Amaranta is the daughter of Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula, sister to Jose Arcadio Buendia, Jr. and Aureliano. She is in love with Pietro Crespi, but he is supposed to be married to Rebecca. Amaranta swears revenge.
69 - "Amaranta pretend to accept the decision and little by little she recovered from her fevers, but she promised herself that Rebeca would marry only over her dead body"
81 - Accused by Ursula of having falsely written the note indicating Pietro's mother's death in order to postpone his and Rebeca's wedding
86 - Plans to poison Rebeca
88 - killed Remedios in an attempt to kill Rebeca?
94 - after Rebeca and Jose Arcadio are married, Pietro asks Amaranta to wed. Ama. responds with "Of course... But when we know each other better."
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
18. Jose Arcado (ii)
The son to parents Aureliano Segundo and Fernanda de Carpio. Was named after Aureliano's great grandfather. Fernanda did not want this, but she did not want to cause trouble since she had been there in Macondo for one year. Page#212
16. Jose Arcadio Segundo
Page 131 - Jose Arcadio Segundo was born a twin. His twin brother was named Aureliano Sequndo.
Page 181 - Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo were so much alike and so mischievous during childhood that not even Santa Sofia del la Piedad could tell them apart.
Page 182 - Until the beginning of adolescence Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo were two sychronized machines. They would wake up at the same time, have the urge to go to the bathroom at the same time, suffer the same upsets in health, and they even dreamed about the same things.
Page 182 - Jose Arcadio Segundo grew to be bony like the colonel, where as Aureliano grew to monumental size. The only thing they now had in common was the family's solitary air.
Page 182 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would ask Colonel Gerineldo Marquez to let him see an execution.
Page 185 - The viewing of an execution would leave such an impression on Jose Arcadio Segundo that he detested military practices and war.
Page 193 - Jose Acadio Segundo would work to opened the channel in order to establish a boat line.
Page 201 - During the attach on the square, Jose Arcadio Segundo managed to rescue Remedios the Beauty.
Page 211 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would rebell before anyone else when Ursula made changes in the way they would dine.
Page 253 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would give up his fighting cocks again and took a job as a forman with the banana company.
Page 261 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would reappeared at the house. He wouldn't greet anyone and only lock himself in the workshop to talk to the colonel.
Page 262 - In reality, Jose Arcadio Segundo was not a member of the family, nor would he ever be of any other since that distant dawn when Colonel Gerineldo Marquez took him the barracks, not so that he could see an execution, but so that for the rest of his life he would never forget the sad somewhat mocking smile on the man being shot.
Page 262 - Ursula would try to use Jose Arcadio Segundo to get Colonel Aureliano Buendia to give up his imprisonment. But he even couldn't do the that.
Page 297 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would encourge the workers of the banana company to strike.
Page 297 - Jose Arcadio Segundo out of his anonymity. for people had been accustomed to say that he was only good for filling up the town with French whores.
Page 300 - Jose Arcadio Segundo went underground but suddenly came out to organize demonstrations in towns throughout the banana region. He would be jailed.
Page 306 - An attack by soldiers on the demonstrators would leave many dead. Jose Arcadio Segundo would awake after the attack on a silent train among dried blood and dead people.
Page 307 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would jump from the train and head back to Macondo.
Page 313 - Jose Arcadio Segundo believed thousands were killed in the attack by soldiers, but he was told nobody was killed and nothing happened.
Page 335 - Jose Arcadio Segundo found peace in his room, the thought of abandoning it terrified him.
Page 348 - Many thought Jose Arcadio Segundo was mad, but really he was the most lucid inhabitnat in the house.
Page 353 - Jose Arcadio Sequndo dies (Santa Sofia de la Piedad would cut his throught to insure he would not be buried alive).
Page 181 - Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo were so much alike and so mischievous during childhood that not even Santa Sofia del la Piedad could tell them apart.
Page 182 - Until the beginning of adolescence Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo were two sychronized machines. They would wake up at the same time, have the urge to go to the bathroom at the same time, suffer the same upsets in health, and they even dreamed about the same things.
Page 182 - Jose Arcadio Segundo grew to be bony like the colonel, where as Aureliano grew to monumental size. The only thing they now had in common was the family's solitary air.
Page 182 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would ask Colonel Gerineldo Marquez to let him see an execution.
Page 185 - The viewing of an execution would leave such an impression on Jose Arcadio Segundo that he detested military practices and war.
Page 193 - Jose Acadio Segundo would work to opened the channel in order to establish a boat line.
Page 201 - During the attach on the square, Jose Arcadio Segundo managed to rescue Remedios the Beauty.
Page 211 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would rebell before anyone else when Ursula made changes in the way they would dine.
Page 253 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would give up his fighting cocks again and took a job as a forman with the banana company.
Page 261 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would reappeared at the house. He wouldn't greet anyone and only lock himself in the workshop to talk to the colonel.
Page 262 - In reality, Jose Arcadio Segundo was not a member of the family, nor would he ever be of any other since that distant dawn when Colonel Gerineldo Marquez took him the barracks, not so that he could see an execution, but so that for the rest of his life he would never forget the sad somewhat mocking smile on the man being shot.
Page 262 - Ursula would try to use Jose Arcadio Segundo to get Colonel Aureliano Buendia to give up his imprisonment. But he even couldn't do the that.
Page 297 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would encourge the workers of the banana company to strike.
Page 297 - Jose Arcadio Segundo out of his anonymity. for people had been accustomed to say that he was only good for filling up the town with French whores.
Page 300 - Jose Arcadio Segundo went underground but suddenly came out to organize demonstrations in towns throughout the banana region. He would be jailed.
Page 306 - An attack by soldiers on the demonstrators would leave many dead. Jose Arcadio Segundo would awake after the attack on a silent train among dried blood and dead people.
Page 307 - Jose Arcadio Segundo would jump from the train and head back to Macondo.
Page 313 - Jose Arcadio Segundo believed thousands were killed in the attack by soldiers, but he was told nobody was killed and nothing happened.
Page 335 - Jose Arcadio Segundo found peace in his room, the thought of abandoning it terrified him.
Page 348 - Many thought Jose Arcadio Segundo was mad, but really he was the most lucid inhabitnat in the house.
Page 353 - Jose Arcadio Sequndo dies (Santa Sofia de la Piedad would cut his throught to insure he would not be buried alive).
15. Fernanda del Carpio
*Page numbers may differ from other books*
p.197 - First mention of Fernanda del Carpio. She is supposedly very beautiful, marries Aureliano Seguno, and names their first-born son Jose Arcadio.
p.217-219 - Chosen as the most beautiful of the five thousand most beautiful women. Not originally from Macondo, Fernanda was brought to Macondo to be named the Queen of Madigascar. Survived a Liberal protest that overtook her grand procession into Macondo, hinting at her conservative nature...If she is in fact to be a Queen, it will have a resounding impact on the Liberal Macondo...
Marries Aureliano Segundo shortly after the protests, though the marriage was dwindling after only two months. Aureliano has an affair with Petra Cotes, dressing her up like the Queen of Madigascar.
p.221 - Very sheltered, kept unaware of world events outside the home. Rewarded with an allowance for making funeral wreaths.
"Until puberty Fernanda had no news of the world except for the melancholy piano lessons taken in some neighboring house..."
p.222 - When she was little, Fernanda saw what turned out to be her great-grandmother's ghost. Perhaps a blog entry on the running total of characters that have seen ghosts is in order.
p.197 - First mention of Fernanda del Carpio. She is supposedly very beautiful, marries Aureliano Seguno, and names their first-born son Jose Arcadio.
p.217-219 - Chosen as the most beautiful of the five thousand most beautiful women. Not originally from Macondo, Fernanda was brought to Macondo to be named the Queen of Madigascar. Survived a Liberal protest that overtook her grand procession into Macondo, hinting at her conservative nature...If she is in fact to be a Queen, it will have a resounding impact on the Liberal Macondo...
