Active Reading for Chapters 1-2

The town of Macondo was "built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones...like prehistoric eggs (1). The village is magical. This simile gives the connotation of an isolated and peaceful town without modern conflicts. It makes the town seem like it's running sustainably. The character, Colonel Aureliano Buendia Macondo is immediately introduced. He is the main character of this novel. The concept of alchemy and gypsies are also illustrated. This shows that the villagers are interested in technology and are curious. It also shows that they are not Christian, and therefore, Europeans have probably not had an encounter with them. The gypsies' culture is connected to the souls of people and a little bit to nature. This is exemplified when a wise old man, Melquiades,is healed. Before that, "death followed him everywhere (5)". This personification of death shows that the villagers believe in spirits and some sort of higher entities. That is also exemplified when they personified mercury as the "smell of the devil (6)". It is a bit ironic how he is healed because the gypsies are younger than him and are more free-spirited and naive. This astounds the people of Macondo, and because of this, fears are suppressed. Even a little bit of knowledge suppresses fear. The archetype of knowledge vs. ignorance is introduced. Ursula is Jose's wife. She has a voice, and disagrees with Jose sometimes. She especially disagrees with him when he becomes obsessed with new technology introduced by the gypsies and by alchemy. He even burns up her gold. The village of Macondo, even though it is isolated and primitive has some scientific knowledge and beliefs. For example, the "seven metals that corresponded to the seven planets". This is almost accurate, since there are eight planets in our solar system. The awe of healing and the unknown, curiosity, is what drives the advancement of technology in the town. It gives them hope. Jose has the perfect family, house and life. "His house...had been the best in the village (8)". However, from the apex, you can only go down. This could be foreshadowing for bad things to come. Even though Macondo is a small primitive village, it is ironic how they don't know the surrounding areas, are not very close to the land and are very materialistic. They are just a primitive version of modern cities. "The world became eternally sad (11)" through their trek to find the shoreline. This is foreshadowing, using the motif of "after the darkest part of the night, light comes". They finally find water. Ursula is the archetype of a careless, free and self-absorbed woman. She even sleeps with her own son and runs off with gypsies without telling her husband. When she finally comes back she acts as if nothing has happened. Like Jose, she is impulsive. However, Jose is impulsive in diving into a new project and is productive in his impulsive actions. This is because of curiosity, which is a reoccurring theme. Macondo is a very interesting and different village from any other modern village or primitive village and this is because of the gypsy ideals it holds.