Characters' Analyses

Chapter 1

Jose Arcadio Buendia, in more emphasis of his solitude, will probably develop more of a solitary confinement from pushing others away into a state where he can't turn back from as the book unravels. Slowly but surely, he was surely going mad proving more to the hypothesis above. He began to talk to himself and close into a shell that included no human interaction. Even in the presence of others he would act as though they didn't exist. More and more he became bottled up and just as a time bomb, he received his moment to blow so to speak.
Reference: At that time, the Earth was believed to be flat and once he told his family it was round, not only was the reader concerned that he was going crazy, if not already there, but so had his wife who would not allow his influence over their children.
Jose Buendia Arcadio was a leader, a trend-setter, very well known in the community as a good family man but that image was changing. More and more he became "lazy in appearance, careless in his dress..." losing all his essence period.

Melquiades, a famous gypsy of Macondo grows ill with age. Multiple and rare diseases overcome him, "death followed him everywhere..." In spite of his trials, he managed to begin a friendship with Jose Aracdio Buendia.

Ursula, Jose Arcadio Buendia's wife, proves to not have much of a backbone unless it comes to matters that involve the children. Yes, she speaks up but with not much strong persuasion does Jose get his way. If things continue, she'll be taken advantage of continuously and probably later on in more of a serious way.

Signs from the childhood stage of Jose Arcadio show that he lacks imagination and inquiring minds would like to know whether that will change as he ages and matures.

Aureliano shows intellect and wisdom as a youthful boy when he displays that he has premonitions, natural phenomena.

Chapter 2

Jose Arcadio Buendia – has an anger problem and is tormented by his actions. Unlike his son, he had a vast imagination of how he envisioned his society should be. Slowly but surely after he transformed, he returned back to the family man he was before by taking care of Amaranta in Ursula’s absence.

Ursula – constantly shows her humbleness and mercy.

Aureliano – follows in the path of his father as far as being interested in solitary confinement, and as he grows and matures he finds that he has no identity of his own but that he lives through the experiences of others i.e. his brother Jose Arcadio.

Jose Arcadio – he is growing, magically, rapid physically instead of with age and time. To his mother it’s abnormal but to others it was a fine gift to have that made him special and attractive. Strangely during sex he pictures his mother and as strange as it was, you would think there would be some explanation but he didn’t have one. It showed how he lusted for solitude, so what toll will this come to play?

Chapter 3

Jose Arcadio Buendia – for sure, in his lost of interest in alchemy, he showed how he was getting back to him true self as the “enterprising man”.

Aureliano – took his father’s place in the laboratory and shot up as well in size. “Adolescence had taken way the softness of his voice and had made him silent and definitely solitary…” p. 43 Positively his imagination was restored, though with his premonitions, he continued to live through others’ experiences for he could not sense anything for his own fate. It caused him to feel that he was useless.

Rebeca – after recovery, it was seen amazingly how much of a unique person she was regardless of her past. She was adopted as a member of the Buendia family.

Melquiades – returned from the dead because of solitude being so unbearable and not only restored hope to Macondo but gave life/memory to it as well, especially to his dear friend Jose Arcadio Buendia, who wept at the sight of him and what his town had become.

Chapter 4

Ursula – very protective of her family, especially her children, since day one.

Rebeca – she had a solitary character and impenetrable heart though she wept for Pietro Crespi because they had grown so close and he’d left like the others in her life before Amaranta went ‘bananas’. Because of it she returned to her broken consuming patterns of eating earth. Her heartache and turmoil caused physical detriment. Her lose of love was the most painful thing she could have experienced.

Aureliano – is given hope/inspiration through others’ experiences this time through Amparo Moscote and Rebeca Buendia’s friendship. His interaction with Remedios in the previous chapter was the only thing he had to call his own besides his premonitions. He hadn’t forgotten her and it built up torment inside. Constantly he looked and longed to see her again, if only for a moment. It affected him so much that he neglected all he knew and placed himself in solitude until they met again. It made him result to other means to vent, which included writing poetry that keyed in on how he felt about her.

Amaranta – in turn, got sick because of the feeling of no longer being loved by her sister/best friend, Rebeca because she had found love. Because Rebeca had grown to keep her passion to herself, Amaranta felt betrayed and lonely, which made her result to writing as well. She refused to let Rebeca depart from her under any circumstances, which drove her into insanity so much that she threatened to kill Rebeca for the sake of everything that had come between them. If she couldn’t have her, no one could. It was clearly safe to say that this made Rebeca terribly unhappy and indecisive about what she should do.

