USER
this is my reading log:
Pages 1-37 represent the first 2 chapters of the book. In this chapter, Colonel Aureliano Buendía is remembering how Macondo was established by its founder José Arcadio Buendía. Jose decided to leave his main town with his love Úrsula Iguarán to get married and establish Macondo. Moreover, Jose was interested in scientific experimentation especially after the gypsies used to visit Macondo bringing with them new technologies and visions. His focus on these experiments and the knowledge of alchemy especially to make the ice dream of Macondo come true which made the village be in solitude. These pages also introduce the children of Jose and Ursula: Auerliano and Jose Archadio that join the gypsies after falling in love with one of the girls.
1-37
In fact, I didn’t expect the novel to have a mythical story which really intrigued my interest. In these chapters, the author makes us feel as if we are retrieving the memories with Colonel Aureliano. I liked how there was no chronological order followed which made me feel a sort of suspense and mystery to understand the history behind Macondo.
I also really liked the language used by the author which is full of imagery and figurative language. This added many layers to the book especially when describing the passion of Jose in scientific experimentation and his love story.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
“If I have to die for the rest of you to stay here, I will die.”
14
This quote was said by Ursula in chapter 1 to her husband Jose who was planning on leaving Macondo to follow his obsessions. On the contrary to Jose’s thoughts and aspirations, Ursula wanted to stay and protect her family. After Jose
told her that one is related to a place only if someone he cares for is buried here, she says that she would die to let them stay here. This shows how much of a caring mother and wife she is to take care of her family and how much she would sacrifice in comparison to Jose who is only following his obsessions.
Post 2 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 38-60 represent chapter 3 of the book. This chapter starts with the spread of insomnia plague in Macondo. To combat it, Jose invents a way to label the objects with their names to help the whole village. Melquiades the gypsy returns and
introduces Jose to the technology of photography which is called daguerreotypes and takes pictures of the Macondo residents. After that, a wandering man called Francisco returns to Macondo and shares the news of the death of Ursula’s mother which devastates her. In addition to that, Jose faces another obstacle after the government sends a “magistrate” called Moscote to try to take authority of Macondo by painting the houses blue yet they finally reach a peace. Lastly, Aureliano falls in love with Mosocte’s very young daughter.
38-60
This chapter introduces the challenges and obstacles faced by the residents of Macondo and how they overcame them with the help of Jose’s intelligence.
I loved how the author introduced the layers of emotions and resilience present in the Macondo community. The addition of aurelino’s internal conflict also makes the reader more interested to continue reading the novel.
In addition to that, one can not neglect the language used which made me live in that fantasy with them. The imagination of the author is indeed spectacular.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Those who wanted to sleep, not from fatigue but because of the nostalgia for dreams, tried all kinds of methods of exhausting themselves.
46
This quote explains beautifully the struggle of the people of Macondo with the insomnia plague. It is really mesmerizing how creative Marquez is to think of the insomnia plague in the first place and to describe their struggle for dreams rather than of fatigue. I think this quote holds in its layers deep meanings that Marquez wanted to address through this insomnia plague such as being thirsty for experiences in real life.
Post 3 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 61-81 represent chapter 4 of the book. In this chapter, Aurelino struggles to win Remedios heart so he uses pilar to make her jealous. On the other hand, Rebeca and AMaranta, the daughters of the family, fall in love with a stranger called Crespi who marries Rebecca. Pilar gets pregnant from Aurelino but this doesn’t stop him from marrying his love. However, Amaranta plans on destroying Rebeca’s wedding. Melquiades passes away and he is the first person to die in Macondo. Suddenly, Jose starts to remember the person he killed years ago and this thought of death hunts him. He becomes again obsessed with this thought leading him to tear the whole house apart. The residents of Macondo try to calm him down.
61- 81
In this chapter, Marques introduces the concepts of love and jealousy through the experiences of Aurelino, Remedios, rebecca, and Amaranta. I really liked how this extra layer of drama has been added which increases the depth of the layers of the characters.
Moreover, this chapter unlocks another humanistic experience: death. It shows the phases of death starting from wanting to be in solitude like Melquiades. Alos, another aspect of Jose’s character was shown which is his obsession with his previous thoughts and experiences.
