of Macondo, making the manuscripts a metafictional version of the novel itself.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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