One Hundred Years of Solitude 4

1. Convalesce: : to recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness.
-Merriam-Webster Online.

P 136: "He knew, however, that as soon as he put those scruples aside he would break the vicious circle of the war. Convalescence gave him time to reflect."


2. The war seems to have drawn to an end, with the Conservatives victorious and Liberal leaders captured. Aureliano and Colonel Gerineldo Marquez, his close friend, are both sentenced to the firing squad. They are brought to Macondo to be killed, but Jose Arcadio saves the two men just in time. Aureliano immediately begins another fight, raising a small militia for the Liberal cause. His band of soldiers go up and down the country, striking up revolts, largely unsuccessful but never giving up. Eventually they recapture Macondo, but as the war draws on, Aureliano begins to question the fighting. He realizes they are fighting solely for power and pride, not for any direct "just" cause. He sinks into a depression and begins writing poetry. Back in Macondo, Santa Sofia de la Piedad gives birth to the twins Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano Segundo. Jose Arcadio and Rebeca move houses, but almost imminently after doing so Jose Arcadio is mysteriously murdered. Rebeca is suspected, although she proclaims innocence, and she locks herself up in the house in solitude. Gerineldo Marquez, who has always had an interest in Amaranta, tries to strike up a romance. Jose Arcadio Buendia, still living tied to the tree, dies, as a shower of yellow flowers rains from the sky. Aureliano Jose, Aureliano and Pilar's son, becomes a young man. He develops a lust for his aunt, Amaranta, who raised him as her son. The two come very close to becoming lovers, but she realizes what is happening and cuts ties. Aureliano Jose flees to join the army with his father, Aureliano. He returns, however, to attempt to marry Amaranta. He is killed by a Conservative soldier, ending that particular storyline. All seventeen sons of Aureliano soon make their way to Macondo, each baptized with the name Aureliano by Ursula. Aureliano returns to Macondo, more solitary and solemn than ever.


3. One of my favorite parts of this section of the novel was the death of Jose Arcadio Buendia. When he finally passes away, after a long, passion-fueled life, he is given the final dignity. Although he dies tied to a tree, like a dog, the heavens rain down mounds and mounds of beautiful yellow flowers in his honor. No matter how lonely and pitiful he seemed in the end, he clearly deserved the ultimate respect. I thought of this as Gabriel Garcia Marquez's way of giving him final recognition; he was a great, powerful man, founding a great city and beginning a tragic, albeit interesting, line of descendents. It is also an instance of magical realism, as flowers do not really rain from the heavens, no matter how deserving the mortal is or was. There are a lot of deaths in the family in this section. Jose Arcadio Buendia dies, followed by Arcadio and Aureliano Jose. The latter two both die in the midst of the war. The lack of flowers, although it could simply indicate their lower status, could also imply that to die in war is a far less noble death than in old age. Being shot by a firing squad may seem a more exciting way to die than chained a tree in complete isolation, but in the end, it is no more honorable. The incest theme again makes an appearance in this section, with Aureliano Jose desiring to sleep with Amaranta, who raised him as her child. If viewing incest as being a curse passed through the generations, as it is portrayed in Middlesex by Geoffrey Eugenides, then the prevalence of incest-laden relationships in the Buendia family makes more sense. It's important to not forget that Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula were cousins, but married ayway. Arcadio yearned for Pilar, who is his mother. Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, although not technically related by blood, are "siblings" through nature of raising. Aureliano Jose pursues Amaranta, who is his aunt. The incest also points to extreme isolation. When marrying and reproducing within one's family, the need for outside contact is limited. After all, much of society's connecting is made up of the search for a mate. If relationships stay within a single family, there is no need to branch out. The Buendia family is able to maintain strict isolation from society, which is added to by the isolation they maintain from one another. Finally, the incest also signifies the reptition I mentioned in my previous post, and the idea that nothing is permanently gone. Names repeat; family genes repeat, as well. Even when a character dies, such as Jose Arcadio Buendia, his family carries on his legacy both in his frequently reoccurring genes and in his often repeated name.


4. Will the war ever truly end? Aureliano keeps drawing it on, even when it seems to be over. Is the war another example of things never coming to closure?

Did Gabriel Garcia Marquez put the yellow flowers in also to contrast the stark, precision-fueled military deaths of Arcadio and Aureliano Jose? Or were they there simply to honor Jose Arcadio Buendia?

Will Aureliano's seventeen sons play a role later in the story? What is their significance at this point? Are they there to simply show Aureliano's recklessness throughout the war? He seems to have lost himself, in a way. Do they have greater meaning?