This chapter focused more on dialogues rather than narration.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
"He is immortal," he said, "and he himself revealed the formula of his resurrection."
75
This quote is said by Jose to Ursula when she asked about burying Melquiades. I liked this quote because it shows the mindset of Jose who believes in immortality. It introduces more layers in the character of Jose that the reader didn’t explore before. It also clearly shows how obsessed Jose is with the world of fantasy he created for himself inside his own mind.
Post 4 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 82-123 represent chapters 5 and 6 of the book. In chapter 5, Aurelino and Remedio get married when she reaches puberty but she then dies out of a miscarriage. This leaves Aurelino living in solitude mourning his wife. Crespi gets a false letter that his mother is sick to delay the wedding and turns out to be a play by Amarnta. However, due to the death of Remedios, their marriage is delayed even more. In the meantime, Jose Archadio returns back with a masculine body full of tattoos which intrigues Rebecca. They have an affair and Ursula kicks them out. Crespi then proposes to Amarnta yet she refuses which makes him commit suicide.. After that, Aureliano becomes the colonel and plans with the liberals to rebel against the conservative government represented by his father in law. He then leaves to join the civil war and Archadio, the son of Jose Arcahdio and Pilar, becomes in charge. Unfortunately, Archadio becomes a dictator and tries to sleep with his own mother. Lasty, Aureliano is sentenced to be executed by the conservatives when they win the war.
82-123
These chapters delve more into the chaos that raged in the used to be peaceful Macondo. Starting with the sorrows of death moving to cheating and then war.
It was really fascinating to add such complex events in just these two chapters which made the stpry even more complex. Including the political aspect and how the next generation is playing a huge role in the change of the plot is really smart.
As usual, the language and imagination used by marques is really mesmerizing as he uses this fantasy to portray what is actually happening in real life.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
He thought about his people without sentimentality, with a strict closing of his accounts with life, beginning to understand how much he really loved the people he hated most.
122
This quote describes Aureliano when he was being executed. It shows how at that moment his perspective diverted from hating his people into actually realizing that he cares for them and that he has feelings. This realization of his feelings at the end of his life portrays a lot of complexities of human emotions in real life where we tend to appreciate what we have only after starting to lose it. The same way Aureliano lost it all.
Post 5 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 124 - 164 represent chapter 7 and 8 of the book. Surprisingly, Aureliano is saved by Archadio from execution at the last moment in his village. He then tries to take over Macondo from the conservatives and wins. Yet, he is targeted to be assassinated which makes him rethink his life choices. Santa Sofia bears two children and Archadio dies mysteriously without knowing the reason. Aureliano Jose grows up and starts to have feelings for his aunt Amaranta and have an affair. However, he then leaves to join the army yet he was also killed when he decides to return back by the conservative soldiers. After that, the seventeen children of Colonel Aureliano return to Macondo to be baptized as well as the colonel. He returns as the head of the army. He
124-164
These two chapters provide a turning point in the book as several main events take place such as Aurelino’s survival, archadios dead, and the return of the colonel.
There is a lot of complexity filling the book with the several characters with similar names. This aspect made me get lost a bit regarding what is happening with each chapter and who is the son of who. However, I really liked how unpredictable the events are, such as Aureliano Jose having an affair with his aunt Amaranta.
I also really liked the focus on the emotional memory of the Colonel. This was really a captivating aspect.
gets surprised that he remembers his family and misses them after the war made him lose all of his feelings.
The intensity of fantasy and imagination reached one of its highest levels in these chapters, especially how the author used the language to express his ideas.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
"Remember, old friend," he told him. ''I'm not shooting you. It's the revolution that's shooting you”
163
This quote is said by Colonel Aureliano Buendia to General Jose Raquel Moncada. I chose this quote because it symbolizes several aspects regarding the character of Colonel Aurelino and the political ideology.
It shows the struggle between individual and ideological responisibilites. In the name of revolution, Colonel Aureliona gave himself the right to shoot Jose Raquel and not even feel bad about it which introduces another complexity of humanistic emotion. In the time their revolution was asking for justice, they themselves performed this violence, which is indeed ironic.
