“We have still not had a death; a person does not belong to a place until there is someone dead in the ground.” P. 13. This quote stood out because, it showed some elements of magical realism. How is it possible that no one has died yet? That is impossible in real life. Jose Arcadio- eldest son. This character changes quite a bit. In the few chapters, he becomes a man. A conscious man. However, he is not interested in his father’s inventions. Melquides, gypsy trader. At first he was vibrant and he was funny and, however after a few tips back he became ill. He began to look old and tired; he was no longer vibrant and happy. Jose Arcadio Buendia, father. When the gypsies came to trade, he was very astonished, one that they could find Macando, and secondly that they had brought such good inventions with them. Jose was very intentions, and spent all his days and interested in these inventions glued to building and seeing how things work. He began to neglect his children and his wife; it was as if she they were not even there. It came to a point, where he used most of his money to go see the inventions. Melquides always traded with Jose Buenida. They would always be in the house trying one of the new inventions, Melquides brought. Ursula disapproved of it, and she let the whole village know so, so she. Melquides grew ill, however he later recovered and he even bought fake teeth. It was revealed the origin of Macando, from Jose and his peers, walking trying to discover the sea, and finally there was a patch of earth next to a river. He then set up the town in an organized fashion. Jose after the trading became very lazy and unfocused, he looked sloppy. He stopped being an example for all, as the ideal. He got an alchemist’s laboratory. “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aueriliano Beundia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” P. 1. This quote seems like magical realism because ice was never a huge necessity in the world. It was never shown as such a big deal in history. , However, it was important to the people in the novel, and the importance was logical and relevant. “god dam nit … Macando is surrounded by water on all sides.” P. 12. I like this quote because it describes Macando in a nutshell. This shows that the town is completely isolated. And it would be very hard for them to travel. Isolation is one of the themes. They are isolated from everything that is why their town is so simple and humble; they really have no way to get in contact with the outside world. Wild vs. Mundane- Where they live in, are a wild area, in the middle of nowhere, however, their lives are pretty monotonous and very similar, and nothing has changed. They do not hunt wild boar for food, nor do a rain dance. They are very simple. They have different types of love. Jose has love for his lab and also for his family, but seems his love for his lab is greater than that of the family.
“A pig’s tail; that was never to be seen by any woman and that cost him his life when a butcher friend did him the favor of chopping it off with his cleaver.” P.20, In reality, no one can grow a pigs tail, it is not possible, however in this story, it is part of life, not magic. Jose Arcadio Buenida won a cock fight with Prudencio Aguilar, he was made fun of, by his competitor, and it eventually led him to stabbing him to death. At first Jose thought nothing of it, until the ghost haunted them, and Jose felt guilty, hence they had to move to a new place. Ursula Iguaran, let her guard down and eventually slept with her husband for the first time. Jose Arcadio grew up, became a man, and had an affair with Pilar Ternera. He then has another affair with a young gypsy girl and runs off with them. In this chapter the discovery of Macando is made clearer. Jose Arcadio Buenida and Ursula left their hometown because of how scared they were of Prudencio’s ghost that haunted them. Jose Arcadio had an affair with Pilar, and she became pregnant with his child. However before that he was falling in love with her, and wanted to make their love public. He then described to his younger brother Aureliano Buenida how sleeping with someone feels like, and Aureliano is interested. Jose Arcadio left with a gypsy girl that he had an affair with and he never returned. His mother went looking for him, but she never found him, instead she found people that looked like them. “I hope its true… that way he will learn to be a man.” P.34 This simply shows that Jose Buenida did not think of his son as a man, but young untamed boy, who had no ambition. Yet he was far from wrong. “Ursula had not found the gypsies, but she had found the route that her husband had been unable to discover in his frustrated search for the great inventions.” P.36. This shows that women are just as capable as men to find things and to be explorers. I like this quote because it shows the importance of women in a society. Isolation- Now they, are not as isolated as they thought, because Ursula found people like them, and she even dressed differently, meaning she came in contact with them. The past affected the present because Ursula found a place that Jose was searching for in the past, and that he never found. The even in their mundane world, strange things happen like Armanta’s basket moving on its own.
No comments:
Post a Comment