You must post 2 times before next Tuesday, April 24th. Your first post should be submitted by Thursday, April 20th. It is to be in response to one of the prompts below. The second time you post, it must be in response to or in reaction to the post of another student.
1. At the beginning of the novel, the author alludes to the Garden of Eden when stating "The world was so recent many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point," (1). In what ways has Macondo, encountered a fall?
- What has corrupted Macondo and its people, especially the Buendia family?
- How has Macondo changed from a place of social harmony to one of discord in its struggle for autonomy?
- What outside forces have aided in this change?
2. Identify elements of the story that you find particularly confusing, interesting, or worthy of discussion. Pose your own questions. Include portions of the text that you feel contribute to your questions/your point. Cite page numbers.
The town is in peril because of the war that breaks out between the liberals and the conservatives. Not only is the town split but the Buendia family is split as well. However; im confused on which side Aureliano joins. IT appears he has belonged to both at one point but which one does he settle with?
ReplyDeleteI was confused about that as well, the way the book describes it you can't quite tell what side he ends up on.
DeleteI am very confused as to how Remedios died. On page 86 it says she was "poisoned by her own blood." Does anyone know what this could be? Maybe she was just too young to have kids. Also, I'm very curious about Jose Arcadio's character. I thought he would be more eager to assimilate into the culture of Macondo but I was surprised by how opposed he was to spending time with family. On page 90 it says, "He slept all day and spent the night in the red light districts." He is causing further corruption in Macondo and tension in the Buendia family. What are some predictions for the development of his character?
ReplyDeletei am also confused about how exactly she died. I feel that maybe she died from enternal bleeding or something after she became pregnant. What is she 12? i feel like whatever it meant it was caused by her becoming pregnant.
DeleteThere were a lot of important things that happened in this chapter! The Buendia family is slowly falling apart. Jose Arcadio Buendia is tied to a tree and no one goes to visit him very often, Rebeca and Jose Arcadio get married, Pietro asks Ursula to marry him, and Aureliano becomes a single man again because Remedios dies. I found all of those relationships very interesting. There were a few things in this chapter that confused me: how did Remedios really die, was she pregnant?, did the Priest die?, and which side did Aureliano take in the war? He was talking to Don Moscote when he said, "War. And don't call me Aurelito anymore. Now I am Colonel Aureliano Buendia" (101). He is clearly a leader in the war but I am unsure as to which side he joined. I am also curious as to what happened with religion in Macondo - did it just die off again?
ReplyDeleteI'm also unsure as to how Remedios died but I believe she was pregnant with twins. The priest was killed after he was hit in the head with the butt of a rifle by one of the soldiers. Aureliano became a Liberal because he said the Conservatives were "tricky." He doesn't want to be like Don Moscote and his men so he decides to take sides against him. I'm also curious to know if the religion will catch on at all.
DeleteI am confused by the fact that Amaranta wants to postpone the marriage between her sister and Pietro so badly. If she truly loved her sister and wanted the best for her wouldn't she want them to get married? On page 86 the book talks about how Amaranta is debating poisoning her own sister. To me this isn't how a family should be.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression from this story that being 'in love' with someone is like a mind-altering disease. It's incredibly strange to me, but I think that is what affecting Amaranta to be such a terrible sister to Rebecca, and so caught up in her own misfortune.
DeleteFrom the reading, I think that Amaranta is in love with Pietro also and that is why she wishes to kill her sister, Rebeca. Personally, I don't understand why she would want to do that because Pietro didn't like her anyway. He loved Rebeca and that is who he wanted to get married to, not Amaranta. I also agree with Alex and her description of love being a mind-altering disease. Everyone that has fallen in love has done some pretty crazy things because of their love.
DeleteI am confused as to why Amaranta wants to kill her sister so badly. Pietro is not going to love Amaranta more becasue she killed rebecca. Pietro will think that amaranta is crazy and hate her for trying to kill his wife. This part is confusing because amaranta is taking the situation to the most extreme. Amaranta needs to move on with her life and enjoy spending time with her sister Rebecca.
ReplyDeleteA Frank....I just think Amaranta is showing her hate because of her love. She doesn't hate her sister she's just so in love with Pietro that she's willing to do anything for it. And if Amaranta can't have him then I think she thinks nobody else can either. No one can take her man even if she can't have him either.
DeleteMany things have corrupted Macondo, including the war that is now taking place in the town. But the buendia family is also falling apart. The fact that Amaranta wants to kill her sister shows that there is hatred between the family. I also thought that when Jose Arcadio returned, that he would have been much happier to see his family again, but instead he ignored them. Then, more tension occurred when Jose Arcadio decided that he would marry Rebeca after she left Pietro. Ursula doesn't feel strongly about this marriage... (pg 93) "...it was as if they were dead." These strange choices that these family members are making are causing their own family to fall apart.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the Buendia family was not very excited to see Jose Arcadio (as as excited as i thought they thought they would be)is also surprising to me. If my brother disappeared for a long time, I would be ecstatic when he came back to town.
