Life is less lonely when you blog twice! Melquiades would certainly agree. In an effort to "see what is happening in any place" please post your observations, questions, and comments here as you read. I am confident that something magical and real will happen.
31 comments:
I think that a huge component of this novel is transformation. Through anecdotes the reader sees characters grow up and change as the family tree expands.
Aureliano transforms from "the brother who had spent his adolescence making little gold fishes [to]...the mythical warrior who had placed a distance of ten feet between himself and the rest of humanity" (171). Marquez shows how war has changed him and Macando.
After his escapade with the gypsies, Jose Arcadio comes home thunderous, his masculinity even more prominent than it was in his youth.
And, Ursula, reaching nearly 100 years old now, is described as "...broken to pieces. In an instant he discovered the scratches, the welts, the sores, the ulcers, and the scars" (173). Ursula is one of the novel's "virgin" figures, and the anxiety of her family has taken its toll.
Remedios is a character that was introduced as a bed-wetting child, but quickly became a beloved member of the family, martyr in childbirth, and then a fond memory.
Whereas in the beginning of the novel no one has ever died in Macando, by now the characters are aging, and many of the chapters end with death. Marquez uses description with interesting word choice to make the characters' differences over the years known to the reader.
Okay, so I'm double posting...
I'm curious, did anyone have a favorite part in this reading?
Two passages really stood out to me: Jose Arcadio's death and Aureliano's attempted suicide. These were sections that epitomized magical realism.
I loved the idea of Jose Arcadio's blood trickling from his ear and traveling through town into the kitchen where his mother is cooking. There is mystery, impracticality, and a sense of intuition, all components of this genre.
I also loved the doctor's "masterpiece" of tracing iodine over the one place in Aureliano's chest where a bullet could pass without killing him. This is one of numerous times that he's escaped death, and is just really uncanny.
Though I haven't finished this weekend's section yet, I do have some complaints and observations.
Though the war between the Liberals and the Conservatives did help to advance the plot a bit, they kind of ruined the allure of Macondo for me. Before, I sort of saw it as this magical place that was tucked away between the jungle and the mountains. It seemed like a beautiful, friendly environment. However, the war has seemed to age the town and has made it less mystical. For the majority of the war, I felt like there werent many examples of magic realism and that made me lose interest. Although magic realism begins to appear more frequently again towards Colonel Aureliano's death sentence, I found the section fairly hard to get through, which usually has not been in an issue with this particular book.
To continue along the vein of the aging town, I kind of wished that everything had stayed more or less the same. People are beginning to die of old age or other natural causes, a few people are shot, and the town itself appears to physically look older. This made Macondo seem less appealing. Before, I loved the idea of this dreamy, fairytale-like place that was described as if it were completely real, but alot of the interest was lost when the "eteral bliss" of Macondo was destroyed. I do understand that aging is necessary to advance the story, but i was enjoying the lack of the influence of time that is described in a coherent way (unlike the sound and the fury).
Although I do not like the aging and death aspect of this section, I do believe Marquez demonstrated some of his most beautiful writing here.
As for my observations, I would like to discuss the characters. I know in class on thursday (I think) we discussed how the characters were fairly flat and static. As I read on, I begin to disagree more and more with that statement. For me, Ursula went through the most obvious change. Previously, she rarely let anything phase her. She usually just went with everyone else's opinion and let things ride out. However, in times of war, she has become a bit more hardened. She rules over Macondo for a time after her son's corrupt rule, she becomes hysterical at seeing Aureliano being carried through the streets, she refuses to yield to the guards at his prison, and she has begun to lie to herself and her husband. Originally I believed her to be one of the most "real" characters. She never sugar coated anything and always told it like it was. She was also extremely involved in the household, so much so that she almost abandoned her husband beneath the chestnut tree. I feel like she shed the role of being the pragmatist and has shifted to become a bit more idealistic and emotional. As Ursula's family has changed, she has changed with them
Also, her previously energetic and seemingly harmless sons have rejected their work and become shrouded in cruelty and scandal. I would have never predicted that Aureliano would have come to me imprisoned with a death sentence. As the town and the family ages, most of the characters change.
