CHPTS 16 & 20Active Reading

Chapter 16

Summary

Rain begins the night of the slaughter and doesn’t end for almost five years. Aureliano Segundo is trapped by the rain and eases into a state of peace and tranquility. Segundo starts to take care of the children, Amaranta Úrsula and Aureliano (II). Ursula has grown older and more senile and is there to entertain the children and pass on their heritage. The rain breaks down the house and crumbles Aureliano Segundo’s dream to nothing. All the animals that were bred with Petra died in the flood. Fernanda tries to find the telepathic doctors, who try to cure her of the disease of the uterus. In her spare time she starts torturing her husband which causes him to break everything. He turns around and starts to search for the gold coins she has hidden. When the rain ends, Macondo has taken steps back in time because the banana plantations were destroyed.


Characters

Aureliano Segundo – Responsible when taking care of his kids


Quotes

”Good-bye Gerineldo, my son, Say hello to my people and tell them I’ll see them when it stops raining.” – Fernanda p.299

“And what do you want me to do about it.” Aureliano Segundo p.322

Themes

The Decline

Although the rain ends in this chapter the city and the people are in a decline. The Buendia house is falling apart and the fortune is reduced to poverty like level.

Magical Element

The rain continues for five years and reduces the house to almost nothing. The telepathic doctors that try to cure Fernanda’s disease of the uterus.

Chapter 17

Summary

Úrsula gets out of bed to bring the house back to prosperity. She finds José Arcadio Segundo still trying to decode the prophecies of Melquíades. Aureliano Segundo goes back to Petra Cotes they fight to make ends meat. Aureliano Segundo begins to spend less time with the children. Úrsula in her senile state goes in and out reality living in her past and soon dies at about 120 years old. Rebeca also dies around this time.

Hell like heat wave appears in the town and the people think they are plagued. Birds die a strange creature known as the Wandering Jew, is found in the streets. The town moral is descending and they to resort to living in their past. Aureliano Segundo begins to raise money to send Amaranta Úrsula to Europe to go to school. José Arcadio Segundo final makes progress in breaking Melquíades’ ciphers. Aureliano Segundo is finally able to send Amaranta Úrsula to get educated. Now that his last job is done, he and his twin brother José Arcadio Segundo, die. José Arcadio Segundo last words to Aureliano (II) are to never forget about the massacre of the workers. In burial, Aureliano Segundo and José Arcadio Segundo’s caskets are mixed up, and they are buried in the other’s grave.

Characters

Ursula – Once a mother always a mother, she is still trying to take care of the house hold

José Arcadio Segundo – Still tries to break the prophecies of the gypsy

Aureliano Segundo – His last act is a great one leaving him as one of he great patriarchs in his family



Quotes

”Lord save us! So much trouble teaching you good manners and you end up living like a pig” – Ursula p.299

“The Poor great-great grandmother, she died of old age.” Amaranta Ursula p.341

Themes

Plague

The town is plagued with the hellish heat wave and the death of more important characters in the story.


Magical Element

The animals are dead and the plantations have been destroyed by the rain that lasted for so long. Úrsula living to be more than 120 years old in this time period is odd. The hell like heat wave that descends on the town and the way the Segundo brothers die simultaneously are all strange

Chapter 18

Summary

Aureliano (II) stays in Melquíades’s old lab, and is sometimes visited by the ghost Melquíades. The gypsy gives hints and clues, eventually helping him break the prophecies. The prophecies were penned in Sanskrit and they will be decoded when they reach the century mark. Santa Sofía de la Piedad, walks away from the family and we aren’t sure of where to. Fernanda soon dies left with her memories of the past.

José Arcadio (II) returns to Macondo after his mother’s death. He hasn’t been studying in a seminary but waiting to inherit a large some of money and land. He discovers the gold that Úrsula hid under her bed; he begins to share it with the teenagers of the town. He becomes friends with Aureliano (II). The two Buendia’s are visited by the last living son of Colonel Buendía. The son, however, is shot down in front the house. The new found friendship between Aureliano (II) and José Arcadio (II) is shot down when four children kill him during a bath and steal the gold.