Marries Aureliano Segundo shortly after the protests, though the marriage was dwindling after only two months. Aureliano has an affair with Petra Cotes, dressing her up like the Queen of Madigascar.
p.221 - Very sheltered, kept unaware of world events outside the home. Rewarded with an allowance for making funeral wreaths.
"Until puberty Fernanda had no news of the world except for the melancholy piano lessons taken in some neighboring house..."
p.222 - When she was little, Fernanda saw what turned out to be her great-grandmother's ghost. Perhaps a blog entry on the running total of characters that have seen ghosts is in order.
14. Aureliano Segundo
Twins with Jose' Arcadio Segundo (172)
The twins were nearly identical in every way and mimic each others actions (181)
named his son Jose' Arcadio (181)
Didn't want to witness an execution like his brother did. preferred to stay at home (183)
Was very intellectual. Liked to read and translate manuscripts (184)
Shared a woman with his brother because she couldn't tell them apart (187)
learned to play the accordion (187)
Woman's name was Petra Cotes and Aureliano Segundo stayed with her after his brother never saw her again (188)
Became one of the wealthiest men in the swamp thanks to his animals and their rapid reproduction (189)
Ursula's great grandson (189)
Marries Fernanda (201)
Cheats on her with Petra Cotes and has Petra dress up as the Queen and takes a picture(203)
He cheats on his wife because she won't sleep with him (209)
makes jokes behind his wife's back after she glorifies her father (212)
The twins were nearly identical in every way and mimic each others actions (181)
named his son Jose' Arcadio (181)
Didn't want to witness an execution like his brother did. preferred to stay at home (183)
Was very intellectual. Liked to read and translate manuscripts (184)
Shared a woman with his brother because she couldn't tell them apart (187)
learned to play the accordion (187)
Woman's name was Petra Cotes and Aureliano Segundo stayed with her after his brother never saw her again (188)
Became one of the wealthiest men in the swamp thanks to his animals and their rapid reproduction (189)
Ursula's great grandson (189)
Marries Fernanda (201)
Cheats on her with Petra Cotes and has Petra dress up as the Queen and takes a picture(203)
He cheats on his wife because she won't sleep with him (209)
makes jokes behind his wife's back after she glorifies her father (212)
12. Santa Sofia de la Piedad
Santa S0fia marries Arcadio after he sleeps with her by mistake, and has a baby girl and twins with him. They are born after he is shot. When Arcadio was about to be shot he requested that she name the girl Ursula, but Santa Sofia insists that he meant she should name her Remedios. The twins are named Jose Arcadio and Aureliano Segundo.(p.131)Sofia also helps Ursula with her bakery. Santa Sofia eventually is taken in by Ursula
11. Arcadio
31 - The announcement of his being in Pilar Ternera's womb, fathered by Jose Arcadio
37 - After two weeks of birth, he goes to grandparents and his first language is Guajiro(Indian) and not Spanish.
37 - This I found to be gross and not cool. He drinks lizard borth and eats spider eggs.
40 - Due to his stubbornness, he'd rather speak Guajiro, not Spanish
54 - He has his father's physical drive. He learns the art of silverwork with Aureliano and learns to read and write.
62 - We are told that he has a woman's behind
37 - After two weeks of birth, he goes to grandparents and his first language is Guajiro(Indian) and not Spanish.
37 - This I found to be gross and not cool. He drinks lizard borth and eats spider eggs.
40 - Due to his stubbornness, he'd rather speak Guajiro, not Spanish
54 - He has his father's physical drive. He learns the art of silverwork with Aureliano and learns to read and write.
62 - We are told that he has a woman's behind
Pg 104: He becomes a cruel ruler, says Ursula.
Pg 111: He never succeeded in communicating w/ anyone better than he did w/ visitacion and Cataure in their language.
Pg 111: Someone in Catarino store says to him, “you don’t deserve the last name you carry” and Arcadio responds with, “To my great honor, I am not a Buendia”
Pg 116-118: Arcadio was asked to surrender and did not. Then, at dawn, after a summary court-martial, he was shot against the wall of the cemetery.
Pg 119: Death did not matter to him but life did. He requested that his wife names their children Ursula and Jose Arcadio.
Pg 130: Has twins called Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Segundo
Pg 152: He did not know what his origin was, and then later he found out that Pilar Ternerra was his mother.
10. 17 Aurelianos
My honest to goodness reaction to Aureliano's 17 sons by 17 different women was that he must have some potent seeds. However, these young men are short-lived indeed and, like their father, lack attachment to the world around them and are rather flat characters. They aren't interesting so much in themselves, but gain interest as characters when looked at as reflections of their father.
p. 103 - We are introduced into the short-lived history of the Aurelianos. "Colonel Aureliano Buendia (...) had seventeen male children by seventeen different women and they were exterminated one after the other on a single night before the oldest one had reached the age of 35."
p. 150 - A young woman brings one of Aureliano's sons to be bapatised. "No one doubted the origin of the nameless child: he looked exactly like the colonel at the time he was taken to see ice for the first time. The woman said that he had been born with his eyes open, looking at people with the judgement of an adult, and that she was frightened by his way of starting at things without blinking." As there is no name, I as a reader assume that all of the Aurelianos had similar entrances into the world...
p. 215 - The Aurelianos come to visit for the jubilee celebration that Colonel Aureliano shuns. They are all interconneted. "Then Colonel Aureliano Buendia took down the bar and saw at the door seventeen men of the most varied appearance, of all types and colors, but all with a solitary air that would have been enought to idenfify them (...) They were his sons. Without any previous agreement, without knowing each other, they ahd arrived from the most distant corners of the cost (...) They all bore with pride the name Aureliano."
p. 216 - The Aurelianos are wild house guests. "They smashed half of the dishes, they destroyed the rosebushes (...) they killed the hens by shooting at them (ect.)"
- The other Aurelianos are connected to one another as skilled craftsmen, peace-loving men. They all attend Ash Wednesday service. "More amused than devout, they let themselves be led to the alter rail where Father Antonio Isabel mad the sign of the cross in ahes on them (...) they could not remove the crosses"
Aureliano Triste:
- p. 216 "He was a big mullato with the drive and explorer's spirit of his grandfather. He had already tested hisi fortune in half the world and it did not matter where he stayed."
- p. 221 Wants to build a railroad, which had been tried earlier. "Aureliano Triste did not lose any sleep or appetite nor did he torment anyone with crises of ill humor, but he considered the most harebrained of projects as immediate possiblities."
- P. 222 Completes the railroad project
- p. 238 "..was leaving the house with his mother at seven in the evening when a rifle shot came out of the darkness and perforated his forehead.
Aureliano Centeno:
- p. 220 "Tim had moderated his early impulse for growth and he was a man of average height with smallpox scars, but his amazing power for manual destruction remained intact (...) he had a cordiality that won the immediate confidence of others and a stupendous capacity for work."
- p. 221 Reacts when his brother doesn't return for awhile after starting the rail road. "In that way he planned to diversify the production of an enterprise he considered his own, because his brother showed no signs of returning after the rains."
- p. 238 "...found in the hammock that he was accustomed to hang up in the factory with an ice pick between his eyebrows."
Aureliano Serrador and Aureliano Arcaya:
- p. 236 Decide to stay in Maconda and work with the brothers
- p. 238 "Aureliano Serrador had left his girlfriend at her parent's house (...) when someone in the crowd who was never identified fired a revolver shot which knocked him over into a cauldron of boiling lard."
- p. 238 "Aureliano Arcaya was shut up with a woman and [someone] shouted 'Hurry up, they're killing your brothers!' (...) he was greeted with the discharge of a Mauser that split his head open."
