Reflective Blog for Chapters 12-13

I love how this book is so philosophical and has so many different layers. Not only is it magically realistic, but it seems to be slightly allegorical to everyone's life and life in general. I think that the most important theme is that of thinking about life and being a critical thinker. Ursula seems to be the only one that takes a step out of her life and thinks about what is happening in the town. Also, she is the only unique person, which is exemplified by being the only one without a repeating name. She seems to outlive a lot of people in her family, also. It was ironic how everyday things/inventions (in our world) are magical to the people of Macondo, however magical things like Remedios the beauty rising up in the air, lost forever, isn't very strange to the family.
The archetype of "wise old men" is repeated with the whores from the Turkish village giving "courage to the timid, satiate the voracious, to exalt the modest man, to teach a lesson to repeaters, and to correct solitary people (227)". It is ironic how the wise people are always women (Ursula) and whores (Pilar Ternera and the Turkish whores).
The cultural fusion and segregation of Macondo with the Turkish is symbolic of the melting pot that Latin America became with colonization of the Spanish.
The main motif in this novel seems to be questioning our modern value system and expectations, especially with the representation of whores and incest.
It was very ironic how Ursula understood and observed things that she couldn't see when she wasn't blind. She understood her childrens' characters better. This shows that sometimes you need to take away the small activities that take up life to find the true meaning of life.
Another motif that is represented in these chapters is that peace is logical and war is idiotic and useless. They fought in wars just so that they didn't have to paint their houses blue.
Remedios the beauty seems to be an outlier, just like Rebeca and Ursula because they don't fit in with everyone else. Everyone else seems to repeat the same characteristic patterns.