And yes Alicia I completely agree with you on loving the trickling blood scene. I especially loved how Marquez spelled out exactly how the blood moved directionally: "...turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendia house..." It gave the scene a sense of credibility as if it were perfectly normal that a trickle of blood would snake through town, hugging walls to keep the carpet clean, and end up in someone's kitchen. Also, I think the fact that Marquez specifies that Ursula is cracking 36 eggs further adds to the credibility. I have noticed that he very specifically places numbers throughout the story specifically for the purpose of making the story believable.
These chapters stuck with the themes of magical realism, but now seem much less light-hearted. Marquez uses these chapters to introduce the conflict in Macondo, and the rest of the nation, between the Conservative and Liberal parties. We see Colonel Aureliano Buendia fail militarily but still remain untouched. All sixteen of his sons are murdered, but he survives all assassination attempts. This is almost worse for him, though, to have to live through the destruction of his family. He believed in the ideals of Liberalism and of the overthrow, as did the real-life Colombian revolutionaries. They valiantly to defend ideas about society.
I agree with Lauren that the introduction of the conflicts definitely detracted with the magical air surrounding Macondo.
In reading this book, one thing I have never been able to get past is how the characters are named. All of the names within a family are essentially the same or have minor alterations. I always found this irritating, as, at least in my experience, it just caused unnecessary, momentary confusion between characters. I have also been trying to figure out why Mr. Marquez did this. I know that we touched on this subject in class, but I don’t feel like we came to a concrete conclusion. The most obvious answer would be to stress the familial connections between the characters and the importance of family in general in South American cultures. However, as we have previously discussed, these characters are relatively two dimensional and consistent, so I feel like the author throwing in this complexity is somewhat out of place. Maybe it was done to remind us of old, deceased characters generations down the line, when the cast of the book has completely changed. What do you guys think?
The return of Jose Arcadio and his death were major parts of the chapter. Jose Arcadio left with the gypsies and while he traveled around the world he seems to have written down ideas to save Macondo, but his attempts seem to fail. Before Jose left, he symbolized masculinity and macho culture, not subtly at all, and now that he is back he remains the same sex-obsessed character. The only change seems to be the ink, which, evidently, makes he quite attractive to the opposite gender, must be the colors. It seems appropriate that he makes Santa Sofia, who he meet at her first night "working" in Pilar's brothel, his private mistress. He finally marries her after she becomes pregnant.
These chapters are marked by both death and pregnancy, and with Remedios the combination of pregnancy causing death. I am not sure what all of that symbolizes.
I agree with Tommy that the naming gets confusing and redundant. I believe the emphasis on last names shows the importance of family lineage in South American culture and in Macondo. Last names are also significant because they qualify distinct families; in Macondo interbreeding seems to confuse such inter-familial boundaries.
For some reason, I feel like Marquez doesn’t really exaggerate events to create this fantastical image. Rather, I feel like the events themselves are magical enough. His imagery is just so literal, “Tuesday at midnight in a mad operation, twenty-one men under the age of thirty commanded by Aureliano Buendia, armed with table knives and sharpened tools, took the garrison by surprise, seized the weapons, and in the courtyard executed the captain and the four soldiers who had killed the woman” (p. 101). There are times when Marquez uses hyperbolic language to create fantastical images, however, when it comes to war and violence, his language lacks that exaggeration. Perhaps, Marquez believed violence in itself is fantastical and did not feel the need to portray it any other way.
I really enjoyed the idea that even the heavens mourned the passing of Colonel Aureliano Buendia by raining yellow flowers. This is an element of the fantastical.
Also, the reader sees the change that is present in Colonel Aureliano Buendia. He was once a sensitive man who was changed by war. War makes him lose his memory, which plays back on the idea of forgetting the past in Macondo. Also, war brings with it the idea of solitude. I think that his attempt to commit suicide is a result of his fear of solitude and sadness.
