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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