Aureliano Amador:
- p. 239 "She drew lines through the names until only that of the eldest remained. His name was Aureliano Amador and he was a carpenter, living in a village hidden in the foothills. (...) Aureliano Amador was safe. The night of the extermination two men shot at him but missed the cross of ashes. Aureliano Amador had been able to leap over the wall of the courtyard and was lost in the mountains, which he knew like the back of his hand. Nothing more was heard from him."
- p. 373 Resurfaces after years of being on the run as a fugitive. "His clothing in tatters, his shoes cracked, the old kapsack on his shoulder his only luggage, he looked like a beggar but his bearing had a dignity that was in frank contradiction to his appearance." He is turned away by Jose Arcadio and is shot in the cross of ashes by police who have been chasing him for years.
Reflection to come...
p. 103 - We are introduced into the short-lived history of the Aurelianos. "Colonel Aureliano Buendia (...) had seventeen male children by seventeen different women and they were exterminated one after the other on a single night before the oldest one had reached the age of 35."
p. 150 - A young woman brings one of Aureliano's sons to be bapatised. "No one doubted the origin of the nameless child: he looked exactly like the colonel at the time he was taken to see ice for the first time. The woman said that he had been born with his eyes open, looking at people with the judgement of an adult, and that she was frightened by his way of starting at things without blinking." As there is no name, I as a reader assume that all of the Aurelianos had similar entrances into the world...
p. 215 - The Aurelianos come to visit for the jubilee celebration that Colonel Aureliano shuns. They are all interconneted. "Then Colonel Aureliano Buendia took down the bar and saw at the door seventeen men of the most varied appearance, of all types and colors, but all with a solitary air that would have been enought to idenfify them (...) They were his sons. Without any previous agreement, without knowing each other, they ahd arrived from the most distant corners of the cost (...) They all bore with pride the name Aureliano."
p. 216 - The Aurelianos are wild house guests. "They smashed half of the dishes, they destroyed the rosebushes (...) they killed the hens by shooting at them (ect.)"
- The other Aurelianos are connected to one another as skilled craftsmen, peace-loving men. They all attend Ash Wednesday service. "More amused than devout, they let themselves be led to the alter rail where Father Antonio Isabel mad the sign of the cross in ahes on them (...) they could not remove the crosses"
Aureliano Triste:
- p. 216 "He was a big mullato with the drive and explorer's spirit of his grandfather. He had already tested hisi fortune in half the world and it did not matter where he stayed."
- p. 221 Wants to build a railroad, which had been tried earlier. "Aureliano Triste did not lose any sleep or appetite nor did he torment anyone with crises of ill humor, but he considered the most harebrained of projects as immediate possiblities."
- P. 222 Completes the railroad project
- p. 238 "..was leaving the house with his mother at seven in the evening when a rifle shot came out of the darkness and perforated his forehead.
Aureliano Centeno:
- p. 220 "Tim had moderated his early impulse for growth and he was a man of average height with smallpox scars, but his amazing power for manual destruction remained intact (...) he had a cordiality that won the immediate confidence of others and a stupendous capacity for work."
- p. 221 Reacts when his brother doesn't return for awhile after starting the rail road. "In that way he planned to diversify the production of an enterprise he considered his own, because his brother showed no signs of returning after the rains."
- p. 238 "...found in the hammock that he was accustomed to hang up in the factory with an ice pick between his eyebrows."
Aureliano Serrador and Aureliano Arcaya:
- p. 236 Decide to stay in Maconda and work with the brothers
- p. 238 "Aureliano Serrador had left his girlfriend at her parent's house (...) when someone in the crowd who was never identified fired a revolver shot which knocked him over into a cauldron of boiling lard."
- p. 238 "Aureliano Arcaya was shut up with a woman and [someone] shouted 'Hurry up, they're killing your brothers!' (...) he was greeted with the discharge of a Mauser that split his head open."
Aureliano Amador:
- p. 239 "She drew lines through the names until only that of the eldest remained. His name was Aureliano Amador and he was a carpenter, living in a village hidden in the foothills. (...) Aureliano Amador was safe. The night of the extermination two men shot at him but missed the cross of ashes. Aureliano Amador had been able to leap over the wall of the courtyard and was lost in the mountains, which he knew like the back of his hand. Nothing more was heard from him."
- p. 373 Resurfaces after years of being on the run as a fugitive. "His clothing in tatters, his shoes cracked, the old kapsack on his shoulder his only luggage, he looked like a beggar but his bearing had a dignity that was in frank contradiction to his appearance." He is turned away by Jose Arcadio and is shot in the cross of ashes by police who have been chasing him for years.
Reflection to come...
8. Aureliano Jose
Is the child of Colonial Aureliano Buendia and Pilar Moscote.
pp. 125: Amaranta, his aunt, takes care of him because Remedios (who is not his real mother) is dead.
pp. 145-147: Amaranta and Aureliano begin to sleep together on multiple occasions, and then he is sent to the barracks.
pp. 153-154: Aureliano is still infatuated with his aunt and learns from a fellow soldier about someone who had married their aunt, and that was what they were fighting for. He then deserts the army in order to be with his aunt. When he tries to go back into his aunts room when he returns, she "barres her bedroom door forever" so he cannot get in and sleep with her.
pp. 125: Amaranta, his aunt, takes care of him because Remedios (who is not his real mother) is dead.
pp. 145-147: Amaranta and Aureliano begin to sleep together on multiple occasions, and then he is sent to the barracks.
pp. 153-154: Aureliano is still infatuated with his aunt and learns from a fellow soldier about someone who had married their aunt, and that was what they were fighting for. He then deserts the army in order to be with his aunt. When he tries to go back into his aunts room when he returns, she "barres her bedroom door forever" so he cannot get in and sleep with her.
7. Remedios Moscote
LD: pp. 66-72- Remedios Moscote is Colonel Aureliano Buendia's bride-to-be. I find it interesting that he has chosen to marry her instead of any of her older sister's.
pp. 52-54- Aureliano seems to be more attracted to very young girls, and seems to want to "protect" them, much in the same way that he wanted to protect the girl whose grandmother forces her to prostitute herself to repay her for burning down her house.
pp. 89-91- Remedios has died from some kind of complication from child birth. Amaranta feels guilty about Remedios death because she desired to poison Rebeca before her wedding because she is in love with Jose Arcadio.
pp. 98- Aureliano is full of rage over Remedio's death and his father-in-law urges him to marry one of his other daughters, but he does not want to.
pp. 52-54- Aureliano seems to be more attracted to very young girls, and seems to want to "protect" them, much in the same way that he wanted to protect the girl whose grandmother forces her to prostitute herself to repay her for burning down her house.
pp. 89-91- Remedios has died from some kind of complication from child birth. Amaranta feels guilty about Remedios death because she desired to poison Rebeca before her wedding because she is in love with Jose Arcadio.
pp. 98- Aureliano is full of rage over Remedio's death and his father-in-law urges him to marry one of his other daughters, but he does not want to.
6. Colonel Aureliano Buendia
**He was given an omen by Pilar Tenera..."Well," Aureliano said. "Tell me what it is." Pilar Tenera bit her lips with a sad smile. "That you'd be good in war," she said. "Where you put your eye, you put your bullet." p.76. The interesting part is his reply, "I will recognize him," he said. "He'll bear my name." The subject changes abruptly after this...This is an interesting sort of foreshadowing. It takes another sixty pages before we get any notion of what this means.
**Aureliano "man's up" to his father-in-law, and takes a stand for his views. This is the first time we get a glimpse of who he can be. He wants to do the right thing. p.96-101
**He organized 32 armed uprisings and lost them all, had 17 male children with 17 different women and they were exterminated one after the other on a single night before the oldest one had reached the age of 35. He survived 14 attempts on his lie, 73 ambushes, and a firing squad. He lived through a dose of strychnine in his coffee that was enough to kill a horse. Although he fought at the head of his men, the only wound that he received was self-inflicted. He died of old age.