Characters

Aureliano (II) – He too studies the prophecies showing signs of his strong heritage

José Arcadio (II) – He is a liar and a conniver, this is shown through his deceitful actions


Quotes

”Sanskrit” – Aureliano p.356

“So, you’re the bastard.” José Arcadio p.365

Themes

The Future

The future is touched upon in this when the ghost of the gypsy appears. He gives hints to decoding his scrolls and this tells the readers the truth will come out and eventually set them free after the hundred years is up

Magical Element

Melquíades’s ghost visits Aureliano to help him decipher the prophecies. Santa Sofía de la Piedad walks out on the family in mysterious trance like way never to be seen again.


Chapter 19

Summary

Amaranta Úrsula returns home from Europe bringing back her husband, Gaston. As Aureliano (II) wanders through the desolate town and realizes that almost remembers the most famous family in the town. Aureliano (II) falls in love with Amaranta Úrsula continuing the trend of incest in the family. He becomes friends with a bookseller and for known scholars he meets in there. They search through the seedy dark parts of town, going to brothels and bars. In one brothel, Aureliano (II) is meets the aged Pillar Ternera. She offers him knowledge and wisdoms. He brings back a black prostitute named Nigromanta. Gaston dreams of starting an airmail service in the area. Aureliano (II) tells Amaranta Úrsula about his love for her. Soon she gives in and they start “kicking it”.

CharactersAureliano (II) – Falls for his aunt, it’s the same story repeated over again.

Amaranta Úrsula – Has an affair with her nephew…

Quotes

”Good Lord, it’s obvious that there’s no woman in this house!” – Amaranta Ursula p.377

“The You can tell me later, I forgot that today’s the day to put quicklime on the anthills.” Amaranta Ursula p.392

Themes

Dreams

Peoples dreams and ideas are important in this chapter. Amaranta Úrsula returns home and has dreams of turning the town around and bringing it back to prosperity. Aureliano (II) dreams of relations with his aunt.

Magical Element

The decline in Macondo is magical because it seems as if the town is personified and giving the characteristics of those in the Buendia family. The town is going downhill.



Chapter 20

Summary

Gaston travels to Belgium and when he hears of his wife’s infidelities he chooses not to return. The affair between Aureliano (II) and Amaranta Úrsula continues uninterrupted. The household falls into a state of emergency. It’s being vandalized by the couple’s eccentric “sexy time” and by the abundance of red ants that are everywhere. In family’s life recycled, Ursula’s old fears about incest, the when lovers’ have a baby, whose named Aureliano (III). He is born with a pig’s tail. Amaranta Úrsula bleeds to death after giving birth. Aureliano (II) looks for comfort in the hooker, Nigromanta, and in booze. He forgets about baby and when he finds the body ants are eating it. He sees that the line of the Buendia’s has come to an end and secludes him in the house. He’s finally able to decoder Melquíades’ old prophetic readings. They describe history of the Buendía family, from the time of the beginning to the end. While he reads he notices it describes his life to the mark. As he reads a Macondo ending wind swirls destroying the town, erasing it from history.

Characters

Gaston – Wises up and doesn’t chase after Amaranta Ursula

Aureliano (II) and Amaranta Úrsula – Their love making is magical and unreal like.


Quotes”

Collons, I shit on Canon Twenty-seven of the Synod of London” – Alfred p.401“

What hurts the most is all the time we wasted.” Amaranta Ursula p.405

Themes

The End

The last theme is the end which fits so well the town is destroyed, an incestuous relationship is destroyed through their own acts, and even the memories of those in the town are destroyed.


Magical Element

The Buendía house falls because of the incestuous couple’s lovemaking and by the red ants that are everywhere now. The baby of Amaranta Ursula and Aureliano (II) is born with a pig’s tail.