Post 6 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 165-207 represent chapters 9 and 10 of the book. Colonel Gerineldo becomes captivated with the war and starts to have delusions. This pushes him to seek romance with Amranta who refuses him. However, Colonel Aureliano deviates away from the war yet he remains somehow captivated as
165-207
In these chapters, several turning points of the book have taken place. First, is Amranta’s refusal of Gerineldo’s romance which paved the way to the second turning point: Colonel Aureliano’s return to Macondo.
he tries to execute Colonel Gerineldo. He then decides to end this and work towards peace. However, after his return, he doesn’t recognize his past feelings with his family as if he has a sort of memory loss. He couldn’t feel the connections he used to have even with his wife Ursula which makes him attempt suicide. Yet, he survives and is appreciated even more in his town. The two twins of Colonel Aureliano, Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo grow up to have different personalities. One is deviated towards the church while the other is into pleasure. Their grandmother Ursula tries to fix their paths yet she fails. After that, she finds gold hidden in a statue with the help of Jose Arcadio Segundo. The latter becomes wealthy especially after his affair with Petra Cotes and starts to throw parties until one day, Fernanda De Caprio arrives in Macondo to be named the queen of Madagascar yet her faith was to marry Aureliano Segundo. Moreover, Segundo turned out to have crazy aspirations and thoughts like his father and grandfather as he aims to create a navigable river to the ocean.
An important aspect in these chapters is the transition in Aureliano’s personality towards war and his family. This theme of sharing the same traits in the family was also shown with the transition of the personality of Aureliano’s son, Arcadio Segundo.
In addition to that, the author focused on the mental health of Aureliano and how it started to deteriorate after his return and ditching the war. It is really impressive how Gabriel Marquez was able to dig deeply into the complex personality layers of this character.
Moreover, chapter 10 introduces a transition in the society of macondo towards modernity with the arrival of Fernanda de Caprio, Aureliano’s crazy ideas that started to emerge, and the train introduced at the end of chapter 10.
As usual, Gabriel Marquez uses a symbolism in the language written to express the events in the book such as naming the children Aureliano and Jose Archadio which shows this pattern of repetition of traits and events in Macondo throughout time.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Surprised, he asked Ursula if all that was true and she answered him that it was, that many years ago the gypsies had brought magic lamps and flying mats to Macondo.
"What's happening," she sighed, "is that the world is slowly coming to an end
189
This quote is said by Urusula to Auerliano Segundo when he was reading Melquiades book in his lab. I chose this quote because it portrays the transition in the society of Macondo from the old magical and supernatural town into a modern ordinary one due to realism.
and those things don't come here any more."
I really loved the context of this conversation being in Melquiades lab and reading what he wrote years ago about Macondo. I also liked how Aureliano Segundo is building this connection with the past and his ancestors. I believe that this is what influenced him to discover the world and apply his crazy ideas like his past grandfather did.
Post 7 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 208-228 represent chapter 11 of the book. Fernanda de Caprio, who comes from a wealthy aristocratic family, marries Aureliano Segundo who falls in love at first sight. However, he keeps his romance going with Petra Cotes. This marriage makes everyone astonished of how such two different personalities will be able to cope together as Fernanda is a spiritual and religious lady while Segundo is more on the crazy careless side. Yet, they bear two children and they name them Reneta Remedios and Jose Archadio the second. Fernanda tries to influence the buendia's house and put her wealthy and aristocratic lifestyle yet her attempts were not very much welcomed.
After that, when the anniversary of the end of the war came, the government decided to honor colonel Auerliano but he rejected their request. His 17 sons also arrived in Macondo to celebrate with him. After putting the ash cross on
208 - 234
This chapter is focused on the family relationships that have been built all throughout the book. The author explained the history of Fernanda and how she tried to keep her lifestyle even after marriage. He also showed in this chapter how some personality traits never change even within one individual like Aureliano who kept his affair with Petra.
This serves the theme of time and family which he has been emphasizing on from the beginning of the book.