Finally, the whole incest thing is just disturbing. I believe that incest in the family is a way of representing the motif of solitude. Through incest, the family is isolating themselves from foreigners and immersing themselves in solitude.
I feel that the loneliness of the Aurelianos plays a major part in the formation of the chapter beginning on page 141 in this weekend's reading. Beginning with the ending of the incestual relationship between Aureliano Jose and Amaranta, we see that loneliness is going to play a big part in the chapter based on the description of the emotions that Aureliano feels when he is told that the relationship must end. The emotions become so strong that it forces him to flee, only to come back later and be rejected yet again. Aureliano finds no true love following his lonely death in the streets of Macondo. Colonel Aureliano Buendia's loneliness is demonstrated through the fact that he spends most of his life on the road in a series of one night stands, never finding any true love relationship to maintain, as the war is his only love at this point. I think that the fact that loneliness (in a loving relationship sense) overshadows the lives of both men reinforces the notion that most of the male characters are not unique, but rather flat and similar.
I finished the assignment yesterday and I have spent the entirety of today thinking of something specifically interesting or profound to say about it. However, I have come to the conclusion that up until now, although I have thoroughly enjoyed this book so far, these past few chapters have left me disappointed. I agree with Lauren when she said, "Though the war between the Liberals and the Conservatives did help to advance the plot a bit, they kind of ruined the allure of Macondo for me. Before, I sort of saw it as this magical place that was tucked away between the jungle and the mountains. It seemed like a beautiful, friendly environment. However, the war has seemed to age the town and has made it less mystical." I found myself upset by the gradual then sudden collapse of the town that once seemed so perfect and peaceful. It also annoys me that Jose Arcadio Buendia (the original) spent most of his life trying to make Macando a peaceful place to live, and then his own son leads the Liberals to fight on the land.
On another note, I now greatly admire Marquez for his writing of the death of Remedios. I was strongly affected by the feelings of pure sadness and loss in the Buendia household, specifically Aureliano. His lack of interest and absolute melancholy made the comedy of the past melt away, but it was not missed because of the poetry of his doldrums. His demise proves to have the same lyrical beauty as Remedios' death.
The scene which really stood out for me was Amaranta's rejecting Pietro Crespi. Amaranta so wanted to stop Rebecca's marriage with him and she wanted to marry him instead. However, when she gets the chance she refuses it.
I think this reflects Marquez's cynicism towards the world. In his opinion, happiness does not come. Rebecca's failed relationship with Pietro Crespi leads to a incestual marriage with Jose Arcadio and that brings tragedy to their family. Everyone excepts a happy marriage between Amaranta and Pietro Crespi but that does not come true. Aureliano's happy marriage with Remedios ends miserably shortly.
This familial tragedy reminds me of the Sound and the Fury.
Also, I felt so much sympathy for Ursula. She is a character who appears in almost every scene. And she has to bear the tragedy of everyone else's as well as hers. No one understands her or really tries to console her. She is troubled by her children's unruly lifestyles and thier deaths. Also, her ever-so passive husband does not react to anything she says.
Without the magical elements that makes the novel different and entertanining, it is very sad and tragic to read.
These chapters were definitely a shift in mood from the previous few. I feel like there was a lot more humor at the beginning and light-heartedness as someone mentioned before, but these chapters were simply depressing. Nothing seems to be going right in the Buendia family, between the deaths, the murder, the suicide, and the war. Everyone is torn apart and mourning multiple deaths at a time.
I get the feeling of a certain circularity in this novel. The ideas of people dying, people getting married, and people having children emphasizes this ongoing lineage, particularly in the Buendia family. Although some die, their names are carried on and perpetuated by new additions in the family. And yes, these names are so confusing! I'm getting frustrated with all the Jose's.
The four people who die in Macondo are significant in my opinion. They all are major contributors to Macondo.