Colonel Aureliano becomes what he hates. He has a certain power that he cannot contain. He thinks things, bad things, and his men act them out. He's not exactly the aggressor, but he is the catalyst for the ideas of aggression that his men have. I guess you could say that he has a great power of influence. I'm still pondering the meaning of Pilar's omen...
He does things, for the sheer act of doing them. He makes and sells his gold fish and uses the profits to make more gold fish. His life is very cyclical at this point. He does the same things each week, right down to shaving and getting his hair cut. He loves no one, truly.
The Colonel is now dead. It doesn't even seem like he saw it coming, as he had presupposed. The circus came to town one last time, he stepped out of his self-imposed solitude to catch a glimpse of it, and a vapor of the memory of ice that he had lost. Then he dies. It was so quick. It is Ursula who, through her decrepitude, is able to give us the most clear picture of the Colonel. He wept in her womb. He seems to have been cursed with pride. He fights not out of honor or duty, put out of the sheer rage of his pride. Ursula pity's him for this. It is his handicap.
**Aureliano "man's up" to his father-in-law, and takes a stand for his views. This is the first time we get a glimpse of who he can be. He wants to do the right thing. p.96-101
**He organized 32 armed uprisings and lost them all, had 17 male children with 17 different women and they were exterminated one after the other on a single night before the oldest one had reached the age of 35. He survived 14 attempts on his lie, 73 ambushes, and a firing squad. He lived through a dose of strychnine in his coffee that was enough to kill a horse. Although he fought at the head of his men, the only wound that he received was self-inflicted. He died of old age.
Colonel Aureliano becomes what he hates. He has a certain power that he cannot contain. He thinks things, bad things, and his men act them out. He's not exactly the aggressor, but he is the catalyst for the ideas of aggression that his men have. I guess you could say that he has a great power of influence. I'm still pondering the meaning of Pilar's omen...
He does things, for the sheer act of doing them. He makes and sells his gold fish and uses the profits to make more gold fish. His life is very cyclical at this point. He does the same things each week, right down to shaving and getting his hair cut. He loves no one, truly.
The Colonel is now dead. It doesn't even seem like he saw it coming, as he had presupposed. The circus came to town one last time, he stepped out of his self-imposed solitude to catch a glimpse of it, and a vapor of the memory of ice that he had lost. Then he dies. It was so quick. It is Ursula who, through her decrepitude, is able to give us the most clear picture of the Colonel. He wept in her womb. He seems to have been cursed with pride. He fights not out of honor or duty, put out of the sheer rage of his pride. Ursula pity's him for this. It is his handicap.
4. Jose Arcadio
Oldest son of Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaron
"Jose Arcadio, the older of the children was fourteen. He had a square head, thick hair, and his father's character. Although he had the same impulse for growth and physical strength, it was early evident that he lacked imagination. He had been conceived and born during the difficult crossing of the mountains, before the founding of Macondo, and his parents gave thanks to heaven when they saw he had no animal features" (14).
"Little Jose Arcadio refused to touch it [the block of ice brought by the gypsies]" (17).
{this sexual tryst is with Pilar Ternera}
"She thought that his disproportionate size was something as unnatural as her cousin's tail of a pig. The woman let out an expansive laugh that resounded through the house like a spray of broke glass. 'Just the opposite,' she said. 'He'll be very lucky.' ... and locked herself up with Jose Arcadio in a granary off the kitchen. ... Jose Arcadio felt his bones filling up with foam, a languid fear, and a terrible desire to weep. The woman made no insinuations. But Jose Arcadio kept looking for her all night long, for the smell of smoke that she had under her armpits and that had got caught under his skin. He wanted to be with her all the time. ... he desire her with a brutal anxiety" (25-26).
"... he could no longer resist the glacial rumbling of his kidneys and air of his intestines, and fear, and the bewildered anxiety to flee and at the same time stay forever in that exasperated silence and that fearful solitude" (27).
"{sex} had permitted him to understand why men are afraid of death" (28).
"His father gave him a blow with the back of his hand that brought out blood and tears. That night Pilar Ternera put arnica compresses on the swellling, feeling about for the bottle and cotton in the dark, and she did everything she wanted with him as long as it did not bother him, making an effort to love him without hurting him. They reached such a state of intimacy that later, without realizing it, they were whispering to each other" (29).
"... he told everything to his brother {Aureliano}" (29)
"'It's like an earthquake'" (30).
{Pilar to Jose Arcadio} "'You're going to be a father'" (31) {Their son is called Arcadio.}
"A huge man had arrived. His square shoulders barely fitted through the doorways. He was wearing a medal of Our Lady of Help around his bison neck, his arms and chest were completely covered with cryptic tattooing, and on his right wrist was the tight copper bracelet of the ninos-en-cruz amulet. His skin was tanned by the salt of the open air, his hair was short and straight like the mane of a mule, his jaws were of iron, and he wore a sad smile. ... It was Jose Arcadio. He was returning as poor as when he had left, to such an extreme that Ursula had to give him two pesos to pay for the rental of his horse. ... He would Indian-wrestle with five men at the same time. ... Jose Arcadio pulled it [the counter] out of its place, lifted it over his head, and put it in the street. It took eleven men to put it back" (88-90).
"The women who went to bed with him that night in Catarino's store brought him naked into the dance salon so that people could see that there was not a square inch of his body that was not tattooed, front and back, and from neck to his toes" (90).
"Jose Arcadio had forgotten about it [affair with Pilar and sharing knowledge with Arcadio], because life at sea had saturated his memory with too many things to remember" (91).
"Jose Arcadio looked at her body with shameless attention and said to her: 'You're a woman, little sister'" (91).
''She managed to thank God for having been born before she lost herself in the inconceivable pleasure of that unbearable pain, splashing in the steaming marsh of the hammock which absorbed the explosion of blood like a blotter. Three days later they were married during the five-o'clock mass" (92).
"'It's against nature,' he [Pietro Crespi] explained, 'and besides, it's against the law.' ... 'Fuck nature two times over,' he [Jose Arcadio] said. 'And I've come to tell you not to bother going to ask Rebeca anything'" (92).
"Father Nicanor revealed in his Sunday sermon that Jose Arcadio and Rebeca were not brother and sister. Ursula never forgave what she considered an inconceivable lack of respect and when they came back from church she forbade the newlyweds to set foot in the house again" (93).
"... they [the neighbors] prayed that such wild passion would not disturb the peace of the dead" (93).
"Jose Arcadio recovered his sense of reality and began to work the no-man's-land that bordered the courtyard of the house" (93).
"In the afternoon he [Pietro Crespi] would go have coffee with Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, who had begun to put their house in order" (99).
"'Jose Arcadio came back a big man, taller than you, and all covered in needlework, but he only brought shame to our house'" (106).
"The only relatives who knew about it were about Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, with whom Arcadio maintained close relations at that time, based not so much on kinship as on complicity. Jose Arcadio had put his neck in the marital yoke" (113). {This was the affair between Arcadio and Santa Sofia de la Piedad.}
"... he [Jose Arcadio] had begun by plowing his own yard and had gone straight ahead into neighboring lands, knocking down fences and buildings with his oxen until he took forcible possession of the best plots of land around. ... he levied a contribution which he collected every Saturday with his hunting dogs and his double-barreled shotgun" (114).
"He [Arcadio] simply offered to set up a registry office so that Jose Arcadio could legalize his title to the usurped land, under the condition that he delegate to the local government the right to collect the contributions. ... also collected fees from people for the right to bury their dead in Jose Arcadio's land" (114).
"'They won't shoot him here,' Jose Arcadio told her [Rebeca]. 'They'll shoot him at midnight in the barracks so that no one will know who made up the squad, and they'll bury him right there.' ... 'They won't bring him through the streets ... with six scared soldiers and knowing that the people are ready for anything'" (128).