In addition to that, I loved how Colonel Aureliano and his children met together at Macondo in this chapter and how family relationships are getting stronger especially after two of them decide to stay. I believe this serves a very important turning point in the story especially after they build the ice factory and the railroad.
These events will change the face of Macondo after it is now
their face, Aureliano Triste and Aureliano Centeno decide to stay in Macondo and build the ice factory that their grandfather always dreamt of. In addition to that, Segundo helps Triste build the railroad he was dreaming of connecting Macondo to the rest of the world.
connected to the outer world. This will make modernism take over in my opinion over the magical atmosphere it had.
Again, the author used vivid imaginary language and especially irony such as when Ursula predicted that baby Archadio will turn out to be a pope.
Another aspect that is changing Macondo is the religion theme with establishing the church which Fernando also helped in.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
He became lost in misty byways, times reserved for oblivion, in labyrinths of disappointment. He crossed a yellow plain where the echo repeated one’s thoughts and where anxiety brought on premonitory mirages.
214
This quote is said by the narrator about Aureliano Segundo while he was going after Fernanda in her village. I chose this quote because it shows how Aureliano was in love with Fernando and it also shows the beauty of the language used by Gabriel Marquez in his book.
This quote is full of vivid imagery with a very precise description of the details of the psychology of Aureliano in his journey. Describing how the thoughts are hunting him repeatedly and how his perception of reality is altered.
In this way, the author is able to expand on humanistic experiences in the most detailed way possible, making the reader live the scene with the character, which I really did.
Post 8 DATE:
PLOT PAGE MY THOUGHTS
Pages 234 - 270 represent chapters 12 and 13 from the book.
After Macondo became connected to the outer world, the chaos of modern capitalism started to invade macondo. People started to come from all over the world such as the family that started a banana plantation business beside Macondo and assembled their own police facility. Most of the modern world aspects started to arrive in Macondo such as cinemas and even prostitutes. Aureliano Segundo enjoys all this new life and new reality but not not for long as Colonel Beaundio decided to rethink his decision regarding stopping the war. This thought emerged after he knew how the conservatives are paving the way for foreign imperialists to be in power. He decided to create an army made of his seventeen sons yet unfortunately all but one were shot leaving him in depression. More eager to take revenge and start a war, he desperately asks his old friend Colonel Marquez for help yet the latter also refuses to go into a new war.
In the Beaundia house, Ursula starts to suffer from aging with her blindness, Aurelinao leaves to Petra escaping Fernanda’s obsession with putting her rules, and the children start to go to school leaving Ursula alone. Jose Archadio Segunto returns back from his solitude and approaches the colonel Aureliano yet the latter surrenders to death.
234-270
These chapters represent the aftermath of the building of the railroad. Modernity and capitalism invaded Macondo which turned out to be not as expected. Chaos filled the place which affected the dreamy Macondo negatively.
Sadness and family were the main themes and emphasis of these chapters as Colonel Beundio lost all except one of his seventeen sons due to his decision of starting the war again and going into politics. This shows how he was able to sacrifice his children for his preference without having any emotions towards them, sadly. This sadness was complemented by the separation of Aureliano and Fernanda, Ursula's aging, and the empty house.
However, the return of Archadio Buendia brought back some positive vibes to the house but this didn’t last long as the colonel Aureliano went into a depression phase and passed away.
On a side note, I like how Meme turned out to share a lot of similar traits with her father Auleriano hence serving one of the main messages of the book regarding family and the shared traits.
As usual, I also liked the language used in these chapters especially the descriptions the author uses like when he described Jose Arcadio as a wandering star.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Post 9 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 270-240 represent chapters 14 of the book. After the death of Colonel Aureliano and while mourning him, Fernanda delivers her third child with Sugento, a girl named Amaranta Ursula. On the other hand, big Amaranta is suffering from depression from being stuck in the past memories. She also surrenders to death after sewing her own funeral shroud and even invites people to carry their letters to their loved ones with her. Years later, Amaranta passes away, and Ursula becomes bedridden because of the sadness and aging. However, she builds a bonding
270 - 300
This chapter delves deeply into the life of the third generation of the buendia’s family. The chapter has a sad tone as it starts with Amarnta’s death yet it was very interesting to know that she was able to decide her own death time. Baby Amaranta was also born afterwards. Hence, the author also keeps alternating between positive and negative vibes in the book as Ursula stays alive despite all the grief and aging she is suffering from.
