I liked these final chapters because they made the book full circle. Aureliano II is like the Aurelianos before him, isolated and reserved. The entire setting reflects on whats left of the Buendia family, the house is old and falling apart, and Macondo is deserted and poor. It is ironic that Jose Arcadio II comes home to inherit money but returns to a town in poverty and then meraciously finds Ursulas huge stash of gold. It was nice of him to share the gold but the people of Macondo are horrible.
I think it is kinda strange that Amaranta Ursula would choose her cousin over her husband. I think it is fitting that Aureliano III has a pigs tail because Ursula predicted that it would happen over a hundred years earlier and nobody listened. It is tragic that Amaranta Ursula died in child birth but it was her fault for not listening. Aureliano II is a very bad parent for allowing his son to be eaten by ants. But he is punished, the Buendia line is severed because of him and he destroys Macondo, ending the book.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Active Reading Blog Chapters 18-20
The last three chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude is about downfall of Macondo. With the death of Frenanda, Aureliano II is the only Buendia left in Macondo. The town of Macondo is now deserted and poor, reflecting the Buendia family. Jose Arcadio II returns to Macondo along with Amaranta Ursula and her husband Gaston, after finishing thier education in Europe. Aureliano II spends most of his time in Melquiades room studing his odd writing. Melquiades appears in front of Aureliano and tells him that he will be able to read the writings after 100 years.
Aureliano II and Jose Arcadio II are good friends until Jose Arcadio II is killed after finds the statue full of gold under Ursulas bed. Although he tires to help the people of Macondo with the gold he is betrayed and killed by a mob of greedy children.After the death of Jose Arcadio II Aureliano II falls in love with Amarnata Ursula, his relative. She cheats on her husband Gaston while he is away and he never returns. Aureliano II makes friends with a bunch of odd scholars. They research Macondo and find no one remembers the Buendias. Soon after they leave Amaranta Ursula gives birth to a child with a pigs tail and dies. Aureliano forgets about his baby and leaves to drink with a hooker. When he returns the baby is covered by ants and he is the last Buendia. When is fianlly able to read Melquiades writing he finds that it is a complete history of the Beundia and reads up to the point of him reading Melquiades writings. He is then surrounded by winds that erase Macondo from memory. FIN
Aureliano II and Jose Arcadio II are good friends until Jose Arcadio II is killed after finds the statue full of gold under Ursulas bed. Although he tires to help the people of Macondo with the gold he is betrayed and killed by a mob of greedy children.After the death of Jose Arcadio II Aureliano II falls in love with Amarnata Ursula, his relative. She cheats on her husband Gaston while he is away and he never returns. Aureliano II makes friends with a bunch of odd scholars. They research Macondo and find no one remembers the Buendias. Soon after they leave Amaranta Ursula gives birth to a child with a pigs tail and dies. Aureliano forgets about his baby and leaves to drink with a hooker. When he returns the baby is covered by ants and he is the last Buendia. When is fianlly able to read Melquiades writing he finds that it is a complete history of the Beundia and reads up to the point of him reading Melquiades writings. He is then surrounded by winds that erase Macondo from memory. FIN
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