You must post 2 times before next Thursday, April 15th. Your first post should be in response to one of the prompts below. The second time you post, it must be in response to or in reaction to the post of another student.
- Where in this text do you see the connections between what Freud says about human motivation and our dreams and the way Gabriel Garcia Marquez has chosen to write this text? Give specific examples including passages from the text. Cite page numbers.
- Find a piece of art which you feel represents a passage or portion of the text. (You will need to paste the link to the artwork in your blog post so that other students may view it.) Explain your choice. Support your explanation by comparing the passage from the text with details from the artwork. Cite page numbers. Do not simply Google One Hundred Years of Solitude art, do a little more of an in-depth searching on your own.
- Identify elements of the story that you find particularly confusing, interesting, or worthy of discussion. Pose your own questions. Include portions of the text that you feel contribute to your questions/your point. Cite page numbers.
taken from the book:
ReplyDelete"At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs"
i think that the above description paints a picture of natural serenity. The picture i chose doesn't have the same qualities that were described in the above passage, but it also represents natural serenity.
http://serenity-forest-screensaver.smartcode.com/images/sshots/serenity_forest_screensaver_9492.jpeg
http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107/Introduction/BehindScene/steak.jpg
the second picture is a picture of steak. when i eat steak, i like it so much that i feel a sense of serenity.
I find the love affairs in this book confusing. For instance the love between Ursula and Jose Arcadio Buendia. They are cousins, couldnt they have found a lover that wasnt their same blood. Or perhaps the relationship of Colenel Aureliano Buendia and Remedios. There are plently of girls out their for Aureliano but he picks the youngest one who is not the healthiest.
ReplyDeleteText from the book : conversation between Jose Arcadio Buendia and Moscote.
Moscote says "We have six other daughters, all unmarried, and at an age where they deserve it, who would be delighted to e te honorable wife of a gentleman as serious and hardworking as your son, and Auerlito lays his eyes precisely on the one who still wets her bed. "
So my quesion basically is, Why cant these people pick people more reasonable to marry, instead of marrying blood or someone WAY younger?
Everyone has the same name on this novel which makes understanding it very difficult.The plot of the story is very complex and almost imposible to read. One element in the novel that I just can't seem to understand is time. In this novel time is a dream, thoughts, illusion and memories. I just can't seem to grasp all of that, however i find it very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIs 100 Years of Solitude the bible of Macondo? There are many elements in this novel that symbolize the bible. For exmaple Macondo is this isolated area that is very similar to Eden and José Arcadio Buendía is like Moses because he tries to lead the people tp civilization.
ReplyDeleteThis book is very confusing to follow. A lot of the characters have the same name and are related in some sort of way. I find the time hard to follow too, for example, when they talk about Melquiades dying in the first part, yet he just died while he was staying in the Buendias' home.
ReplyDeletePilar has to sleep with pretty much every man in Macondo. She had a baby with Jose Arcadio and two others with different men. Why can't she just find one man to spend the rest of her life with?
yeah i was thinking what aisle was thinking. This whole book basically is a metaphor of human history and serves to decode human nature. It begins with an edenic setting and im almost positive it ends in apocalypse. it seems to be like the book so far recounts sort of a "cleansing flood" if you will. The story non-chronologically recounts major events of human history and then relates them to the role of the greater good in society. so could this book be an allegory of human existence? yes? no? it seems to me like the author holds a strict view on the creation stories, in that humans start at the beginning of time, and much room isnt given for any sort of evolution. The one thing i don't like about this book is the meta-physical properties of time that they seem to bend. although ive accepted it as a metaphor, the physics of this book are seriously just wrong. more on a lifespan level than anything. the story in general is screwed up and i really am not a fan. this book is well written though, but its just not my type of book.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah and the chicago bears suck...just saying.
So Rebeca comes to Macondo and the Buendias adopt her into their family. She doesn't eat for days, but finally they figure out that she eats earth and whitewash from the walls. Come up with a theory as to how Rebeca came to find this diet. Did she want to punish herself for disobeying her parents one day? Does she see herself as lowly, humble, and undeserving of real food? Did a lover tell her back in her former home that he'd rather eat dirt than marry her and she felt the need to find out what dirt really tastes like? Does she believe that eating earth is good for the soul? Be creative and come up with your own story.
