Active Reading: Chapter Four

ACTIVE READING: CHAPTER FOUR

Quotes
"Love is a disease, with so many pretty and decent girls around, the only thing that occurs to you is to get married to the daughter of our enemy."
This is Jose Arcadio Buendia's response to Aureliano wanting to marry Remedios. He doesn't agree with it, and neither does Moscotes, who says, "It doesn't make sense. We have six other daughters, all unmarried, and at an age where they deserve it, who would be delighted to be the honorable wife of a gentleman as serious and hardworking as your son, and Aurelito lays his eyes precisely on the one who still wets her bed."

Magical Realism
The fact that a grown man is about to engage in a relationship with a prepubescant girl.

Themes
Love is a main one, especially with Aureliano as he is having a relationship with Pilar and Remedios. Also, Pietro Crespi and Rebecca have a relationship, and Armanta is highly upset and jealous at this. This leads to conflict between the two, and Aramanta promises to not let Crespi and Rebecca get married.

Character Development
Pietro Crespi is introduced, and Remedios is established as a very young girl, both mentally and physically. She is not capable of a relationship. Also, Jose Arcadio Buendia begins to lose his grip of reality, along with his mind. Pilar Ternera also is a woman who is sexually and romantically frustrated.

Summary
Love is a frequent ocurrence in chapter four. Pietro Crespi and Rebecca are to be married, as are Remedios and Aureliano (though somewhat sick). Pilar Ternera is pregnant with Aureliano's child, and it really does not phase him because he is so in love with Remedios. Jose Arcadio Buendia is so focused in his studies that he begins to go crazy. He thinks that the same day is repeating itself, much like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day (except Jose Arcadio Buendia is crazy). Aramanta threatens the wedding of Rebecca and Crespi, and Rebecca is deeply troubled by this, almost tormented.