Melquiades can be called one of the founders of Macondo. He brought the magical allure to the town and imbued Jose Arcadio Buendia with ideas to masterfully establish it.
Remedios is an angelic figure, if not a Christ figure. She brings true happiness and service to the Buendia family and the whole town. She also established a relationship between two important families and Auereliano's relationship with his father-in-law eventually leads Aureliano to join the war and prevent Macondo from completely demolishing.
Arcadio is another important figure who dies. He brings about such violence to Macondo. However, he does not lack love for Macondo and tries to defend the town although he failes miserably.
The three deaths that happen in Macondo are all important contributors to Macondo.
Aureliano is a hero to Macondo. He is a military figure. After three chances of dying, his suicide, execution, and poison, he dies condemned of treachery.
WE DON'T UNDERSTAND.
Many of the things that Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes are INCONSISTENT WITH REALITY. Remedios is killed by her own blood? Hot chocolate makes you levitate????? AS IF!!
We have encountered many questions in this part of the reading. We will be coming after school for extra help. Will there be a quiz????!!
On another note there was a definite shift in mood.
-Katie and Tess
That being said, we found the themes of death and solitude to be even more prominent than in the last section. The theme of loneliness and separation is potent; death represents the ultimate form of alienation. Each character, when he confronts death, suddenly thinks of his loved ones. Arcadio, a cold despot, is suddenly struck with compassion for Ursula, Remedios, Aureliano, and Jose Arcadio as he faces the firing squad. Aureliano thinks back on discovering ice with his father. Jose Arcadio Buendia, under the chestnut tree, is suddenly struck with despair thinking about the solitude those who have died must now feel. But it is not only in death that these characters experience solitude. Each one in some way experiences a sort of living death and sense of loneliness. For Rebeca it is the pain and anguish of her personal vice of eating dirt. For Amaranta it is the private pain she feels as she spurns each eager suitor.
The war itself brings both literal and figurative of death. Before the war, Macondo doesn't even need a cemetary, but during wartime, the Buendias are exterminated at a violent and startling pace. But the war brings on the more subtle living death as well, driving a wedge of separation between friends. Jose Aureliano, the figurehead of the Liberal revolution, even begins to create a deliberate a 10-foot buffer zone around himself. This solitary state highlights the tragedy, loneliness, and alienation that comes to Macondo when it discovers war.
-Katie and Tess
I agree with Chris and Lauren that the war detracted from Macondo’s magical quality. In the beginning, I liked this book because of its sense of whimsy, and I lament the loss of that light hearted quality. Somehow it just seems like the men executed by Arcadio and the Melquíades just inhabit two different spheres of reality, but I guess the merging of those two realms is what this genre of magical realism is all about. It is also a poignant statement about war, that all of the natural, simplistic beauty of the world is squandered by petty conflicts. What was amazing is now tainted. I suppose there is truly no great literature that is happy. Nonetheless, the story and characters are still interesting, and Macondo’s magical quality is not truly gone. This is evident of the magic given off by Aureliano Segundo’s affair. In the end, we knew from the outset that this would be the tale of the rise and fall of Macondo, and we are supposed to be saddened by its decline.
This section emphasized the role Pilar played with the men of the novel. Aureliano and Jose both sleep with Pilar as a result of solitude and confusion as opposed to mere attraction. When Arcadio as well is feeling alone and confused, he actually considers sleeping with his own mother because of the role she played with his brothers. I found this scene exceedingly disturbing, but in the context of the book it didn't seem like as big of a deal. It's funny that the issue of incest is a recurring theme, yet very rarely do legitimately incestuous relationships occur. Arcadio wants to sleep with his mother, yet she avoids this. Rebecca and one of the Jose Arcadios marry, but they are not legitimate brother and sister. In fact, the only incestuous relationship of the novel (so far at least) is that of Jose Arcadio number one and Ursula, yet theirs seems a perfectly functional marriage while the other near-incests seem much more disturbing. I guess this also builds off of Jenny's idea regarding Marquez's cynicism in love and marriage. While all characters in the novel passionately love their spouse, there is always something taboo about their relationship. With Jose Arcadio and Rebeca and Ursula and Jose Buendia Arcadio it is the incestuous aspect of their relationship, with Remedios and Aureliano it is Remedios' age. The only acceptable relationship of Amaranta and Peitro was unexpectedly sabotaged by Amaranta, ending in Pietro's death. In Macando there are no "normal" relationships, and all love ends in sadness.
