As we saw last week, the first half of the novel is based upon the consequences of José Arcadio’s actions, following the arrival of the Gypsies. The second half of the novel follows the direct consequences of Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s actions during the war against the Conservatives. It is because of his womanizing during his military campaign against the conservatives, that he produces over a dozen offspring, all named after him. I find it ironic that his direct heirs are deemed worthy enough to be called “Segundo”, despite the fact that the other Aureliano’s are more capable and more responsible in their actions towards Macondo. Aureliano Segundo displays the same negative characteristics as his father, while Arcadio Segundo displays the positive characteristics of his father, but without his courage or sensibilities. Of the two brother I like Arcadio Segundo slightly more, but that is only because of the somewhat immoral actions of Aureliano Segundo. I was also somewhat surprised by the return of Rebeca, not as another character named Rebeca, but as the original Rebeca from the first half of the novel, I find it interesting how she has become trapped in the past, unable to move on while still wearing her clothing and living in the same house, almost forgotten by all, except Ursula.

I like to think that Garcia Marquez divided his novel into three parts, with the first being the introduction of the Gypsies to Macondo and the origin of the Buendia family with the original José Arcadio. The second part of the novel are the actions of Colonel Aureliano Buendia during the war against the Conservatives, and the creation of the little gold fish. Finally, the third part of the novel is the slow decline, and eventual and inevitable ruin of the Buendia family and ultimately the world.

Relating back to my idea of the “Gabo-verse” from my last week’s blog post, I have a really interesting theory that Gerineldo Marquez is the colonel from No one writes to the Colonel. A few reasons why is because, Garcia Marquez wrote No one writes to the Colonel directly after One Hundred Years of Solitude, and because the two colonels have the same attitude about what happened during the civil war. The colonel from No one writes to the Colonel, is despondent and wants to forget about what happened during the war, but still wants his pension, while Gerineldo Marquez reacts similarly, especially after Colonel Aureliano’s call to war, again, with the Conservatives after the death of his sons. Although, the this theory is just a personal favorite of mine.

My question is: Why do you think the only person to remember Rebeca is Ursula, what happened to her after her marriage to José Arcadio?