Active Reading for Chapters 3-6

Through chapters 3-6 there is much magical realism. The exotic nature of the people of Macondo is established once again when Arcadio and Amaranta drink lizard broth and eat spiders' eggs. The people of Macondo seem to be obsessed with living forever, because Jose Arcadio Buendia discovers a way to make almond trees live forever. Ursula has a very successful business of candied animals. Jose Arcadio Buendi is tied to a tree because he's crazy. (Even though he seems to be the most skeptical and rational person.) Areliano is a psychic and forsees someone important coming. This person turns out to be Rebeca. Rebeca comes carrying a rocking chair and a bag of her parents' bones. Rebeca has an amulet on her neck of a carnivore's fangs. I think that this is symbolic of Rebeca's personality since she is an introvert and her outer shell is hard to break through. (Carnivores tend to be stereotyped as more solitary and less friendly.)
Rebeca eats damp earth and "cke of white wash" off walls. This is ironic since no one in this world would take comfort in eating those. However, these habits illustrate her character more. These actions show how she is sort of an outcast in Macondo and doesn't fit in. Therefore, this causes her to be solitary.
Rebeca "catches" insomnia, and soon the entire town has caught it. No one sleeps and everyone is in a haze. However, they find the silver lining by seeing that sleeping is a waste of time. Instead, they count the numbers on a clock and tell eachother stories. Soon they begin to forget their own names, and then the names of everything around them. They quarintine the disease to the edges of the town. A visitor, Vistacion, comes and doesn't have insomnia. He thinks the situation is funny. They are finally healed from this "disease" when Melquiades comes back to life and back to Macondo.
When Melquiades comes back, he has a camera. The camera is a mystery to the villagers. (I think he probably didn't die. Maybe he just went away to modern society.) Another transition to modern culture is the appearance of Father Nicanor, who wants to build a church and convert people. He levetates himself in order to provide evidece. However, this isn't scientific enough for Jose Arcadio Buendia. It is ironic how materialistic Father Nicanor is. Isn't religion about spirituality and not about building a large grandiloquent church?
Catarino is introduced as a store owner.
The personal conflict that Pilar has is introduced. She has to pay for her grandmother's house that burned down by sleeping with 70 men a night (magical realism).
A motif of growing up and dying is introduced, also. Rebeca and Amaranta have grown up to be pretty young ladies. Aureliano sleeps with Pilar. This marks the beginning of his manhood. Eventually, Aureliano becomes a colonell and his character is entirely changed. He becomes an extrovert and has more brawn than brain.
One motif is that of healing. This occurs when Mequiades comes back to life and when Rebeca is healed from her habits.
One theme is the repetition of history. Aureliano is like his father in that he is very logical, slightly skeptical, diligent and very scientific. He is a silverworker.
It is shown that the people of Macondo have been exposed to Christianity. How are all of these people coming in whilst most of the people of Macondo have never been outside of their town?
Memorable Quotes: "...he found her only in the imge that saturated his private and terrible solitude." This quote illustrates the motif of solitude. Aureliano gets rid of his solitaridy when he marries Remedios.
"Love is a disease." Through chapters five and six, there are many complicated relationships that occur. First, the relationship between Aureliano and Remedios is the motif of forbidden love. Jose Arcadio and Rebeca are "brother and sister", even though Rebeca is adopted. The motif of tough love is illustrated when Amaranta won't marry Crespi even though he does everything for her.
"I have found immortality." This quote from Melquiades makes many questions arise. What is the real purpose of life? With the Macondo people it seems to be that they are a bit materialistic. Is quality or quantity of life more important?