Melquiades – dies again but this time from abandonment. By others his second return was received to really serve no purpose so he aged faster than before. He was losing what made him who he really was, so people, Jose Arcadio Buendia especially, neglected and slipped away from him.

Jose Arcadio Buendia – he had never known death and now that he understood it and its effects, he wept uncontrollably for all those who had come to the same understandings as him. It was the fact that once they die, the living live without them, life alone in a sense on earth, while in another world, where the dead are, they live alone too! The lose of Melquiades for the second time made him revert back to the ways of an alchemist. It got so bad that he had to later become restrained from causing any further harm to the house/possessions and more importantly himself at that, so they tied him to a tree. It’s sad the lengths of the world a person would go for a given obsession.

Chapter 5

Remedios Moscote – she was becoming a woman way before her time since she was to become the bride of Aureliano. A crash course was given to her to make her ready for her wedding night to come. Suddenly though, she dies from being poisoned by Amaranta who had intended it for Rebeca to retain her from marrying Pietro Crespi. She was about to bear twins but they died as well.

Pietro Crespi – it was seen how he wasn’t an adventurous man but Rebeca loved him anyway as they saw each other in a new light and became engaged. He respected people’s words for proof of what he could stand on as promises because that’s all he had until they proved him right or wrong.

Rebeca – having lost her bearings and living the life unlike her dreams, she reverted back to eating earth. After Pietro Crespi, she found herself falling for Jose Arcadio. Thinking that she couldn’t have him because some how they were related, she again went back to eating more earth and whitewash until they finally had each other and got married.

Amaranta – after following through with the idea of poisoning Rebeca and killing Remedios instead, she got a conscience and felt guilty for her having the thought of even killing someone who means so much to her. She begged God for forgiveness/emancipation from her wicked ways. She had recognized the delight that Remedios had brought to the house and figured who was she to cause more sadness and take that away.

Ursula – she became confused at what had taken place before her eyes within her family. She wept for them inside wondering what she could do or if anything could be done to make things better.

Aureliano Buendia – resigned back to his old ways because of his solitary and passive frustration having lost remedies. In the midst he maintained his relationship with his father-in-law though. He, pale and mysterious as the town’s civil/military leader, came to a conclusion of who he was destined to be…“Don’t call me Aurelito anymore. Now I’m Colonel Aureliano Buendia.” P. 111
Arcadio – fascinated with war, became very opinionated and strong in stressing his beliefs no matter what. He had no problem with taking a stand against the cruelty done by any means.

Chapter 6

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – he was obsessed with war. He was unconquerable in a physical sense though he and his troops lost so many battles and were never successful. So much that he had lost his own flesh and blood to the situations at hand. He had become lost in himself and all that he wanted to accomplish. He was in a form of solitude that he had placed himself in and only he could bring himself to escape it.

Jose Arcadio Buendia – became unaware of anything that was going on around him. So much that he was seeping back into madness pronouncing more Latin.
Pietro Crespi – began a friendship with Amaranta, which was more meaningful to him and he feels that her has found love and happiness. Until to his surprise the road to marriage went downhill and he began to neglect his business and went crazy like never before because Amaranta changed her mind. It drove him insane until he finally committed suicide.

Ursula – came to abandon Amaranta for falling out of love with Pietro Crespi because she favored him so much and had high hopes set on their marriage as well.

Arcadio – after trying to force himself upon his mother Pilar Ternera and being deceived by her upon returning, he found all that he had been searching for, his true love, Santa Sofia de la Piedad.

Chapter 7

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – the war made the colonel more confined than the day he left. Definitely he was more secluded and well kept to himself although he was mature, great in command and authoritative. During the he awaited for his death, he wondered as to why people can see how the lives of others should be or how they could be helped before they could envision their own. After avoiding death twice, he back to writing luckily which set him free and restored him life. He was very pleased in knowing that his mother after all hadn’t kept her promise to burn his old letters that helped him vent. Memories were brought back and he was himself again…the way he should’ve been…not the colonel, but just Aureliano Buendia.

Amaranta – she began to shut herself up in solitude once more with guilt similar to the kind she felt over Remedios’ death. She was tormenting herself in a sense and denying the truth shown by her heart. She was desperate for help and to be saved but the rut she had created for herself only she could pull herself out of.

