One Hundred Years of Solitude 10

1. Evanescent: : tending to vanish like vapor
synonyms see transient.
-Merriam-Webster Online

P 403: "In the postcards that he sent from the way stations he would describe with shouts the instantaneous images that he had seen from the window of his coach, and it was as if he were tearing up and throwing into oblivion some long, evanescent poem: the chimerical Negroes in the cotton fields of Louisiana, the winged horses in the bluegrass of Kentucky, the Greek lovers in the infernal sunsets of Arizona, the girl in the red sweater painting water-colors by a lake in Michigan who waved at him with her brushes, not to say farewell but out of hope, because she did not know that she was watching a train with no return passing by."


2. Amaranta Ursula moves to Macondo with her husband, Gaston. The pair are highly sophisticated, with Amaranta Ursula a modern, independent woman, and Gaston a wealthy older man deeply in love with her. Amaranta Ursula's love for Macondo is based on her nostalgic memories, not on the reality of the town's condition. Aureliano (II) falls in love with Amaranta Ursula, and in an attempt to cope with his unwanted feelings he develops a friendship with four young intellects that he meets in the bookstore. They go to brothels and have scholarly discussions, and Aureliano (II) begins sleeping regularly with a black prostitutue, Nigromanta. Gaston, bored in the run-down and isolated Macondo, plans to start an airmail service. Aureliano (II) confesses his love for Amaranta Ursula, and although she resists at first, eventually the two become lovers. Meanwhile, Gaston leaves for Brussels to continue the development of his airmail company. Amaranta Ursula sends him a letter notifying him of her affair, and he never returns, sending only for his bicycle. Aureliano (II)'s friends leave Macondo to pursue various destinies, and the two lovers are left in solitude with one another. Amaranta Ursula has a child, who is born with a pig's tail. Amaranta Ursula dies from childbirth complications, and Aureliano (II) wanders to Nigromanta's home in destitution, leaving the child behind. When he returns to his house, the baby has been carried away by ants, who have fed on the corpse of the newborn. Aureliano (II) deciphers Melquiades' prophecies, which turn out to be a detailed history of the Buendia family. The end of the book tells of him reading the texts, and as he finishes reading, a huge wind wipes the town from the earth, erasing it entirely.


3. Incest, in the end, ruins the Buendia line. Ursula's biggest fear comes true, as a child is finally born with a physical deformity. Had Aureliano (II) and Amaranta Ursula not committed incest, resulting in Amaranta Ursula's pregnancy, she likely would not have died, and the line could have continued via a child of Amaranta Ursula and Gaston. However, because of the family's gravitation toward incest, the line comes to a close with the death of the child and the mother. The family, through multiple generations, never managed to make outside connections. Even when a family member married outside of the family, the marriage was almost always forced and uncomfortable. It's interesting that when the Buendia family ends, so does the entire town of Macondo. I'm not sure how many people were remaining in the town outside of the Buendia family, but I found it fascinating that no mention of the other townsfolk was made. The idea of the book of prophecies containing the complete history of the Buendia line is a thought-provoking one. Melquiades obviously knew everything that would happen to the family, yet he did not warn them. He did not allow the prophecies to be read in advance, which would have provided the opportunity for the family to remediate the situation. Rather, he let their actions play out, allowing the incest and the solitude to continue. I think this speaks to the idea that what is fated to happen must happen. The Buendia family had its destiny set long before all of the generations were even born. If the novel is thought about in this manner, it means that no Buendia could truly have changed his or her fate. His or her choices were not his or her own; instead, their choices were predetermined by the writings of Melquiades.


4. Did Melquiades make up the fate of the Buendias, or did he simply record it?

Is Melquiades supposed to be like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the book of prophecies supposed to be One Hundred Years of Solitude? Or are the two books something entirely separate?

If the Buendias tried, could they have escaped their fate? Could they have gotten out of the cycle of incest? Or not, because it would go against the prophecies?