I liked how the author focused again on the theme of family in this chapter showing the relationship
relationship with young Amarata and they become friends. In addition to that, Meme turns out to have similar traits as her father living without any purpose which makes Fernanda upset with her daughter. This creates distance between them while bonding more with her father and spending their times together such as decorating her room and giving her unlimited amounts of money to spend. Meme then falls in love with a guy called Mauricio Babilonia that turns out to be working as a mechanic at the banana plantation facility. They start going out together until Fernanda catches them kissing and even learns that he used to sneak to Meme’s room and make love. Being upset with all this information against her beliefs, she hires a bodyguard that shoots Mauricio when he comes near. As a result, he is paralyzed and dies years later and Meme becomes depressed.
between Meme and her father versus with her mother Fernanda.
Yet the turning point was when the author gave Meme a significant role in the book being part of a love story that ended in a tragedy. This made me interested to know what will happen in further chapters in the book with Meme and how the family relationships will change after this incident.
Last but not least, I also liked the language which is heavily based on symbolism such as the yellow butterflies that always follow Mauricio that could symbolize love or nervousness of this teenage love. They also reminded me of the yellow flowers that fell from the sky when Jose Arcadio passed away.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
He died of old age in solitude, without a moan, without a protest, without a single moment of betrayal, tormented by memories and by the yellow butterflies, who did not give him a moment’s peace, and ostracized as a chicken thief.
300
This quote is said by the narrator at the end of the chapter about the death of Mauricio.
I chose this quote because it describes the last moments of Mauricio in this world in a very linguistically appealing way. It is rich in imagery and symbolism while explaining in detail how he died without any noise and with acceptance to his fate.
This quote makes us go deep into the mental health of Mauricio while he is on his death bed thinking of all his previous memories, the yellow butterflies that always accompany
him, and his sadness that he will always be remembered as the chicken thief.
Indeed, I was able to understand the character of Mauricio more deeply with extra layers due to this quote.
Post 10 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 301-338 represent chapters 15 and 16 of the book. After Mauricio’s death, Meme goes into a trauma where she doesn’t talk anymore and remains silent. Hence, to make her return to her normal self, Fernanda decides to take Meme to her old city where she grew up away from Macondo. However, despite it all, Meme remains living on Mauricio’s memories forever. One day, a nun brings Meme and Mauricio’s illegitimate child to the beaundia’s who they call Aureliano the second. However, they decided to say that he was found on the streets to prevent their reputation from being destroyed.
José Arcadio Segundo gathers all the workers in the banana plantation and addresses them for a protest to have better wages. Unfortunately, a massacre was created and all of these men were shot dead to make sure they will not remember nor speak about what had happened. Fortunately, Jose Arcadio Segundo manages to run away yet he hides with his trauma and solitude in the office of Melquiades. He detached from reality and stayed with his
301-330
In these chapters, the tragedy theme keeps persisting as the Buendia family keep suffering from the aftermath effects of Mauricio and Amaranta’s death.
In these chapters we can see Fernanda acting more in mothers role to help Meme out yet she fails again in this process as she decided to keep silent about Meme’s child rather than supporting her. Hence, the author again adds to the theme of family showing the differences in the relationships and personalities of the characters as parents throughout generations.
Another tragic event that took place is the massacre portraying the inhumanity of the banana business people. Adding up to this tragedy, Jose Arcadio ends up in another psychological trauma which the author described thoroughly in chapter 16.
However, the tragedies don’t end here, as the climax of the book has been reached again with the 5 years of rain that took place flooding Macondo and making the family lose all their fortune. However, the
solitude. After that, heavy rain hit Macondo for around 5 years, people started to leave and their houses were demolished. However, Aureliano Segundo becomes closer with his children and grandson. Ursula remains sick in her bed and tells stories of the family. Due to the heavy rain, Alerioano loses all of his money and property which makes him very angry. Lastly, he decides to resort to searching for Ursula’s fortune of hidden coins in the backyard.
theme of family shows again here as Aureliano takes these years as an opportunity to get closer to his children.
