One Hundred Years of Solitude, Ch. 5-6

1. sedentary ( page 87): doing or requiring much sitting.


2. In these chapters Aureliano and Remedios are married. Pietro and Rebeca were supposed to be married the same day, however, Pietro received a letter that his mother passed away. Remedios takes in Aureliano's son with Pilar as her own and names him Aureliano Jose. Soon after the couple is married, Remedios dies. The family goes into mourning and Rebeca's wedding is postponed even more due to the mourning period and the fact that the church that they are to be married in is taking a very long time to build. The priest decides that Jose Arcadio Buendia is not as insane as everybody thinks and the priest pays frequent visits to him and discovers that he is speaking Latin. Jose Arcadio returns, and even though Rebeca is engaged to Pietro she is attracted to Jose Arcadio and the two of them have an affair. Also, they get married and are order to leave the house by Ursula who is ashamed of their relationship. Crespi then becomes more affectionate towards Amaranta. Aureliano becomes upset with the corruption of the Conservatives who have invaded Macondo and he decides to lead a small Liberal army. Aureliano, now given the title of Colonel leaves Macondo with his army and leaves his son in charge. His son tries to sleep with his mother Pilar Ternera and instead she sends him another woman, they get married and have three children. Since the Liberals lost the war and the Conservatives took over again, Arcadio is executed. Pietro proposes to Amaranta and she declines, as a result of this he commits suicide. Amaranta feels guilty and burns her hand.

3. I find the dynamics of the Buendia family to be particularly interesting in this section. Some things, I think are specific to the family and their time period, however some things are applicable to families and their interactions today. For example, in these chapters Rebeca is exiled from the house due to her relationship with her brother, Jose Arcadio. The fact that she was in a relationship with her brother is specific to the family and contributes to their isolation, however, even today in our generation it is common for a parent to be upset by who their son or daughter chooses to have a relationship with, just as Ursula was. Also, it becomes evident that Amaranta is incapable of loving. After she went through all of the trouble of trying to find ways to spoil her sister's marriage to Pietro, when the marriage is finally broken up, she declines his offer. Although this particular situation is unique to One Hundred Years of Solitude, the sibling rivalry that occurs in it is not.

4. a) I read somewhere in my research that Remedios is supposed to be somewhat similar to God, after reading this section I am wondering, is this true or just somebody drawing a false parallel?

b) Why does Aureliano decide to lead the Liberals in the army, even after it was explained to him that both sides are corrupt?

c) Does Aureliano's son know that Pilar was his mother when he tried to sleep with her?