Discussion - Week Three - 100 Years of Solitude - p. 208 - 319

[Jim]

This discussion covers Page 208 – 319 begins: “The marriage was on the point of breaking up after two months because Aureliano Segundo, in an attempt to placate Petra Cotes, had a picture taken of her dressed as the Queen of Madagascar.”

Aureliano Segundo marries Fernanda, but manages to keep a little action on the side with Petra. The 17 sons, marked by the cross, return for periodic visits and adventures. After an extended absence, Aureliano Triste rolls into town, train in tow, and not long after, the banana people arrive. Remedios the Beauty has a rather dangerous aroma for the men who inhale it. Colonel Aurelio Beundía relieves himself under the chestnut tree one last time. Amaranta finishes her shroud and plays postmistress to the dead. Meme gives up the clavichord and takes up the mechanic instead. The banana workers strike, but no matter what José Arcadio Segundo may say, nothing has happened in Macondo.


To avoid spoilers, please restrict your comments to page 1 - 319

[Mala]

My least-liked characters in this book are Fernanda & Amaranta- the rigidity of their heart spills over into other areas of their lives as well. Even Márquez seems to prefer the concubines likes Pilar & Petra,with their large appetites & generosity over these frigid women,who,with "their prissiness,their poverty of spirit,their delusions of grandeur" & twisted behaviour,ruin the lives of those around them. Even Meme wishes that she were Petra's daughter!
I wonder what other readers would think of Ursula's final assessment of Colonel Aureliano B,Amaranta & Rebeca? I don't agree with her analysis of Amaranta as the "most tender woman who had ever existed"!
Solitude,which is the over-arching theme of this book,finds especially poignant expression in this week's selection with Colonel Aureliano's bitter desire to be left in peace " insisting that he was not a hero of the nation as they said but an artisan without memories whose only dream was to die of fatigue in the oblivion and misery of his little gold fishes" (P.219) & in the horrible discovery of Rebeca's isolated state & Amaranta's sewing of her own shroud. It's a telling comment on the self-absorption of the Buendia family that nobody notices Úrsula's blindness! (P.256-57)

[Jim]

Mala wrote: "My least-liked characters in this book are Fernanda & Amaranta- the rigidity of their heart spills over into other areas of their lives as well. Even Márquez seems to prefer the concubines likes Pi..."

Well, Fernanda was descended from royalty, so we could expect her to be cold, I suppose. Despite her rigidity and christian fascism, she at least tried to retain some sense of discipline and order in the chaos of Macondo and the general sloth of the Buendia household. She was a symbol of the futility of civilization and "manners" in its endless battle with our animal nature. Probably the most tragic figure in the book as she is least able to participate in the world around her.

Amaranta is fickle, covetous, and a world-class tease, as well as a closet child molester. A bad seed who literally brought on her own death with the sewing of her shroud. I had the feeling that happiness was in her reach, but she chose not to extend her bandaged hand. Second most tragic figure in the book.

[Mala]

Well,some royalty that where (view spoiler)[ the much flaunted gold chamber pot,turns out to be just a plated one & that too on the inscription! (hide spoiler)]

Fernanda is not only a failure as a wife but also as a mother who leaves the upbringing of her children & the upkeep of the house to the two oldest members of the house- Ursüla & Santa Sofia, who,in their advanced years,themselves deserved care & nurturing. In our Indian culture,it would be shocking & unthinkable that mother-in-law is working tirelessly in the house while the daughter-in-law is busy dreaming her royal dreams!
How is closing down doors & windows of the house to sunlight,to visitors,to laughter,to life itself,is imposing order in the house!?
I don't see her as tragic,rather a grotesque figure.
And Amaranta is proof that when sexuality doesn't find a natural outlet for expression, it turns into twisted behaviour of the worst kind.

[Mala]

Edited comment:

The Banana Plantation Massacre is the final nail in Macondo's coffin– by denying the reality of it,the citizens also become an accomplice in the henious act:
" ' Nothing has happened in Macondo,nothing has ever happened,and nothing ever will happen. This is a happy town.'
In that way they were finally able to wipe out the union leaders." P.316

It's a triumph of Márquez's prose that he writes of the most horrible things in the most exquisite prose so you can't turn your eyes away from this daytine nightmare– Fiction has become recorded history. P.310-312
And the Rain has already started!