"... Jose Arcadio crossing the street with his fearsome shotgun ready to go off. 'Don't shoot,' the captain said to Jose Arcadio. 'You were sent by Divine Providence'" (129).
"A year after the flight of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio and Rebeca went to live in the house Arcadio had built. No on knew about his intervention to halt the execution. ... Jose Arcadio continued to profit from the usurped lands, the title to which was recognized by the Conservative government" (131).
"That was perhaps the only mystery that was never cleared up in Macondo. As soon as Jose Arcadio closed the bedroom door the sound of a pistol shot echoed through the house" (131).
{Pages 131-133 deal with finding Jose Arcadio's body and preparing it for burial. The blood then spread all the way to Ursula in her home which she followed to his body. Despite several attempts to remove the smell of gunpowder, his grave continued to smell like it until engineers came from the banana company to cover it with concrete. Rebeca "buried herself alive" in her home with her servant, Argenida, afterwards (133).}
"Jose Arcadio, the older of the children was fourteen. He had a square head, thick hair, and his father's character. Although he had the same impulse for growth and physical strength, it was early evident that he lacked imagination. He had been conceived and born during the difficult crossing of the mountains, before the founding of Macondo, and his parents gave thanks to heaven when they saw he had no animal features" (14).
"Little Jose Arcadio refused to touch it [the block of ice brought by the gypsies]" (17).
{this sexual tryst is with Pilar Ternera}
"She thought that his disproportionate size was something as unnatural as her cousin's tail of a pig. The woman let out an expansive laugh that resounded through the house like a spray of broke glass. 'Just the opposite,' she said. 'He'll be very lucky.' ... and locked herself up with Jose Arcadio in a granary off the kitchen. ... Jose Arcadio felt his bones filling up with foam, a languid fear, and a terrible desire to weep. The woman made no insinuations. But Jose Arcadio kept looking for her all night long, for the smell of smoke that she had under her armpits and that had got caught under his skin. He wanted to be with her all the time. ... he desire her with a brutal anxiety" (25-26).
"... he could no longer resist the glacial rumbling of his kidneys and air of his intestines, and fear, and the bewildered anxiety to flee and at the same time stay forever in that exasperated silence and that fearful solitude" (27).
"{sex} had permitted him to understand why men are afraid of death" (28).
"His father gave him a blow with the back of his hand that brought out blood and tears. That night Pilar Ternera put arnica compresses on the swellling, feeling about for the bottle and cotton in the dark, and she did everything she wanted with him as long as it did not bother him, making an effort to love him without hurting him. They reached such a state of intimacy that later, without realizing it, they were whispering to each other" (29).
"... he told everything to his brother {Aureliano}" (29)
"'It's like an earthquake'" (30).
{Pilar to Jose Arcadio} "'You're going to be a father'" (31) {Their son is called Arcadio.}
"A huge man had arrived. His square shoulders barely fitted through the doorways. He was wearing a medal of Our Lady of Help around his bison neck, his arms and chest were completely covered with cryptic tattooing, and on his right wrist was the tight copper bracelet of the ninos-en-cruz amulet. His skin was tanned by the salt of the open air, his hair was short and straight like the mane of a mule, his jaws were of iron, and he wore a sad smile. ... It was Jose Arcadio. He was returning as poor as when he had left, to such an extreme that Ursula had to give him two pesos to pay for the rental of his horse. ... He would Indian-wrestle with five men at the same time. ... Jose Arcadio pulled it [the counter] out of its place, lifted it over his head, and put it in the street. It took eleven men to put it back" (88-90).
"The women who went to bed with him that night in Catarino's store brought him naked into the dance salon so that people could see that there was not a square inch of his body that was not tattooed, front and back, and from neck to his toes" (90).
"Jose Arcadio had forgotten about it [affair with Pilar and sharing knowledge with Arcadio], because life at sea had saturated his memory with too many things to remember" (91).
"Jose Arcadio looked at her body with shameless attention and said to her: 'You're a woman, little sister'" (91).
''She managed to thank God for having been born before she lost herself in the inconceivable pleasure of that unbearable pain, splashing in the steaming marsh of the hammock which absorbed the explosion of blood like a blotter. Three days later they were married during the five-o'clock mass" (92).
"'It's against nature,' he [Pietro Crespi] explained, 'and besides, it's against the law.' ... 'Fuck nature two times over,' he [Jose Arcadio] said. 'And I've come to tell you not to bother going to ask Rebeca anything'" (92).
"Father Nicanor revealed in his Sunday sermon that Jose Arcadio and Rebeca were not brother and sister. Ursula never forgave what she considered an inconceivable lack of respect and when they came back from church she forbade the newlyweds to set foot in the house again" (93).
"... they [the neighbors] prayed that such wild passion would not disturb the peace of the dead" (93).
"Jose Arcadio recovered his sense of reality and began to work the no-man's-land that bordered the courtyard of the house" (93).
"In the afternoon he [Pietro Crespi] would go have coffee with Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, who had begun to put their house in order" (99).
"'Jose Arcadio came back a big man, taller than you, and all covered in needlework, but he only brought shame to our house'" (106).
"The only relatives who knew about it were about Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, with whom Arcadio maintained close relations at that time, based not so much on kinship as on complicity. Jose Arcadio had put his neck in the marital yoke" (113). {This was the affair between Arcadio and Santa Sofia de la Piedad.}
"... he [Jose Arcadio] had begun by plowing his own yard and had gone straight ahead into neighboring lands, knocking down fences and buildings with his oxen until he took forcible possession of the best plots of land around. ... he levied a contribution which he collected every Saturday with his hunting dogs and his double-barreled shotgun" (114).
"He [Arcadio] simply offered to set up a registry office so that Jose Arcadio could legalize his title to the usurped land, under the condition that he delegate to the local government the right to collect the contributions. ... also collected fees from people for the right to bury their dead in Jose Arcadio's land" (114).
"'They won't shoot him here,' Jose Arcadio told her [Rebeca]. 'They'll shoot him at midnight in the barracks so that no one will know who made up the squad, and they'll bury him right there.' ... 'They won't bring him through the streets ... with six scared soldiers and knowing that the people are ready for anything'" (128).
"... Jose Arcadio crossing the street with his fearsome shotgun ready to go off. 'Don't shoot,' the captain said to Jose Arcadio. 'You were sent by Divine Providence'" (129).
"A year after the flight of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio and Rebeca went to live in the house Arcadio had built. No on knew about his intervention to halt the execution. ... Jose Arcadio continued to profit from the usurped lands, the title to which was recognized by the Conservative government" (131).
"That was perhaps the only mystery that was never cleared up in Macondo. As soon as Jose Arcadio closed the bedroom door the sound of a pistol shot echoed through the house" (131).
{Pages 131-133 deal with finding Jose Arcadio's body and preparing it for burial. The blood then spread all the way to Ursula in her home which she followed to his body. Despite several attempts to remove the smell of gunpowder, his grave continued to smell like it until engineers came from the banana company to cover it with concrete. Rebeca "buried herself alive" in her home with her servant, Argenida, afterwards (133).}
2. Ursula Iguaron
Ursula Iguaron- Wife of Jose Arcadio Buendia, Mother of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio, and Amaranta. She believe that her husband is crazy. Although she plays along with many of Buendia's ideas and activities, she has a tendancy to ignore him whenever possible but does get rather angry / disappointed with her husband on a regular basis.
...relied on those animals to increase their poor domestic holdings was unable to disuade him (2)
Ursula wept in consternation. The money was from a chest of gold coins that her father had put together over an entire life of privation that she had buried underneath her bed in hopes of a proper occation to make use of it" (3).
After awhile, Ursula simply gives up on her husband.
