One Hundred Years of Solitude pp. 244-291

Okay, I am finally starting to enjoy this book again, and I am able to follow the characters pretty easily too.

Something that I found interesting within this week’s reading assignments were Garcia Marquez’s attention to the women in the story. The last few chapters seemed to be entirely about Ursula, Amaranta, Fernanda, Meme, etc. It is especially interesting how he portrays Ursula. She is by far the oldest character in the story, but she is also by far the smartest. Even though she is completely blind, she is able to keep up with everything that happens in her home, and knows exactly what is going on and where.

Some other discoveries I had this week, were the reasons for some of the character’s questionable actions. For example, it is insinuated that Amaranta’s motive for a sexual relationship with her nephew Aureliano Jose was because of her unrequited love for Pietro Crespi from when she was younger. Somehow she saw in her nephew the same qualities of Pietro, and that caused her to have those unnatural feelings toward Aureliano Jose.

Another new development in the story is the introduction of Americans to Macondo. I find these very weird, (but what hasn’t been weird so far in this book). This new development shows the Western impact on Macondo in the story, but it also shows America’s impact on the rest of the world throughout history.