Chapter 8

Aureliano Jose – he, among and like the others, seeped into solitude for the first time after his aunt, Amaranta, abruptly stopped the fling that he enjoyed with such excitement. To avoid reality, he replaced different women’s faces with hers, who smelled like dead flowers, to remind him of her constantly. In his imagination it was just the same. When he returned from war with only one thing on his mind, now as a mature young man, he had never forgotten Amaranta and intended on marrying her. He fought and fought until finally with enough rejection and heartache, the lust went away. His emptiness/loneliness was replaced with false hopes and dreams.

Pilar Ternera – in solitude, she found peace in other people’s love, like Arcadio, that she searched for in all the wrong places, but then again because she never received love and it didn’t bother her, it makes one wonder if that really was what she longed for. Even in maturity she never turned down countless men. No money, no love, but maybe, if she was lucky, only pleasure. There was no hope just chaotic and confusing nothingness.

Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s Children – they all had a look about them. Not a look that necessarily proved that they were his children but the familiar Buendia look of solitude. Because of it and generally other traits could it easily, without a shout of a doubt be seen that there was some form of relation, even it was 17 of them.

Chapter 9

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – more and more as the war became more intense and widespread, his image was fading away into a universe of unreality. The war had sucked up the life and emotion in him and made him something that not even he understood. Equation: WAR = Emptiness and a remote point of reference. His confused heart was surely condemned to uncertainty forever although he felt he was above all. He had no true identity being lost in solitude by his immense power. Abandoned by his premonitions, he lost direction and was left to not necessarily enjoy the privileges of simplicity. Finally though he recovered, and was never seen as a better man or greater soldier in his own identity than when that wake up call came and decided to make things right. Now, he fought for liberation, not pride. Reference: “We’ll finally have a man in the house again.” P. 186 Momentarily while waiting for something grand, he was swept into abstract alienation; back at one. He couldn’t find his affection, though Ursula, who had saved him from his misery and kept him alive, was the one who tried to bring the sincerity in him to the surface. Everything returned to meaning anything again and death became considered as a way out that not even he could use.

Santa Sofia de la Piedad – she remained sane in her composure. She never made a scene or caused trouble. Santa Sofia was the type of gal to stand back and watch everything nodding her head in disappointment. She had respect and kept that in mind. Most likely she was one of the most considerate and intelligent characters thus far, but with all that wisdom sometimes she should speak up because some things need to be said.

Chapter 10

Ursula – at the age of 100, she still had a phenomena about her that could only be explained as a manifestation of force, her integrity of character, and her mental balance in tact. Over the years throughout the long history of the family, she was the first to realize the insistent repetition of names, which made her draw some conclusions that seemed to be certain. She felt that in order to break the mode, she should raise Aureliano Segundo’s first born, for he would be the virtuous man to restore prestige to the family.

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – finally he was put to ease by the peaceful charms of old age though now all he came to care about were the gold fishes he made. He would trap himself in for days on out and give much attention to the specific details of each one he created. Each made with the gold he was compensated with, which raises the question if work is not done for money then why? For happiness of coarse but in his case he doesn’t remember what happiness nor pain is like. In a sense he’s already gone.

Remedios the Beauty – she is blossoming as time progresses, in innocence, held in the house as the world’s best kept secret. More and more. all as a virtue, deadly at that, receive her beauty. Some would say that it has made her obnoxiously vain but since she’s smart technically kind of ignorantly she knows not so much as to the effect she really has on men exclusively. She’s what has never been experienced before that, like everything else in the novel, blows everyone’s minds. In a way she really is too hot to handle! : )

Chapter 11

Aureliano Segundo – he was very playful and a jokester though after being made into a man and given a place in the world by Petra Cotes, had proved that one good thing about the Buendias is that they have tenacity and hustle. It proves that once they really get their minds set on a course of action, it gets done. He changed his reserve and withdrawn behavior, with tendencies toward solitary mediation into qualities that made him vital, expansive and open. He had a joy for living and a pleasure in spending and conversing. He was living a lie that was disguised as Petra’s dreams. So yet again another Buendia really didn’t have an identity. He was truthful but hid often and took the immature route. He led a life with the two women and believed that it was perfectly fine. Something had to be wrong with this picture…right?

Petra Cotes – she was very strong and content with her capabilities no matter what Aureliano Segundo did. She showed little doubt because her confidence kept her sane because she knew that she was the controller of her destiny.

Fernanda del Carpio – was a woman who was lost in the world and very full/sure of herself; conceited. Without having intimacy/real love, she was left as a cold-hearted person that was proof that you can’t grow up or change over night. It takes time. She was in solitude in trying to reserve the royal eminence of her family and it drew her away from despising her past and instead grasps it.