This chapter also explains how Fernanda is suffering from mental stuff affecting her personality and actions which I disguise. This focus on psychology of each chapter is a characteristic of the author’s style throughout the book.
With his vivid imagery and language, Gabriel Marquez describes in detail what happened during those 5 years of rain such as the moss, frogs, and flowers.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Not only Ursula but all the inhabitants of Macondo were waiting for it to clear in order to die. He had seen them as he passed by, sitting in their parlors with an absorbed look and folded arms, feeling unbroken time pass, relentless times, because it was useless to divide it into months and years, and the days into hours, when one could do nothing but contemplate the rain.
327
This quote is said by the narrator describing what Aureliano saw from the Macondo citizens while he was roaming around during the rain.
I chose this quote because it portrays the tragic phase of Macondo and its residents during the heavy rain to the extent that made Aureliano see everyone as if they are waiting for their death day. I really liked how the author described in detail their face and body expressions (folded arms) just waiting their time to come and feeling hopeless. Unfortunately, the residents of Macondo have become detached from reality and time.
This quote adds to the theme of tragedy and time that the author introduced from the beginning of the book with all the years and generations that have passed.
Post 11 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 339-359 represent chapters 17 of the book. After the end of the rain, and despite her old age and struggles, Ursula gets up and tries to rearrange everything in the house. Jose Arcadio segundo spent the whole years in Melquiades' room reading his papers and understanding his ancient theories. He teaches all that he knows to Aureliano (II) who turns out to share similar traits with all the previous Aureliano’s like his solitary. On the other hand, Aureliano Segundo decides to move in with Petra Coste, who turns out to be the love of his life, as they live happily despite the lack of money. However, this makes him distant from his children who grew up. Unfortunately, Ursula dies after suffering from aging while resisting till the last breath.
After that, a sudden heat wave hits Macondo which leaves the residents in anger and astonishment especially after the heavy rains. This makes the town abandoned again and in full poverty and especially with the emergence of a semi human creature called the wandering Jew that they kill. Jose Arcadio focuses on teaching young Aureliano all the history and philosophies of Macondo to carry it within him and reminds him of the massacre too while Aureliano Segundo focuses on raising money to send Amaranta ursula to Brussels to study. Their end days come and both Segundos die at the same time. However, they are buried in the place of each other due to the confusion of the coffins.
331 - 359
This chapter represents the continuity of the tragedies in Macondo yet with some positive events taking place.
In this phase in life, after the rain, the Beundias become poor after a history of wealth and power. Aureliano and Petra resist everything and move in together with their strong love.
This chapter also showed how Ursula tries to refix everything with gratitude despite her aging. She still cares so much about her family and thinks she is in control of her death until she dies due to her grandchildren's plays. The author emphasized the theme of time and lucidity in this chapter as Ursula thought she is in control but turns out admitting she didn’t feel the time passing that quickly although she was more than 120 years old.
Another tragic event took place which is the unexpected heat wave leaving Macondo in the worst form ever, abandoned and full of poverty adding again to the theme of tragedy.
I really liked how Jose Arcadio is getting close to Aureliano (II) and teaching him everything so that the truth of Macondo and its history will never die. I find this relationship unexpected especially that modernism is now in control and it would be hard for a young boy like Aureliano (II) to believe such magic and theories.
Unexpectedly, both segundos die at the same time and are buried together. I really found this event a monumental one from the book and strongly adds to the theme of family relationships that are there even during death.
Indeed I liked the alteration between reality and magic in this chapter.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
"Many years later, when Aureliano became part of the world, one would have thought that he was telling a hallucinated version, because it was radically opposed to the false one that historians had created and consecrated in the schoolbooks."
355
This quote is said by the narrator about Aureliano (II) who is being taught by Arcadio to read, write, and know all of the history of Macondo. I chose this quote because it portrays the aim of Arcadio in teaching him all of this. He imagined how Aureliano (II) will recite the stories he knows about Macondo including the magical ones that will never be believed. However, he will be correcting the false information said by the historians.