ReplyDeleteBecca, i agree with you. Tha people do get confusing. like there are so many people with "Arcadio" in their name, that gets so confusing. The whole ordeal with melquaides dying and then coming back was also hard to follow. I didnt really understand why or how that happened either. Pilar, yea she needs to pick a man and stay with him because this whole sleeping with every guy and having a baby with them makes the book alot mroe confusing.
ReplyDeleteFrom the text: page 79
ReplyDelete“One February afternoon she (Remedios) burst out shouting into the living room, where her sisters were chatting with Aureliano, and showed them her panties, smeared with a chocolate-colored paste. A month for the wedding was agreed upon, There was barely enough time to teach her how to wash herself, get dressed by herself, and understand the fundamental business of a home”
I don’t understand how Aureliano would want to marry such a young girl. She can barely take care of herself, how can she be responsible to take care of Aureliano. Remedios was forced to learn all the things that a wife should do, how can she live up to those expectations? How is she suppose to do household work daily and have children when she is a child? Another thing I don’t understand is why the women do not have a say in this marriage arrangement, I don’t understand why Don Moscote would think it was okay to give his youngest daughter away when she has yet reached puberty.
I also agree with Becca, the book is really confusing when a lot of the characters have the same name, its hard to focus on who is who. And I was wondering the same thing, I don’t know why the gypsies told the people of Macondo that he died, and then the next chapter he’s alive again. It doesn’t say if he even really died or not. I don’t understand why Pilar has to sleep with all the guys, she didn’t refuse sex even those she already had two children living with her.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Taylor. I don't understand why people ofthe same blood would want to marry each other. There are plenty of men or women out there to get married to who are not part of your family.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Teresa. I don't understand why someone would want to marry someone else who is half their age. I think 9 years old is way to young to get married. That girl has no experience with household chores, let alone taking care of herself.
I think that the book is very hard to understand. I read it very slowly and i still cannot find a way to remember everything that happend and understand it. It says " One week before the date was set for the wedding, little Remedios woke up in the middle of the night soaked in hot broth which had exploded in her insides with a kind of tearing belch, and she died three days later.."(page 86)then later on in the book it talks about her again, but it seems like she is living. To me, it was just very confusing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tay about the part where they marry their own blood related family. It is very weird. Also, the part where Rebeca is married off. I find that creepy that such an older man would want to marry her. There are plenty of other women out there that he could have married, but he chose to marry a 9 year old. The whole thing just seemed weird to me.
ReplyDeletepage 57:
ReplyDeletea week later he was back with six barefoot and ragged soldiers, armed with shotguns,"
Shotguns?!?i thought this took place in the beginning of time?oh well just another part of this book i find confusing
i agree with aisle,
ReplyDeleteit is hard for me to grasp what time setting these closely tied family is in...
i realize that Rebecca and Jose ended up not being related but they didnt know that when they hooked up..... this book is messed up
ReplyDeletehttp://www.keriosity.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/hillbilly_wedding.jpg
http://best-news-site-ever.com/web_images/crazy_man_tied_to_tree.jpg
Around page 22 it talks about José Arcadio Buendía and Prudencio Aguilar. After José Arcadio Buendía kills Prudencio Aguilar, i am confused with the whole thing about why he left town. Is it Prudencio Aguilar's spirt that is haunting him?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Craig, there are many weird relationships such as Rebecca and Jose, Colenel Aureliano Buendia and Remedios. These people need to find non-family members and people that are closer to their own age.
ReplyDeletei agree with Taylor because there are too many weird names and it doesn't help that some of them have the same name
ReplyDeleteI find it helpful to check out the family tree at the beginning of the book whenever I come across a name I don't remember. Oh and the part where Rebeca shoots her own husband is pretty confusing also. I can't fathom why she'd do such a thing. I agree with Theresa in the fact that Aureliano should have picked an older woman to marry. I mean, Remedios is only 9 years old for crying out loud. But then again, Arcadio wanted to sleep with his mother, who had also slept with both his dad and his uncle. So yes, I agree that this book is very strange.