"If you have to go crazy, please go crazy all by yourself...But don't try to put your gypsy ideas into the heads of the children" (5)
...she would let him dig up her colonial coins and increase them by as many times as it was possible to subdivide mercury. Ursula gave in as always to her husband's unyielding obstinacy" (7).
Ursula's capasity for work was the same as that of her husband. Active, small, severe, that woman of unbreakable nerves, who had no moment in her life had been heard to sing seemed to be everywhere from dawn until quite late at night, always persued by her soft whispering of her stiff starched petticoats (9)
...Ursula would plug her ears with beeswax so as not to lose her sense of reality (9).
"You'll be responsible for what happens" (22)
Ursula followed the gypsy's to find her son. Odd magical things started to happen after Ursula left (34-36)
"Ursula admitted him [Pilar's son] grudgingly, conquered once more by the obstinacy of her husband, who could not tolerate the idea that an offshoot of his blood should be adrift". (37)
Fed Rebeca rubarb and orange juice to help her recover from eating only damp things from the courtyard and whitewash from the walls) (44)
"Ursula had got that idea from the afternoon when she saw Rebeca and Amaranta changed into adolescence, and it could almost have been said that the main reason behind the construction was a desire to have a proper place for the girls to receive visitors." (59)
"Ursula never forgave what she considered an incomceivable lack of respect and when they came back from church she forbade the newlyweds to set foot in the house again." (93)
"He's alive... Let's pray to God for his enemies to show him clemency." (121)
"We've done our duty by baptizing them." (151)
"Ursula felt tormented by grave doubts concerning the effectiveness of the methods with which she had molded the spirit of the languid apprentice SUPREME POTIFF, but she did not put the blame on her staggering old age or the dark clouds that barely permitted her to make out th shape of things, but on something that she herself could not really define and that she conceived confusedly as a progressive breakdown of time" (245)
(Ursula is getting older)
(Ursula is bed-ridden)
"Ursula cried in lamentation when she discovered that for more than three years she had been a plaything for the children. She washed her painted face, took off her strips of brightly colored cloth, the dried lizards and frogs, and the rosearies and old arab necklaces that they had hung all over her body, and for the first time since the death of Amaranta she got up out of bed without anybody's help to join in the family life once more. The spirit of her invincible heart guided her through the shadows." (333)
"They found her dead on the morning of Good Friday. The last time that they had helped her calculate her age, during the time of the banana company, she had estimated it as between one hundred fifteen and one hundred twenty-two." (342)
...relied on those animals to increase their poor domestic holdings was unable to disuade him (2)
Ursula wept in consternation. The money was from a chest of gold coins that her father had put together over an entire life of privation that she had buried underneath her bed in hopes of a proper occation to make use of it" (3).
After awhile, Ursula simply gives up on her husband.
"If you have to go crazy, please go crazy all by yourself...But don't try to put your gypsy ideas into the heads of the children" (5)
...she would let him dig up her colonial coins and increase them by as many times as it was possible to subdivide mercury. Ursula gave in as always to her husband's unyielding obstinacy" (7).
Ursula's capasity for work was the same as that of her husband. Active, small, severe, that woman of unbreakable nerves, who had no moment in her life had been heard to sing seemed to be everywhere from dawn until quite late at night, always persued by her soft whispering of her stiff starched petticoats (9)
...Ursula would plug her ears with beeswax so as not to lose her sense of reality (9).
"You'll be responsible for what happens" (22)
Ursula followed the gypsy's to find her son. Odd magical things started to happen after Ursula left (34-36)
"Ursula admitted him [Pilar's son] grudgingly, conquered once more by the obstinacy of her husband, who could not tolerate the idea that an offshoot of his blood should be adrift". (37)
Fed Rebeca rubarb and orange juice to help her recover from eating only damp things from the courtyard and whitewash from the walls) (44)
"Ursula had got that idea from the afternoon when she saw Rebeca and Amaranta changed into adolescence, and it could almost have been said that the main reason behind the construction was a desire to have a proper place for the girls to receive visitors." (59)
"Ursula never forgave what she considered an incomceivable lack of respect and when they came back from church she forbade the newlyweds to set foot in the house again." (93)
"He's alive... Let's pray to God for his enemies to show him clemency." (121)
"We've done our duty by baptizing them." (151)
"Ursula felt tormented by grave doubts concerning the effectiveness of the methods with which she had molded the spirit of the languid apprentice SUPREME POTIFF, but she did not put the blame on her staggering old age or the dark clouds that barely permitted her to make out th shape of things, but on something that she herself could not really define and that she conceived confusedly as a progressive breakdown of time" (245)
(Ursula is getting older)
(Ursula is bed-ridden)
"Ursula cried in lamentation when she discovered that for more than three years she had been a plaything for the children. She washed her painted face, took off her strips of brightly colored cloth, the dried lizards and frogs, and the rosearies and old arab necklaces that they had hung all over her body, and for the first time since the death of Amaranta she got up out of bed without anybody's help to join in the family life once more. The spirit of her invincible heart guided her through the shadows." (333)
"They found her dead on the morning of Good Friday. The last time that they had helped her calculate her age, during the time of the banana company, she had estimated it as between one hundred fifteen and one hundred twenty-two." (342)
1. Jose Arcadio Buendia
His imagination goes beyond nature, miracles, and magic (11).
Thought he could use the magnetized ingots of the gypsies to extract gold from the earth (11).
He didn't believe Melquiades was being honest when he told Jose Arcadio Buendias that the ingots would not work for extracting gold from the earth (11).
Traded his mule and a pair of goats for the ingots (11).
The only thing he found with the ingots was a suit of fifteenth-century armor, inside of which was a skeleton wearing a locket that contained a woman's hair (12).
Thought he could use the magnifying glass the gypsies brought as a war weapon; traded the 2 ingots and three colonial coins for the magnifying glass (12).
Using the magnifying glass, he exposed himself to the sun and suffered burns, to demonstrate the effects the magnifying glass would have on the enemy (13).
Created an instructional manual for the magnifying glass as a weapon of war that he sent to the government (13).
Was prepared to train military authorities "in the complicated art of solar war" (13).
Spent months shut up in a room conducting experiments with the instruments of navigation Melquiades had given him: the astrolabe, compass, and sextant (13).
"He conceived a notion of space that allowed him to navigate across unknown seas, to visit uninhabited territories, and to establish relations with splendid beings without having to leave his study" (14).
Discovered on his own that the earth is round--a notion his family found crazy (14).
Could "pull down a horse by grabbing its ears" (15).
Had unyielding obstinacy (17).
Dug up Ursala's colonial coins believing he could double their quantity; in his attempt to do so, he had turned his wife's inheritance into "a large piece of burnt hog cracklings that was firmly stuck to the bottom of the pot" (17).
Was so fascinated by Melquiades fake teeth he lost his interest in alchemy, ate irregularly, and would spend the day walking around the house; he felt these fake teeth were proof of magical and incredible things going on in the rest of the world while Macondo went on "living like donkeys" (17).
Was a patriarchal youth who worked for the welfare of the community (17).