This section adds a little more reality to the magical realism of the novel. The war aspect of this section makes Macondo seem more real to me which is a positive in my opinion. The trip back to the reality of war is a big contrast with the earlier fantasy and magic of the book. There is also a lot more death in this section, mostly due to the increased age of the characters. This also adds to the realism in the section which is important to me especially with the ridiculously magical things that happen later in the book.
Okay so this was in the reading for friday, but I just really wanted to touch upon it because it really bothers me...
I feel like Marquez goes into too much detail on some of the sexual imagery. I get that feeling I get when I'm watching a sex scene in a movie next to my parents, if that makes sense at all. Like when he described Remedios going through puberty? Ew. And on page 92 when he describes Rebeca's loss of virginity? Too much information. And on page 93, he could have stopped at the words "scandalous honeymoon." The rest would have been implied.
Oh and I also agree with Ariel and Remedios' death. I love how he described the reactions of every character, especially as you do not see their affections for her when she is alive. It validated her marriage to Aureliano a little more for me, and made her character a little less flat.
Ok I guess this could be a stretch but it seems like chracters like Remedios and Pietro only gain dimension in death. Neither seemed exceedingly important before they died, and then there was a big ordeal focusing on the affects of their death on the other characters.
I have to agree with Lauren that the war between the Conservatives and Liberals took something away from the novel. Like since when were there political parties. First they are all peaceful with no government, then they allow the magistrate to come in without armed men to enforce the law, and suddenly poof you have two distinct political factions that are ready to wage all out war with each other using kitchen knives, and poison. What's up with that? I felt like Macondo was supposed to be this isolated, far removed area, and I did not expect politics to affect the people in it. After that the town seemed a little less magical, but as real as political partys are, in Macondo, they don't seem realistic.
The whole tone and mood of this section is much darker and more sad than the happy tone of the beginning of the novel. The deaths in the section add to the dark mood. However, not all of the ridiculousness of magical realism is lost in the section. There are still funny ocurances that keep it magical. I really enjoyed learning that hot chocolate can make you float off the ground.
Also, the title of the book started to make more sense to me. Solitude is a much bigger part of this section than the previous sections. The deaths of the characters kind of represented the highest level of alienation that was absent earlier in the book. The sort of flashback that each character has to their friends and loved ones before they die only reinforces the idea that they will be facing solitude once they die.
And I am sorry but Jose Aracio ... STOP BEING A PROSTITUTE AND WHAT WERE YOU THINKING MARRYING YOUR SISTER! I am sooo unbelieveable disturbed. And Pietro was all man she's your sister, and Aracdio was like I don't care! SO CREEPY! I just could not get passed that. I am severely disturbed by every scene he is in, and possibly traumatized for life.
I also had a problem with Auerilano's rapid personality shift. One minute he is Aurelito playing checkers with a Conservative and feeling all alone and removed from the world and living in his brother's shadows. Then the next second he Colonel Aureliano Buendia, kicking ass and takeing names with make shift weapons. Since when did he have that courage and drive? What happened to his laboratory? Multiple personalities much?
these last few chapters really highlighted the magical realism used throughout the novel. However, the ideas of the war between the liberals and the conservatives draw particularly on the real. However, i was completed weirded out by the sexual imagery Marquez uses. Boys sleeping with their own family members is getting slightly bizarre, and it always seems to be a younger boy and an older woman. I'm not really sure what Marquez is trying to say with these relationships; it also gets confusing when half their names are the same. I finished these chapters feeling even weirder than i did before...
