Magical Elements: The character of Melaquiades is the first magical element of the book. Melaquiades' ability to resist getting sick during the worst conditions shows us that magic has to be a part of this Gypsy's life and his travels. Also a magical element of the book is Macondo and how everyone there was under 30 and never died.
Characters
Jose Arcadio Buendia: The Founder of Macondo who is strong and reminds me of a scientist by how he is so curious about things and how he is always in the quest for knowledge.
Ursula Iguaran: The matriarch of the Buendia family who is the mother of the mother of José Arcadio, Colonel Aureliano Buendía, and Amaranta. She is a supportive wife but at the same time has her limits.
Melaquides: The gypsy who gives Jose Sr. technological things such as a magnet, a metal detector and a magnifying glass.
Plot Summary
Chapter one begins with a flashback of how Macondo was found. The gypsy Melaquiades gives Jose Arcadio Buendia a bunch of tools that can help him in the future. In turn, he begins to engage in scientific study even though his wife, Ursula doesn't want him to. He tries to get involved in alchemy, the art or science of making gold out of other metals. His studies keep him from his family more and more as time goes by. He proclaims that the world is round and everyone begins to question whether or not he is crazy. Furthermore, Jose begins to strive for civilization and contact to the world outside of Macondo. The guys that live in Macondo begin to trek through trees and shrubbery and only find antiques. Jose wants to move but his wife refuses to leave. After that he begins to focus more on his kids: Aureliano Buendia is the oldest and is just as strong as his father as well as mysterious. On a family outing, he takes his children to a gypsy fair where they all see ice for the first time and finds out that Melaquiades is dead.
Quotes
1. "Look at the state they're in, running wild just like donkeys." This quote sticks out to me because it shows how Jose's negligence is affecting the kids in Ursula's eyes. Also it reminds me of how my grandmother talks and it makes me laugh.
2. "That was a period in which he acquired a habit of talking to himself, of walking through the house without paying attention to anyone....." This quote shows the theme of isolation as well as the severity of his condition.
Themes
1. Isolation- This theme is shown through Jose Arcadio Buendia and how he separates himself from the rest of his family when he is studying alchemy and how Macondo is an island separate from all other civilization.
2. Time- The book has many flashbacks and the characters in the story are affected by them.
CHAPTER TWO
Magical Elements: The child born of incest is an example of magical realism because even though children can be born with deficiencies they cannot be born with body parts of different animals. Also Jose Arcadio Buendia kills a man and afterwards sees his ghost which haunts him until he decides to leave the place he lived before moving to Macondo.
Characters: The father Jose begins to actually take care of his children while Ursula was away. Jose the son begins to physically mature while Ursula got over her fear of incest defected babies and gave birth to Armanta, her first girl.
Plot Summary
Chapter two takes us back to when the Buendia couple were young. Ursula is afraid to confirm her marriage to her cousin because of a she was told about her relatives who gave birth to a child with a pig's tail. People began to make fun of Jose A. Buendia and one day his rival made fun of him and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He kills his rival Aguilar by stabbing him with a sharp stick. His rival's ghost haunts him until he realizes that he can't take it anymore and decides to leave, little did they know they would discover Macondo. Also, Jose and his son Aureliano go back to studying science while the older son Jose is getting involved with Pilar Ternera a local who only likes Jose the son because he has developed a large reproductive organ. He also falls in love with a gypsy lady but before he met her he had sex with Pilar and gets her pregnant. Before their child is born he runs away with the gypsy lady and Ursula tries to follow them because she is sad that her child has left her. She returns five months later to find out that there is a path to civilization through a swamp.
Quotes
1. "Ursula, before going to bed, would put on a rudimentary ind of drawers that her mother had made out of sailcloth and had reinforced with a system of crisscrossed leather straps and that was closed in the front by a thick iron buckle."- This quote describes not only what she went through each night but how far out of her way she had to go just because she is afraid of having an defected child by incest. This quote is rather disturbing to me because of how uncomfortable she must have been physically and emotionally especially during that time of the month where comfort is a must.
2. ....he made his way through the crowd up to the first row, where the gypsy girl was, and he stopped behind her. He pressed against her back. The girl tried to separate herself, but Jose Arcadio pressed more strongly against her back." This quote makes me laugh because it is yet another example of how history always repeats itself because I can name a handful of teenage boys who either have done or is doing that to a pretty girl as we speak. Also this is a unique quote because he has a very large reproductive organ and pressing up against a girl who is seemed to be petite is a very awkward moment especially in public.
Themes
1. Females- Females in this chapter have been used only in a sexual and reproductive way.
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