I was really astonished with the fact that the author was indirectly targeting the historians with their false information and facts in general. I really liked this quote due to this message it conveys and how reality can sometimes be very different from what is being taught and told. This quote serves the theme of both magic and time.
Post 12 DATE:
PLOT PAGE MY THOUGHTS
Pages 360 - 395 represent chapters 18 and 19 of the book.
After their death, Aureliano (II) takes the place of Arcadio Segunto in Malquides lab and even gets visits from the gypsy’s ghost itself to help him decipher the theories. Despite the poverty of the Buendias, Petra sends them money to survive. Arcadio’s widow, Sofia, also decides to leave the family. Moreover, Fernanda dies after she spends her last days missing her children and writing to them while they are in Europe. With her death, Jose Arcadio (II) returns back to Macondo without education thinking that will inherit a fortune from his dead parents yet he finds poverty instead. For his luck, he finds the gold that Ursula has kept under her bed, yet he starts to spend it irresponsibly with a group of teenagers. He then starts to get closer to Aureliano (II) and the only child of the colonel left comes to pay them a visit. However, he was shot by the police and the tragedy continues as Jose Arcadio (II) was killed by the children while he was bathing and stole his gold.
Years later, Amaranta Ursula decides to come back from europe with her husband Gatson in the hope of reviving the Beundia’s house. However, Macondo has become in its worst times and the Buendias are not even remembered anymore. On the other hand, Aureliano (II) keeps wandering around Macondo while meeting new friends like the librarian and 4 students. He takes a prostitute as his lover named Nigromante but then falls in love with Amaranta, who
360-395
In these chapters, the author introduces how every character’s life transitioned and changed after the death of the Sugendos. It was sad to see the house empty without most of the main characters in the book. However, I really liked how Petra kept paying for the family and helping them. This indeed serves the family theme in the book.
After Fernanda’s death, Arcadio (II) returns back which is the same what happened when Jose Arcadio also returned home. The return home has become a common trait of the beundia’s family as Amaranta Ursula also decided to come back with her husband. This serves the theme stating that time and events are repeated and that time is cyclical in the Buendia family.
The death continues in this chapter after Fernanda then Jose Arcadio (II) gets killed for the sake of stealing his money.
The most surprising event of these chapters is the love story between Amaranta Ursula and Aureliano (II) since they are relatives but they don’t know. This relationship between the aunt and her niece brought me back to the beginning of the book when Ursula and Colonel Aureliano were not allowed to get married due to the fear from hereditary disease. As if the author projected this through their grandchildren with this forbidden love. This makes me as a reader more eager to know how the book will end regarding all these complex relationships.
loves him back, both not knowing that they are related.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Nothing he saw along the way interested him, perhaps because he lacked any memories for comparison and the deserted streets and desolate houses were the same as he had imagined them at a time when he would have given his soul to know them
372
This quote is by the narrator describing Aureliano (II) feelings and thoughts when he was roaming around Macondo.
I chose this quote because it delves into the layers of his personality trying to find memories of Macondo in his brain. However, he now feels not interested like his past curious self which shows a transition in his personality and preferences.
I really liked this quote, especially the imagery used in it.
Post 12 DATE:
PLOT
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
Pages 396- 422 represent the final chapter in the book. Gaston stays in Brussels when he knows that Amaranta is having an affair with Aureliano (II). Despite all the emptiness of the house, they bear a child and call him Aureliano (III). However, surprisingly, Aureliano is born with a pigs tail confirming the very first theory regarding the incest. Because of this birth, Amaranta
396-422
passes away leaving Aureliano (II) in despair. Unfortunately, he forgets about his son and comes back to the house to find his body being eaten by ants after he died. At this point, Aureliano was able to read and understand Melquiades papers where he read exactly everything that happened with him in his life in detail and how the Beundia family will end. Being Aureliano Babilona, this signified the end of the Beundias era.
QUOTE
PAGE
MY THOUGHTS
372