Rebeca – stubborn, in-closed and separated from the world, surprisingly, was still alive and was continuing under any circumstances to keep her vow to live in complete solitude.

Amaranta – solitude had made a selection in her memory, while Rebeca was burned into her heart because she thought of all the time. She viewed her with impurities but hoped that one day her conscience’s slate would truly be cleansed.

Remedios the Beauty – she was someone immune to any kind of passionate feelings and less to those of others. She was vane and wrapped up a little too tight in herself to the point that she was flirting with a sire fate of disaster.

Ursula – she continued to show her compassion just as the beginning of the novel for Prudencio Aguilar, just as she had for the legacy f her family and in thins chapter for Rebeca ever since she laid eyes on her when she came into their home.

Aureliano Triste – he had the drive and explorer’s spirit of his grandfather so much that set up an ice factory like Jose Arcadio Buendia had dreamed of a long time ago.

The Buendia Family – they have shown their inventiveness and creativity. They had more imagination than others even themselves might have given off, all they had to do was believe in themselves totally.

Chapter 12

Remedios the Beauty – had no nightmares but instead only dreams that matured her of her own way of living with no fears or cares.

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – he was filled with rage, not sorrow, at the death of his boys. It drove him crazy and more into solitude, which hit him harder than ever, because he had nothing to look forward to except death.

Reactions to the Overflow of Newcomers

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – upset. He placed himself back in solitude because of the vast amount of tourists who he believed cared nothing for him or Macondo in depth.
Aureliano Segundo – happy at all the attention Macondo was attracting.
Amaranta – scandalized at what was happening before her eyes. It was a first and she had no feeling of how to react so she stayed away.
Ursula – she was excited that joy had been restored as well as life to Macondo and her family at what had happened.
Fernanda del Carpio – not a “happy camper”. She was disgusted by everything that had to do with the foreigners. They were so unlike what she always imagined what classy and an image of dignity was and felt they didn’t fit into her view of what Macondo should become.
Remedios the Beauty – she was content in her own world of simple realities that chose to be simplified rather than complicated. The more she searched for comfort and obeyed spontaneity, the more she was appealing to men and the more beautiful she became. She lived in disciplined solitude that carried a peculiar pattern.

Chapter 13

Ursula – she didn’t understand where time went these days. She began to leave things half-done because of it. She resisted growing old. She was in darkness, always fearing what others thought of her and her family. In her solitude of decrepitude, she would not admit defeat or shame. Because of it and her consternation she began to notice everything better now, but because of age though, her sight failed her, Clearly was seen though through intuition, everyone else’s emotions, good or bad, which she felt and took harder sometimes than they themselves did. Once again her empathy for others was shown.

Colonel Aureliano Buendia – was incapable of love and in order to make up for it, ever since he was a fetus, she could here him crying so she nurtured and showed him more compassion than one might have thought was necessary. Regardless of her effort, he was impatient and slowly just became a shadow. By the end of the chapter he was announced as diseased as well as Remedios the Beauty

Jose Arcadio – (Aureliano Segundo’s son) as solemn, linear and pensive in air as he was, was the affinity to the colonel though he resembled his mother Santa Sofia de la Piedad. He was languid and serious as well as distant from the family. And was believed to might as well be named Aureliano just the same in the way he drifted about with no ties of ambition or affection.

Rebeca – she showed the unbridled courage that Ursula wished her blood family had. It’s what made her admired in the midst of her own personal solitude just as the others.

Fernanda del Carpio – was bossy and too far stuck in her ways as being correct above any other’s. She found herself alone and abandoned because of her sad maturity and mind that displayed that she really knew that she knew all there was to know or at least more than everyone else around her.

Aureliano Segundo – he grew fat, increased his voracity (greed), spent more money and had unprecedented hospitality that brought more foreigners more geared toward gluttons.

Amaranta – became one with her solitude and made her life weaving her shrouds alone.

MeMe – she conformed with the world. She was like a joyful younger version of Amaranta, who didn’t display the solitary fate of the family.

Chapter 14

Amaranta Ursula - she was mischievous and sickly and her ways was just as Ursula. Great things either for the best or the worst would surely be expected of her.

Petra Cotes - she was tormented by the fear that MeMe would take her lover, Aureliano Segundo, away from her, which she thought was assured because Fernanda, his own wife, couldn't.

Aureliano Segundo - grew to hate modifications and changes though he began and held strong a comradeship and father/daughter bond with Meme. It restored him his joviality, freed him from solitude, and his mind away from dissipation.

