Active Reading Chapter 9

Magical Elements:

• The fact that the bullet missed all vital organs when Colonel Aureliano tried to kill himself. I guess it seemed like the doctor thought he would kill himself in the heart, so he kinda had seen the future. Magical to see the future.

Characters:

• Colonel Gerineldo Marquez - was one of the guys that was left in charge - stayed in love with Amaranta - lost hope in the war - got bored of it
  
• Amaranta - keeps refusing the proposal of Gerineldo for marriage - is determined to keep herself unhappy and alone because she has already turned down two different guys who asked her to marry them - was in love with Pietro but he committed suicide when she turned him down - and now is getting used to having Gerineldo around but still turns him down

Summary:

§ Colonel Gerineldo Marquez is bored already of the war. He keeps asking Amaranta for her hand in marriage but she refuses for four years. Remedios the Beauty is the most beautiful person in Macondo. Aureliano does not seem to care about anything. He is uncertain about everything. He is more alone than ever. Colonel Gerineldo is sentenced to death because of his betrayal to Aureliano. Ursula threatened to kill him with her two hands if he did not stop the execution. Aureliano did, and promised to stop the war. It took about a year to end it.
§ Aureliano goes to sign the peace papers, and after he does, he shoots himself in the chest where his heart is. He still survived, because the bullet missed all vital organs. He recovered after a couple months, and had a guard at Ursula’s house. When Ursula saw that Aureliano was there to stay, she had the house fixed up with the help of the guards. But one day, a soldier is found dead under Remedios the Beauty’s window.

Quotes:

§ “’How awful,’ [Colonel Aureliano] said, ‘the way the time passes!’” It is awful how the time passes, especially for the Buendia family. They grow old with unhappiness, and in their solitude. That’s why it stood out to me.
§ “’That was my masterpiece,’ [the doctor] said …, ‘It was the only point where a bullet could pass through without harming any vital organs.’” The doctor saved Colonel Aureliano’s life and he was still pissed at him.

Themes:

• Solitude: Amaranta is completely determined to die unhappy and alone. She keeps refusing the proposals of marriage and yet she is in love with those men. She's crazy.