Set up the houses in Macondo so that they all received the same amount of sun and could all reach the river with equal effort (19)
Built traps and cages from the time they founded Macondo, so that soon the whole village was filled with birds and their songs (19)
Ignorant of the region's geography (19)
Founded Macondo with other people after 26 months searching (and failing) to find an outlet to the sea (19)
Believed in fate, that his was whimsical, and that it was tricking him when he searched for the sea "at the cost of countless sacrifices and suffering" but only found it when he wasn't looking for it (21)
Believing Macondo was a peninsula and isolated from the scientific world, he wanted to move the village so that they could receive the benefits of science (21)
Said that a person does not belong to a place until someone dies and is buried there (22)
Thought childhood was a time of mental insufficiency (24)
After Ursula lectures him for neglecting his sons, he begins educating them, tells them about the wonders of the world, and in doing so, forces his imagination to extremes (22, 24)
He and Ursala are cousins (28)
In response to the objections to his and Ursala's marriage, he says "I don't care if I have piglets as long as they can talk" (28)
Kills Prudencio Aguilar after this man jibes him for not having consummated his marriage with Ursula; after killing him, commands Ursula to have sex with him, saying "there'll be no more killings in this town because of you" (29)
Killed Prudencio before they lived in Macondo; after Prudencio's suffering ghost would not leave their house, he, Ursula and many of their friends left Riohacha and went on to found Macondo (30, 31)
Thought his dream with houses having mirror walls meant he was supposed to build new houses in the village our of ice (32)
Searched for the philosopher's stone in his laboratory (38)
Thought Ursula's return after her 5 month disappearance was a miracle, and had longed for it over the discovery of the philosopher's stone (42)
After Ursula returned with a group of men and women from the other side of the swamp, he lost interest in his laboratory, abandoned his search for the philosopher's stone, and once again became the enterprising man he used to be (44)
Became a figure of authority amongst these new people (45)
Initially didn't understand Visitacion's fear of insomnia, thinking they could all get much more out of life if they never slept again (50)
Wanted to build a memory machine to fight off the memory loss caused by the insomnia plague; planned the memory machine to be a spinning dictionary, where, every morning in just a few hours, one could view everything learned in one's life (54)
Thought he could use a daguerreotype to either prove or disprove God's existence (58)
Indignant when Don Apolinar Moscote declares himself magistrate of Macondo, he tells Moscote that the government had never helped Macondo, and Macondo had never bothered the government. They were quite happy that up until then the government "had let them grow in peace, and he hoped that it would continue leaving them that way (61)
Gave up searching for God with the daguerreotype, convinced he did not exist, and instead took apart the pianola to figure out its "magical secret" (66)
He would not allow Melquiades to be buried upon his death, believing the man immortal; only allowed Melquiades to be buried after he had burned mercury next to the corpse for three days, and the body began "to burst with a livid fluorescence" (76)
Pietro Crespi's mechanical fauna helped him get over Melquiades' death and he became an alchemist again (77)
Stopped eating and sleeping when he attempted to apply the principles of pendulums to just about everything; during this time, Prudencio started haunting him again, and the two talked until dawn (80)
Became convinced time was not passing; cried for everyone he knew that was alone in death; smashed all the equipment in the alchemy lab, the daguerreotype room, the silver workshop, and tried to smash up the rest of the house--it took Aureliano and 10 men to get him down, "14 to tie him up, 20 to drag him to the chestnut tree...where they left him tied up, barking in the strange language and giving off a green froth at the mouth" (81)
The strange language was latin; Father Nicanor was the only person who could speak with him in Latin; stubbornly resisted Nicanor's attempts to evangalize him and tried to break the man's faith (all while tied to the tree) (86)
"Sunk in an abyss of unawareness," he eventually lost all touch with reality (106)
Ursula unties him from the tree, but he doesn't move from the stool, as though an "invisible bond kept him tied to the trunk" (107)
He dies (137)
Thought he could use the magnetized ingots of the gypsies to extract gold from the earth (11).
He didn't believe Melquiades was being honest when he told Jose Arcadio Buendias that the ingots would not work for extracting gold from the earth (11).
Traded his mule and a pair of goats for the ingots (11).
The only thing he found with the ingots was a suit of fifteenth-century armor, inside of which was a skeleton wearing a locket that contained a woman's hair (12).
Thought he could use the magnifying glass the gypsies brought as a war weapon; traded the 2 ingots and three colonial coins for the magnifying glass (12).
Using the magnifying glass, he exposed himself to the sun and suffered burns, to demonstrate the effects the magnifying glass would have on the enemy (13).
Created an instructional manual for the magnifying glass as a weapon of war that he sent to the government (13).
Was prepared to train military authorities "in the complicated art of solar war" (13).
Spent months shut up in a room conducting experiments with the instruments of navigation Melquiades had given him: the astrolabe, compass, and sextant (13).
"He conceived a notion of space that allowed him to navigate across unknown seas, to visit uninhabited territories, and to establish relations with splendid beings without having to leave his study" (14).
Discovered on his own that the earth is round--a notion his family found crazy (14).
Could "pull down a horse by grabbing its ears" (15).
Had unyielding obstinacy (17).
Dug up Ursala's colonial coins believing he could double their quantity; in his attempt to do so, he had turned his wife's inheritance into "a large piece of burnt hog cracklings that was firmly stuck to the bottom of the pot" (17).
Was so fascinated by Melquiades fake teeth he lost his interest in alchemy, ate irregularly, and would spend the day walking around the house; he felt these fake teeth were proof of magical and incredible things going on in the rest of the world while Macondo went on "living like donkeys" (17).
Was a patriarchal youth who worked for the welfare of the community (17).
Set up the houses in Macondo so that they all received the same amount of sun and could all reach the river with equal effort (19)
Built traps and cages from the time they founded Macondo, so that soon the whole village was filled with birds and their songs (19)
Ignorant of the region's geography (19)
Founded Macondo with other people after 26 months searching (and failing) to find an outlet to the sea (19)
Believed in fate, that his was whimsical, and that it was tricking him when he searched for the sea "at the cost of countless sacrifices and suffering" but only found it when he wasn't looking for it (21)
Believing Macondo was a peninsula and isolated from the scientific world, he wanted to move the village so that they could receive the benefits of science (21)
Said that a person does not belong to a place until someone dies and is buried there (22)
Thought childhood was a time of mental insufficiency (24)
After Ursula lectures him for neglecting his sons, he begins educating them, tells them about the wonders of the world, and in doing so, forces his imagination to extremes (22, 24)
He and Ursala are cousins (28)
In response to the objections to his and Ursala's marriage, he says "I don't care if I have piglets as long as they can talk" (28)
Kills Prudencio Aguilar after this man jibes him for not having consummated his marriage with Ursula; after killing him, commands Ursula to have sex with him, saying "there'll be no more killings in this town because of you" (29)
Killed Prudencio before they lived in Macondo; after Prudencio's suffering ghost would not leave their house, he, Ursula and many of their friends left Riohacha and went on to found Macondo (30, 31)
Thought his dream with houses having mirror walls meant he was supposed to build new houses in the village our of ice (32)
Searched for the philosopher's stone in his laboratory (38)
Thought Ursula's return after her 5 month disappearance was a miracle, and had longed for it over the discovery of the philosopher's stone (42)
After Ursula returned with a group of men and women from the other side of the swamp, he lost interest in his laboratory, abandoned his search for the philosopher's stone, and once again became the enterprising man he used to be (44)
Became a figure of authority amongst these new people (45)
Initially didn't understand Visitacion's fear of insomnia, thinking they could all get much more out of life if they never slept again (50)
Wanted to build a memory machine to fight off the memory loss caused by the insomnia plague; planned the memory machine to be a spinning dictionary, where, every morning in just a few hours, one could view everything learned in one's life (54)
Thought he could use a daguerreotype to either prove or disprove God's existence (58)
Indignant when Don Apolinar Moscote declares himself magistrate of Macondo, he tells Moscote that the government had never helped Macondo, and Macondo had never bothered the government. They were quite happy that up until then the government "had let them grow in peace, and he hoped that it would continue leaving them that way (61)
Gave up searching for God with the daguerreotype, convinced he did not exist, and instead took apart the pianola to figure out its "magical secret" (66)
He would not allow Melquiades to be buried upon his death, believing the man immortal; only allowed Melquiades to be buried after he had burned mercury next to the corpse for three days, and the body began "to burst with a livid fluorescence" (76)
Pietro Crespi's mechanical fauna helped him get over Melquiades' death and he became an alchemist again (77)
Stopped eating and sleeping when he attempted to apply the principles of pendulums to just about everything; during this time, Prudencio started haunting him again, and the two talked until dawn (80)
Became convinced time was not passing; cried for everyone he knew that was alone in death; smashed all the equipment in the alchemy lab, the daguerreotype room, the silver workshop, and tried to smash up the rest of the house--it took Aureliano and 10 men to get him down, "14 to tie him up, 20 to drag him to the chestnut tree...where they left him tied up, barking in the strange language and giving off a green froth at the mouth" (81)
The strange language was latin; Father Nicanor was the only person who could speak with him in Latin; stubbornly resisted Nicanor's attempts to evangalize him and tried to break the man's faith (all while tied to the tree) (86)
"Sunk in an abyss of unawareness," he eventually lost all touch with reality (106)
Ursula unties him from the tree, but he doesn't move from the stool, as though an "invisible bond kept him tied to the trunk" (107)
He dies (137)
Magical Realism
EL: 35 - After Ursula disappeared, strange things happened: an empty flask was forgotten in a cupboard for a long time became very heavy that it couldn't be moved, a pan of water began to boil without any fire under it for a half hour until it completely evaporated, and when Amaranta's basket began to move by itself and made a complete turn about the room, Aureliano stopped it and tied it to the table leg as if nothing was unusual.