Amaranta - dies because of the mourning of Colonel Aureliano Buendia.

MeMe - frivolous and infantile though when she okayed the clavichord, she showed an unforeen maturity. With the new ties made to her father, she made good impressions, was fruitful, pleasant and uncomplicated. Afraid of her mother, Fernanda’s, strictness, she was compelled in her studies to make her happy and to increase the peace; it was the price for her freedom. Her relationship with her father freed her as well from her mother’s high expectations. She was falling in love. She lost her mind over Mauricio Babilonia. She placed herself in solitude that revolved around him. At first he was too much to handle. The affect he and his mystery had on her, sad to say according to her, attracted her more than ever until he finally gave into those desires of her heart. She lived a life of secrecy because of others around her until her mother discovered her true life behind the lies she told. She was so wrapped up that she betrayed the bond made between her and her father from the lying as well.

Chapter 15

Jose Arcadio Segundo – lived in solitude as an up riser who fought for the cause and his rights. He drove a life with anonymity and solemnity as his friends who never left his side, which gave him the presence that he had that everyone noticed.

MeMe – she had no longer lived with meaning in knowing that Mauricio and her could no longer be and how he was taken away from her and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt that there was no more but death like the colonel, left for her to experience since she couldn’t fully have love.

Chapter 16

Aureliano Segundo – with his withdrawn attitude, was still stubborn, greedy and thickheaded especially after Fernanda handled the situation with MeMe without his consent let alone opinion being asked. He lost his appetite than before for not only food but sex too.

Fernanda del Carpio – she was full of pride and could, neither did she want to find a cure. She was incapable of reconciliation and as her indignation (righteous fury) grew, so did she to Ursula.
Amaranta Ursula – showed that as a child she had a wondering mind and was seen mostly as an amusing plaything.

Chapter 17

Ursula - had an invincible heart and lost her reason with old age and actually having no sight. She was going delirious and her family, Amaranta Ursula, Aureliano and Aureliano Segundo for especially, made it no better. Eventually she dies of natural causes and now who would be left to actually show that they cared for the well-being of the remaining Buendias.

Aureliano Segundo - he was a changed man that no longer had high spirits or maintained his skills as a masterful carouser. He was on the verge of boredom and fatigue, but later on because of Amaranta Ursula's potential being very high, he was given hope like that he had felt from MeMe ages ago. With Petra Cotes, they killed themselves with work. They went by the belief that true love and happiness sprung out of poverty. There was paradise in a shared solitude. Up in age, he was tormented by the fear of dying and others' and their comments but he wouldn't allow it to get the best of him. As identical as they had been until adolescence, he died at the same exact time as his twin brother.

Aureliano - (son of MeMe and Mauricio) was delicate, deprived and very curious because of the way he came into the world, which wasn't his fault. He preferred solitude in his withdrawn manners because he didn't desire to know of the world. Got close to Jose Arcadio Segundo, who came to classify the cryptic letters of the parchments, through mutual affection in Melquiades' room.

Amaranta Ursula - she was a happy modern woman without prejudices with her feet on the ground, done away with the ruins, restored the garden, and reawakened the forgotten spirit of hospitality, etc. She inherited some of Remedios the Beauty's attractions, had good judgement and a dedication to study as well. She possessed unbreakable strengths of character like Ursula at her age.

Fernanda - she was ignored because of her ways and abandoned by the invisible doctors so she decided to lock herself up, as ill as she was. Once she tried to open up to others, it was too late. She was afraid of how others would perceive her troubles because she wanted to appear as "perfect" or above, so she was placed in solitude like the others once again.

Santa Sofia - she spent her time in solitary old age, cooking and caring for Jose Arcadio Segundo.

Chapter 18

Jose Arcadio - was ruddy and languid when he returned home. After so many years of absence, still an autumnal child, was terribly sad and solitary. He was afraid of everything and wrapped up in himself after he and the children discovered the treasure. He was killed by the four children that he went against and kicked out like a wild man. Perfect display of karma.

Aureliano - while being obsessed with Amaranta, became absorbed in his reading and began to learn Sanskirt to decipher the parchments, shared solitude with Fernanda though they lived separate lives of their own. Likewise, he was drawn to Jose Arcadio as well as separated by their solitude. Actually showed emotion when he found Jose Arcadio dead. He found how much he really did love him and enjoy his company.