ReplyDeletein general, this book is just hard to understand. i have trouble keeping up with the passage of time and how it goes back and forth between people being alive and then suddenly theyve been dead or are insane. towards the beginning of the book, it first talks about Macondo and how there were civilized people living there, but then later on did Ursula find Macondo without any civilization? i was completely lost at that point.
ReplyDeletein response to aisle, i completely agree with the idea it's the bible of Macondo, possibly even Jose Arcadio Buendia. it seems like he is their ruler, and then people think he is insane, so they tie him up to a tree? could be a connection to Jesus there.
ReplyDelete"Before them, surround by ferns and palm trees, white and powdery in the silent morning light, was an enormous Spanish galleon...The discovery of the galleon, an indication of the proximity of the sea, broke José Arcadio Buendía's drive." Pg. 11-12
ReplyDeletehttp://sporadicblogger.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/surreal-art-02.jpg
This art work shows José Arcadio Buendía's search for the sea and that his efforts are fruitless.
Okay so I find this book a little confusing at times. It would help if they all had different names. I like the author’s style but it’s extremely annoying to try to figure out who is who on every page. For instance, when the whole war between Liberals and Conservatives was going on, I kept getting confused by the Jose Arcadias. I wasn’t exactly sure which one it was because I think there’s three of them. On page 117 Marquez says, “Arcadio had collected not only the money of the contributions, but had also collected fees from people for the right to bury their dead in Jose Arcadio’s land.” Are they two separate people?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Libby's comment. The people of the town tying their leader up to a tree because they think he is crazy could definitely be a bible reference.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.solpass.org/7ss/Images/war.gif
ReplyDeleteThe above picture is a war taking place. It gives me a visual of what seems to be taking place in Macondo with the Liberals and Conservatives. There is a red, white, and blue flag, which also makes me think of Liberals and Conservatives of the United States. There is a good amount of destruction going on and there’s no mercy for innocent men. Marquez introduces the Colonels and on page 105 it describes Jose Arcadio about to punish Don Apolinar Moscote and Ursula whipping Jose Arcadio. It shows the need to have control over people and the kinds of destruction that are occurring.
I feel like the most confusing part of this book is keeping track of who everyone is. There is a number of people with Jose and Arcadio in their name so that makes it really difficult to keep track of who their talking about when. Sometimes I can't tell if their talking about the same person or not. An example of this in the book is found on page 113. It says, "The only relatives who knew about it were Jose Arcadio and Rebeca, with whom Arcadio maintained close relations at that time, based not much on kinship as on complicity." How are we suppose to understand if their talking about?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hailey on the fact that theres too many common names within this book. So it's hard to follow what the author is saying when you don't know who their really talking about. I also agree with Jimmy because the relationships in this book are really weird and confusing. Like with the girl that's around tweleve years old that died from a miscarriage!
ReplyDeletetimmerstud... more like timmerdud
ReplyDeletehttp://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2007/09/indian_village_of_pomeiooc.jpg
ReplyDeleteThe this painting because it is small and secluded, which is the feeling I get of Macondo when reading.
painting shown in the link posted above makes me think of the story because when I read from the book I picture the setting as a small Indian/western type town. When reading the book, like on page 89, there are several references to the people sleeping in hammocks, which also makes me think of Indian towns. I also chose
I agree with Aisle. There are too many characters with the same name. It is near impossible to even keep them straight. I also think that the characters are way too flat. What I mean is that they aren’t well rounded at all. This author just moves from one character to another which just confuses the reader
ReplyDeleteTyler
ReplyDelete–noun
1.clumsy, stupid person; lout.
2.simpleton; dunce; blockhead.
