One Hundred Years of Solitude, Ch. 3-4

1. daguerreotype (page 49): an early photograph produced on a silver or a silver-covered copper plate.


2. In the beginning of this section, Pilar Ternera gives birth to a son, and in addition to this son the Buendia's are also taking care of an orphan named Rebeca who has strange habits such as eating dirt and whitewash. Soon after Rebeca arrives they discover that she is a victim of insomnia which also causes memory loss. Eventually the entire town suffers from insomnia, and in order to remember what things are and how they operate the people in the town begin to label everything. The insomnia disappears when Melquiades comes to the town and brings the cure, he also introduces the daguerreotype. Jose Arcadio Buendia attempts to make the daguerreotype of God in order to prove that he exists, in the laboratory with him is also his son who is a silversmith. Meanwhile, since the family is growing Ursula decides to expand the house and when the magistrate comes he tries to tell them what color to paint the house, Jose Arcadio Buendia drives him out of town and Aureliano falls in love with the magistrate's daughter, Remedios. Because Aureliano was lonely he slept with Pilar Ternera, who also slept with Aureliano's brother. She helps him figure out a plan to marry Remedios. Meanwhile, Amaranta and Rebeca have fallen in love with Pietro Crespi, Pietro falls in love with Rebeca and plans to marry her. Their wedding along with that of Aureliano and Remedios are scheduled to be the same day. Amaranta is very jealous of her sister and says that she will find a way to stop the marriage. Jose Arcadio Buendia, has gone insane and starts to destroy the house and it takes twenty men to get him out of the house, and tie him to a tree.



3. The theme of isolation is very prevalent in this section, especially when the governmental authority comes to the town and tries to dictate what the town must be like. The characters in the novel begin to resist the change being forced upon them and make themselves become even more secluded. Although some characters detach themselves willingly from society, I believe that some characters are isolated not by choice. Such as, Jose Arcadio Buendia who is on a quest for knowledge and striving to make connections and as a result of this he is believed to be insane and tied to a tree where he will spend the majority of his life, alone. Other characters such as his son who chooses to spend most of his time in the laboratory, is separated from other characters by choice.



4. a) Is Jose Arcadio Buendia supposed to represent Adam from the Bible, in that he was searching for knowledge and then exiled because of it?

b) Do the gypsies in this novel, especially Melquiades, hold any symbolism?

c) Does the coming of the governmental official and his attempts to tell the people of Macondo what to do mirror anything that actually happened in history?