Active reading Journal 20

Chapter 20

I.      Elements of Magical Realism

l  “It was a tail of pig” pg. 413 It is not possible to have a pig’s tail however the author tried to put human physical disability in a fantasy way.

II.    Characters

l  Gaston-n follows up on his business plans and learns of his wife’s affair

l  Aureliano II- depressed and finally understand the prophecies

l  Amaranta Ursula- still has an affair with Aurliano II

l  Aureliano III- born with a pig tail

III. Plot Summary

Gaston travels to Beligum to follow up on his business plans, while he finds out that his wife Amaranta was having an affair. In Macondo the Buendia house falls apart and ends up being eaten by red ants. Amaranta and Aurliano II gives birth to a child named Aurliano III. However the child was born with a pig tail. Right after Amaranta Ursula gave birth. She died because of non stoppable bleeding. Very drunk and depressed he finally saw the description of the ancient prophecies. He finds that it reflects all his life and the buendia family that is forgotten by Macondo.  

IV.  Quotes

l  “Who would have thought that we really would end up living like cannibals!” pg.411

l  “one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth” pg. 417 I liked how the ended with its title and ended with a simple way to show no hope.

V.    Themes

l  Depression- Aureliano II gets depressed and drinks a lot to relieve his sad feelings about Amaranta Ursula dying.

l  Prophecies- Aureliano II finally finds out about the prophesies and reanalyzes how true it was.

Active reading Journal 19

Chapter 19

I.         Elements of magical Realism

l  “It was Pilar ternera. Years before, when she had reached on hundred forty-five-years”pg 395 the fact that she is very old and she is still alive is not really realistic.

II.      Characters

l  Amaranta Ursula- returns from Europe

l  Gaston- Amaranta Ursula’s husband

l  Nigromanta- black prostitute of Aureliano II

l  Pilar ternera- offers him her reliable wisdom and intuition

III.   Plot Summary

Amaranta Ursula came back from Europe with her husband Gaston, who followed her to Europe from Macondo. She came back thinking to reform Macondo, however Macondo seems to not change at all. When Amaranta Ursula came back, Aureliano II fell in love with her. Even though he falls in love, he realsises that it is impossible. He gets bored of Macondo and becomes preoccupied with his dream of establishing an airmail service in Latin America. He takes a black prostitute cammed Nigromanta. At the end of the chapter Aureliano II admits to Amaranta Ursula that he is in love and eventually both become lovers.

IV.   Quotes

l  “A fourteen-year-old grandmother” pg. 378 I like it because the exaggeration is quite funny.

l  “Her name was Nigromanta” pg. 385 I like this because it is just really interesting how she is black and she is called Nigromanta.

V.      Themes

l  Affair- Aureliano II has an affair with Amaranta Ursula while also using the black prostitute.

Active reading Journal 18

Chapter. 18

I.         Elements of Magical Realism

l  “against the light of the window he saw the gloomy old man with his crow’s wing hat like the materialization of a memory that had been in his head since long before he was born”pg.356 It is obvious that this cannot happen in realistically but he uses this magical realism to make the story interestingly realistic.

II.      Characters

l  Aureliano II- becomes friends with Jose Aureliano II but dies in this chapter

l  Fernanda del Carpio- dies with nostalgia, who did nothing but send letters to her children in Europe.

l  Ursula Iguaran- hid gold under her bed

l  Santa Sofia de la Piedad- she walked away of the family without any indication

l  Petra Cotes- sends the bundia family food to support them

III.   Plot Summary

Aureliano II stays in Meiquiades’s old laboratory to learn about the prophesies. He is occasionally visited by a ghost and that ghost helps him find out the prophesy. At this time Buendias became very poor, they can only live with the food that Aureliano Segundo’s old concubine sends them. After sometime Fernanda del Carpio dies, overcome with nostalgia. After she dies Jose Aureliano II came back to Macondo and discovered the gold that Ursula Iguaran hid under her bed. Since he was so lonely he became friends with Aureliano II who was similar to him. However Jose Aureliano II dies at the end of the chapter when his gold was stolen and killed after that.

IV.   Quotes

l  “I have nothing to do outside” pg.372 I like this quote because he is not showing any interesting in the outside world.

l  “She would sprinkle his body and his clothing with toilet water so that his body and his clothes would have the fragrance of a Pope” pg.369 I like this quote because it is interesting how she would do such thing to make him look like a pope.

V.      Themes

l  Death- two people in the chapter dies

l  Hungriness- People killed Jose Aureliano II because they wanted his gold 

Biblical Allusions in One Hundred Years of Solitude

On the handout about Biblical Allusions in One Hundred Years of Solitude had many examples of Biblical connections in the book and detailed examples of how the Bible and the book had similarities. In the handout it said that Macondo at first is like a Garden of Eden where everything was new. To add to this, I think that Macondo was first a peaceful place and everything worked out very well. However when new things came into Macondo when it was no longer isolated, it all over sudden crushed and lots of death occurred in Macondo. I think this is really close to when Adam and Eve sinned first by eating the apple, and after then everyone lived a sinful life compared to the peaceful life with no deaths. Although there are many I find it hard to find Biblical illusions in the book because they fit perfectly in the book and I would have never thought of it as the book having biblical illusions in it. However now that I know, I think I found several that have Biblical stories in the book apart from the ones in the handout. I feel that the way Colonel Aureliano Jose’s typical sins carried on to all his seventeen children. I think this was also shown in the Bible when Adam and Eve sinned and all their kids were born with sin from birth. I am not very sure about this; however the heavy flood in Macondo and the rain that did not stop reminded me of the flood in the story with Noah. I am not really sure but I think he was inspired by this part of the Bible and put magical realism in it, to make it interesting.

 I think that the reason why the author wanted to make a connection to the Bible was maybe because by using these Biblical stories he can further his ideas through literature and make people think deeper about his big fantastical stories. I feel that his connection to the Bible strengthened his story by doing so. Also maybe if he was a believer he could make people believe in it by reading this book. Or at least be interested in it and at the same time be interested in his book full of fantasy and magical realism.

I think there is an underlying message in doing this. I am not exactly sure what the real underlining message was in doing this. However, I know for sure that there is one. I believe that he did this maybe because he did believe in the Bible and he really wanted people to believe in the Bible. So he used Biblical stories in His book. I think that he wanted to give people an easier way to learn about the stories in the Bible by making it more fantastical and interesting to read.