I definitely agree that this novel has made a massive transition. What started off as a story of an ambitious man doing absolutely ridiculous, comical things has become a book of tradgedy. The novel is now a complicated story of war, solitude, and depression that really seems to get darker with every page. However, I think that the drastic transition serves a purpose of enhancing the message behind the story. This change in tone has become so obvious that the reader truly understands the harms that come with the issues that Marquez describes. It seems that at this point the novel has reached a point of darkness where there is no coming back to the comedic tone of the beginning, so it will be interesting to see what happens next.
The way that Marquez comes up with names is really starting to aggravate me. Changing one letter or saying "segundo" is not very creative. But it does emphasize the non-unique and flat personas of the characters.
Alright. Just something I have noticed throughtout the reading: It really annoys me that Marquez uses so many names over and over again. For instance, in the first chapter of this weekend's section, we are introduced to José Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo. Really? Are you serious right now? That is 10x worse than ever being named someone else's jr. like Billy Bob Jr. That is okay. But So and So's Segundo is just downright rude, not only to the person being named that but to the reader. I have the most difficult time reading all these names and sorting them in my head. I understand that it deals with the lineage and showing us the different generations so there are not a thousand Jose Arcadios for example. But does this bug anyone else?
Like others have been saying, I have found this passage to be much more easy going like others described, but they were definitely depressing. it is ironic that this mood shift occurs here when the action is clearly not something that should be taken lightly: death, suicide, the war. Also, like Lauren said, and Alicia agreed with, I found the plot concept of the war to be counterproductive to developing the image of Macondo. I liked its serenity before.
Hello!
I'm wondering if Marquez had a messed up family or something, because I just realized how distorted the notion of family is in this book. In most cultures, it's something that people put before anything else, but in this book, people so easily give up on each other and turn their backs on each other and sleep with each other! Marquez basically says on page 110 that Arcadio is messed up because of his family,and Ursula is presented (and views herself)as a failure as a mother, and Amaranta tries sabotage her sister's engagement, subsequently rejecting Pietro Crespi. While there are plenty of other losses in the book and the assigned chapters, both of tangible and intangible things, the loss of a sense of family seems to be one of the most heartwrenching, realistic, and relatable ones. What's ironic is that though the constant recycling of names brings them together as a family, they are actually completely separated.
Agreeing with Jenny, I found it awfully strange that Amaranta rejected Pietro Crespi. She throws all those threats out there when she thinks Rebeca is going to marry him and then when she is in on the action, she can't even say yes to his proposal. What?!? Jenny has a very valid point that this reflects Marquez's cynicism towards the world. Even the mood shift reflects that in the past section because depressing things such as the war, death, and suicide and written about in a light-hearted way.
Overall and in keeping with this section, Marquez uses GREAT description and images. I love the way he describes things. He uses similes so often and although it is such an easy literary device to use, he does so beautifully. Keep on the look out for them. They are everywhere and all of his parallels of different ideas and concepts really make them pop in my mind.
A few reactions: I think it's really odd that Amaranta didn't immediately accept Crespi's marriage offer, given the fact that she thratened to kill her sister over him. I noticed that death started happening- and rapidly. Whereas the beginning of the novel had no deaths in Macondo (save for Melquiades, who had already come back from the dead once), the first few pages of the reading contain the death of Remedios, which I found interesting. Also, we now get to see Macondo in the context of the country, as Aureliano ponders about the Liberals, the government, and war; we are no longer focused on the small town. I also wanted to mention how much of a pimp Jose Arcadio is: he marries Pilar, then heads off with gypsies, then returns and has sex with his sister, telling her husband to basically screw himself. There is a lot of sex in this book, and most male characters are depicted as virile and masculine. Finally, there is definitely a shift in tone in the novel from one of wonder (amazement at the new discoveries in Macondo) to one of realism (the daily, often tragic, events of the Buendias family.
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