Santa Sofia - for the first time, actually let some feeling show. In this chapter it was for Aureliano when he asked her for help. She opt for peace over chaos. while continuing her dedicated life of solitude and superhuman diligence for taking care of all of the children, not knowing they were even related to her. She fought her hardest to keep the house up but finally she had given up and after she said good bye to Aureliano, she was never seen again.

Petra Cotes - became the bigger person when it came to matters concerning Fernanda since it was well-known that she was the other woman. Out of compassion she sent food to the home that the family really was in need of. She vowed to keep this up, even when she went hungry herself, until Fernanda took her last breath.

Fernanda - she was losing her memory/mind in a sense. She would never find things as she thought they would be and was stuck in an imaginary world in her solitude. She lost track of time and delay became a pleasure of hers. It brought her back to life as a real person, with a real heart. She was finally happy because she felt and was free from compromise, so much that she died peacefully.

Aureliano Amador - the last son of the colonel had returned to Macondo. Fear had kept him alive and because Aureliano and Jose Arcadio had no recollection of him so they turned their backs on him, he was forced back into the street to immediately be caught by the police after years of running, and killed.

Chapter 19

Amaranta Ursula – had returned to Macondo, after being married for six months, just as spontaneous, so emancipated with such a modern free spirit than before. Her intent in arriving was to rescue the community.

Gaston – (Amaranta Ursula’s husband) was older but had a determination to keep her happy along with qualities of a good lover to make up for all he lacked. He had endless wisdom and imagination. Began to show signs of alarm because his wife was happy and settled in her ways while living in Macondo. Later on went to continue his studies in aviation.

Aureliano – who kept up his repressed passion for Amaranta Ursula since her appearance, was a hermetic man with a cloud of mystery that time was making denser. He kept up his habits that he had picked up since he’d been in Mequiades’ room but because of Amaranta Ursula joined in society and became the lover of Nigromanta and friends of four arguers, Alvaro, German, Alfonso, and Gabriel. Her presence broadened his horizons for love and made him feel important/needed, while his friends, that he viewed typically as one, except for Gabriel who he bonded most with, shared a common affection and solidarity with him. Gabriel was the only one who believed the past of Macondo and the colonel’s existence. They were linked by a kind of complicity based on real facts that no one else believed. After joining the family and beginning to eat dinner with them, and getting closer than expected to Amaranta Ursula, his crush, he began to open up, with the ideals that questioned Gaston’s character because he cared so much for her. He thought he was a witty man who only acted unaware to trick everyone, especially Amaranta Ursula.

Chapter 20

Pilar Ternera – died of natural causes in her wicker rocking chair in peace. A funeral procession was held through the streets of Macondo in her honor.

Amaranta Ursula – no matter what, she kept her good humor, vivacity through times of her body’s physical changes, and her genius for erotic mischief. After the pregnancy procedures were complete, the past, magically and hereditarily, repeated itself again when the baby of incest was born with a pigtail. Afterwards, she began to hemorrhage uncontrollably. In spite of the situation at hand she stayed strong ‘til the end, constantly encouraging Aureliano not to worry for “people like her weren’t meant to die against their will”. She died with a smile, as most Buendias didn’t have the privilege of doing, without regret because she lived her life and lived it happily to the fullest.

Aureliano – his four friends made due with the advice from Catalonian (the bookstore keeper who gave words of wisdom to Aureliano for his studies of the parchments) and himself and somehow departed from Macondo one way or another. Even though he became more and more absorbed and silent, he was left happily in the midst of the ants, in incestuous bliss with Amaranta Ursula. They had mad passion, virtuosity, and perpetual excitement. They became shut out from the world and lost their sense of reality together. He began to wonder about his parentage as to whether he and Amaranta Ursula might have some kinship, so he searched for answers. He could find not a trace so he believed the basket story, as Amaranta Ursula did, to avoid the terror that their romance and intimacy was wrong. Though the house was self-destructing, he maintained his joy with Amaranta Ursula and the prospective thought and hopes their unborn child would bring, in solitude together. After Amaranta Ursula’s death, he, again, reverted back to his true emotions of how much he only realized how much he really cared and loved for those who had become disease only after they were long gone, like Jose Arcadio. He was still curious of his past so he left his child in search of his solutions to the misfortunes of his heart, only to return to find that his baby as killed/eaten by the ants. It was so amazing to him not because of shock and horror at the sight of his child but because of the realization of the fate of the Buendias through Melquiades’ parchments, which were the history of the family. The truth had set in that the name Buendia started with Jose Arcadio Buendia and has now died, like wise, with the last line/generation that no longer existed as well.