LD: pp. 22-23- After Jose Arcadio Buendia killed Prudencio Aguilar with a spear, Jose and Ursula began seeing the dead Aguilar walking around their house. They decide that the dead man is looking for water, so Ursula leaves out water jugs throughout their home for the dead man to drink, until they can no longer take it and they decide to leave their home to escape from the spirit. Also, before they left the town, Jose buries the spear that he killed Aguilar with so that the spirit cannot follow them.
Brooks: The language of the novel itself is magical, even in situations that are normal. Jose Arcadio Buendia says outside Macondo, you just have to "sprinkle some magic liquid on the ground" for fruit and and plants (22). Looking at his sons, it was as though they had only begun existing at that moment, "conceived by Ursula's spell" (23).
The Insomnia Plague: They "spent the whole day dreaming on their feet...not only did they see the images of their own dreams, but some saw the images dreamed by others" (51)
RPS: Jose Arcadio's strength. Ate sixteen raw eggs, wrestled five men at one time, lifted a bar counter over his head. "Jose Arcadio pulled it out of its place, lifted it over his head, and put it in the street. It took eleven men to put it pack" (98).
Brooks: Father Nicanor levitates 6 inches above the ground, goes among all the houses reapeating the demonstration (86)
GLS: Two things: one, Col. Aureliano Buendia's foresight to tell his mother(pg. 138) to watch after papa, was interesting, since he did not have this same foresight to help him in his battles(pg. 103). Two, Jose Arcadio Buendia's death and how yellow flowers rained down all night in the city(pg.140). What did that mean exactly?
LD: pp. 22-23- After Jose Arcadio Buendia killed Prudencio Aguilar with a spear, Jose and Ursula began seeing the dead Aguilar walking around their house. They decide that the dead man is looking for water, so Ursula leaves out water jugs throughout their home for the dead man to drink, until they can no longer take it and they decide to leave their home to escape from the spirit. Also, before they left the town, Jose buries the spear that he killed Aguilar with so that the spirit cannot follow them.
Brooks: The language of the novel itself is magical, even in situations that are normal. Jose Arcadio Buendia says outside Macondo, you just have to "sprinkle some magic liquid on the ground" for fruit and and plants (22). Looking at his sons, it was as though they had only begun existing at that moment, "conceived by Ursula's spell" (23).
The Insomnia Plague: They "spent the whole day dreaming on their feet...not only did they see the images of their own dreams, but some saw the images dreamed by others" (51)
RPS: Jose Arcadio's strength. Ate sixteen raw eggs, wrestled five men at one time, lifted a bar counter over his head. "Jose Arcadio pulled it out of its place, lifted it over his head, and put it in the street. It took eleven men to put it pack" (98).
Brooks: Father Nicanor levitates 6 inches above the ground, goes among all the houses reapeating the demonstration (86)
GLS: Two things: one, Col. Aureliano Buendia's foresight to tell his mother(pg. 138) to watch after papa, was interesting, since he did not have this same foresight to help him in his battles(pg. 103). Two, Jose Arcadio Buendia's death and how yellow flowers rained down all night in the city(pg.140). What did that mean exactly?
EL: Pg 131: As Jose Arcadio dies in his bathroom, his blood travels through town to Ursula’s home.
Pg 133: It took years for the gun powder smell to vanish and I don’t think that Rebecca or anybody else could bury themselves alive.
Pg 178: Colonel Aureliano shoots himself with a pistol and at the same time his mom is at home boiling milk and worms begin to show-up.
Streed: Most medical things involve superstition over modern medicine, which is where a lot of the magical realism came in for me. On page 42, Rebeca is eating earth and Ursula gives her "orange juice and rhubarb in a pan that she left in the dew all night".
Another thing that came up were meetings that people had with the ghosts of dead people. An episode that I particularly enjoyed was when Aureliano Segundo met with Melquiades. I would also like to sit down with Melquiades because he exemplifies the spirit of curiosity and wisdom that we don't often see. On page 184, it says "from then on, for several years, they saw each other almost every afternoon. Melquiades talked to him about the world, [and] tried to infuse him with his old wisdom."
I would have to agree with Melissa B above in saying that the language is magical realism. Gabo talks of the most fantastic things in a deadpan style and some sections deserve attention in particular. He also is aware of the necessity to mock certain incidents as they happen (author commentary) On page 191, as the animals that Aureliano Segundo is farming (right word?), they keep reproducing at "alamring proportions (...) of proliferation". Aureliano tells them to "Cease, cows, life is short!" In addition, Fernanda "does her duty in a gold pot with the family crest on it" (p. 206). Also, Fernanda "must have done something to regain her privileges as his legitimate wife because the following year Meme found a newborn little sister" (p. 269).
Finally, there are many references to Catholicism, particularly the mystical aspects of us. For example, Remedios has to go all Virgin Mary on us and ascend into heaven. "She left the sheets to the mercy of the light as she watched Remedios the Beauty waving good bye in the midst of the flapping sheets" (p. 236).
EL: Pg 183, Ursula tells Aureliano Segundo that many years ago gypsies brought magic lamps and flying mats to Macondo. Pg 215: Colonel Aureliano 17 sons visit him in Macondo all at the same time. Pg: 220, the 17 sons received a ash marking on their forehead and it does not come off.
LD: pg 284, Amaranta is visited by a women dressed in blue (death) and she tells her that she must begin sewing her own death shroud on April 6th and make it as honestly as Rebeca's. And at dusk on the day that she finishes sewing the shroud, she would die without pain or bitterness.
Berry: The ascension of Remedios The Beauty, is spectacular. This reminds me of Elisha in the Bible. In the Bible, similar to in to text, he doesn't die God just takes him. Remedios The Beauty has a saint-like quality throughout her existence. It is as though she is a traveler passing through Earth. She never did quite fit in, nor did anyone ever understand her. Also, her qualities are larger than life. The fact that her smell alone can bring a man to his knees, and that looking upon her face can bring them to ruin/death, makes her seem god-like. It was said that no one can look upon the face of God and live...
Streed: p. 312 When Jose Arcadio Segundo is being hunted down, no one except family can see him while in Melquiades's room.
p. 323 Nothing magically real about this, but the excessive rant that Fernanda starts on this page to her husband (as well as the never-ending sentence) made me laugh. How much can one person play the mayter before even they get sick of it? "It was what she expected, of course, from a family that always considered her a nuisance, an old rag, a booby painted on the wall, and who were always going around saying things against her behind her back..."
p. 342 Ursula lives to be overy 122 years old.
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