DeleteI am confused with why Amaranta keeps postponing the wedding with Rebeca and Pietro and why she thinks killing her would make Pietro love her. I'm also confused with what side Aureliano took in the war, he seemed to be on Don Moscote's side at first but I'm not sure if he really is.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me like all semblances of common sense in characters have disappeared at some point iin the book. JAB is already crazy, like we know. Amaranta's just jealous of Rebeca which is making her blind to reason. Maybe it's a family trait?? I kind of thought Aureliano was on Moscote's side too....
DeleteI am confused about Aureliano and his relationship with Pilar, do they have a child together? And did the Mascot family seem to have any reaction to this child if it existed? I don't understand how something like Rebecca and Jose Arcadio, who weren't exactly always raised together is so frowned upon being married, but then having a child with the same woman your father had a child with is not as discussed within the story. I could completely just be making up this 'child' that Pilar and Aureliano have with one another. Just really confused.
ReplyDeleteThe Buendia family has been torn in many ways. Jose Arcadio leaving and then coming back a changed man. Amaranta wanting to break up Rebeca's romance. Aureliano loving a young girl. All of this has had a negative effect on the family and has turned out to cause a lot more fighting. I am confused on what the actual cause of death of Remedios was. It only hinted in the book that it could have been Amaranta's poison, but never completely says that this was indeed the reason why Remedios died. It is all a bit cloudy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dan. The family has become very torn through the later chapters. I believe that Remedios died because of amarantas poison. Amaranta was trying to get back at her. Amaranta is a very shady girl that does what she wants.
DeleteI'm still confused as to why the wedding was delayed. Was it because of something that Amaranta did specifically or was it because the building of the church was going to take longer than originally planned? I know Amaranta wants the wedding to be postponed, but I got lost in trying to figure out if it was postponed by her own will or by other causes?? Help!
ReplyDeleteGerene, I really agree with you about this part! It is all a little confusing, I think, because the author isn't really clear about what causes what to be delayed. Later, we think that Amaranta accidently "poisons" Remedios drink, which in turn postpones the wedding. Then later in the book, Amaranta has the chance to marry Pietro and then she turns him down, and he in turn kills himself then. The book can be a little confusing, especially with all the corruption within the family.
DeleteA lot of stuff in this book confuses me but most of all is the characters in general. I don't understand where each one is and what they are doing. I always get them mixed up because they are just some randomly tied in at random points. It's really confusing to understand this stuff. Also, how is Jose Arcadio still alive? He's spent many days upside down on a tree...how can he live through that? Your blood would rush to your head and you would die. So this is just a very confusing novel.
ReplyDeleteYo Debo, I agree with you this book is a very confusing on. For me at least it is really hard to follow along and understand what is going on, there are so many different chatacters introduced throughout the book that it is hard to remember who is who.
DeleteIt confuses me in this book, because its hard to tell the magic realism from the real, and all the names and relationships are hard to keep up on. Brothers and sisters and mom's and sons sleeping together is alot to happen at once
Delete"Garden of Eden"
ReplyDeleteMany falls occur in this novel, starting within the family with JAB kind of losing connection with his family when he decides to start doing experiments instead of spending time with his family. Then his son gets Pilar pregnant and runs of with the gypsy's,JAB then takes his grandson in and raises him as his own. The outside forces would be both government and organized religion. Government comes in, and right after that Maconda starts going down hill. Then organized religion comes in and pushes it further down.
I agree with you Cody. All of these "falls" help to set the story and keep it progressing in a way that keeps you guessing.
DeleteThis book is very confusing with all of the Jose Arcadios amidst the war. The family as well is split due to the marriage of Remedios (daughter of Don Moscote). Many of these confusing elements couldn't have happened in real life and thats what makes it magic realism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say about this book and how most this stuff wouldnt happen in real life. A lot of the stuff is very unrealistic but thats why they call it magic realism like you said. This book confuses me a lot to and i dont really understand it well either.
DeleteI think if the government had never become involved with the town, it would still be the peaceful town it once was, with the involvement of it, the revolution was formed. Had it not, this would not have happened I believe. The book is losing me with all the similar names though, I simply cannot keep pace with all the same named people doing something.
ReplyDeletei agree with you WhiteMo, the government always messes things up. Even in a town that was messed up to begin with.
DeleteThis book is really confusing because of all the people but in the end each character played a vital role in the plot of the story. Many of the things that happen in this story wouldnt happen in real life but that shows all the magic realism that is in this unusual story.
ReplyDelete