3.Archaic.
a. deformed or mentally deficient child.
b. changeling.
what i find interesting in the book is the connections between the city of Macondo and Eden. With new technological advances that help modernize Macondo it begins to lose its innocence and the arrival of the priest as well. Just like Eden before original sin was committed Adam and Eve shared an innocence that Macondo once had. But with the arrival of the snake (Devil for those who aren't familiar) the priest/technology the innocence of both places are lost. Everything was fine before modernization arrived.
ReplyDeletesorry my post was late but i was out of town. i do agree with libby and others that share her confusion. The book is hard to follow because of its lack of organization of time. The book keeps making us question where we are in the story. The author needs to take some writing classes. Because the organization of this book is badddd.
ReplyDeletehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Picasso_Massacre_in_Korea.jpg This image is called Massacre in Korea and it is by picasso. This painting is actually a piece inspried by another painting by Goya. I chose this image because it reminded me of all the fighting and war that is happening in the book. The use of cubism and abstracting the figures of this painting also remind me of all the magical realism that is a big part of 100 years of solitude
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt about how Macondo relates to Eden. He makes a good point that the modernization of Macondo has lead to a loss in the innocence it once had. I think that if Macondo would have stayed in solitude as in the begining of the book this story would probably be very boring.
ReplyDeleteSo I find Colonel Aurealiano Buendia and interesting character. He fights all the time,he's pretty much psychic, and he NEVER dies. Just when you think he's sentenced to death, about to be shot, or news arrives that he's dead, he comes right back. I would describe him as losing himself through the war. Because really, up until Pilar and Remedios, he'd never had a woman. However once he entered the war, he slept with lots of woman. I believe that the way he started out in the beginning (innocent, intelligent, obedient) was a positive influence. However, as the war dragged on, the colonel lost himself to the war in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteI find Jose Arcadio Buendia the most interesting. He is the founder of macondo, and is an explorer, which makes me think he is an adventerous type. He becomes insane, but really isn't, because the language he is speaking is just latin. i think he really has a high sense of intelligence that is above everyone else, but no one knows it.
ReplyDeletei find the priest interesting because he just forgot about his home and lived in the village once he found out they had no religion. Also i wonder if he can actually levitate or is he just making an illusion?
ReplyDeletei agree with Matt. As more knowledge comes to the village the more corrupt it becomes.
ReplyDeletewhat i find the most interesting is how the people who we would find today good and respected people are screwing up Macondo. Like the priest for example using his tricks to fool the people with his magic (yes i believe he is pulling their legs). He came to the city and is formalizing religion. The city's religion was fine but I feel the priest is messing it up. He's using illusions to fool them. Same with the gypsies. Macondo is becoming older, faster than normal. Today if we had people like the priest or gypsies that brought new technology to the world we would be excited. I guess most of it is just watching from the outside in. These people that are looked up to in society today are messing with Macondo.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with Craig about questioning the performances of the priest. As said above i believe that the stunts were illusions. I don't believe in magic and i don't trust the priest. Levitation seems a little out there. don't you think?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.polishhomefoundation.org/events/Olbinski/NoYes.JPG In this picture right off the bat you can see the choice between war and peace between the jet and the dove. Besides that the dove can be seen as Macondo in its past, where everything was tranquil, peaceful, and safe from the outside world. With the bringing of technology(jet) the evils of the world outside are allowed into the congregation of Macondo and spread like wildfire bringing much mayhem into the people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt about the changed appearance in who we find are correct in our world today seem destructive and evil/ tainted in the town of Macondo. As point of views change and opinions change, the world seems completely different, the author shows this very well in the book through many of the minor characters who can bring about some horrible results while supposedly doing the good work. -Schwarzkopf
ReplyDeleteIn the bok now i find it very hard to keep everyone who has died straight.There are so many people with he same name I don't really know whos died and whos still alive. I remember thet Jose died but i don't remember which one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacob that jose Arcadio Buendia is the most interesting charachter. I think he is the only one who thinks out of the box and he is not afraid to take risks. The others are to worried about what their peers think about them. Jose does whatever he thinks is right. He is an explorer, who many find crazy but now he might actually be right.
ReplyDelete