" In a short time they did more damage than the red ants: they destroyed the furniture in the parlor, in their madness they tore to shreds the hammock that had resisted the sad bivouac loves of Colonel Aureliano Buendia, and they disemboweled the matresses and emptied them on the floor as they suffocated in storms of cotton. Although Aureliano was just as furious a lover as his rival, it was Amaranta Ursula who ruled in that paradise of disaster with her mad genius and her lyrical voracity, as if she had concentrated in her love the unconquerable energy that her great-great-grandmother had given to the making of little candy animals" 405
The passage that I chose is a symbol for the destruction of Macondo. I find it especially ironic that the destruction of the Buendia house comes in the form of incestious love with Amaranta Ursula and Aureliano. Previously in the novel, Ursula had predicted that incest would lead to deformed children, or the destruction of her family. Her prediction comes true when Amaranta Ursula's child is born with a pigs tail. It is also important to note the relationship between their paroxysms of love destroying the Buendia house and Melquiadies abilities to predict the repeitions of the family. The repetitions of incest was finally able to deteriorate the familys base, thus one could blame repetitions for the destruction and downfall of Macondo and the Buendia family. Finally, the line about Ursula "making candy animals" is an allegory to the Creation Story. Throughout the novel I saw parallels between Adam and Eve, and Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula, however this passage makes me question whether or not Gabriel Garcia Marquez is suggesting that Ursula, as the matriarch of Macondo possessed a god like essence. I envision the founding of Macondo as a perfect utopia, another parallel to the Garden of Eden, thus the "candy animals" represent the people of Macondo without free will. Directing his story a stray from the Creation Myth, Gabriel Garcia Marquez says that, with the "candy animals," that the Buendia family was unable to chose from right and wrong, because they were already constrained to this repetitive cycle.
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I agree. I think that Ursula was right in saying that the destruction of Macondo and the Buendia family would come along with an incestuous relationship like that of Aureliano and Amaranta Ursula. I think this passage shows the literal destruction of the Buendia household due to the incest taking place. I also agree about the Buendia's being in this repetitive cycle. Later in the chapter, Marquez talks about how they were unaware or indifferent to the fact that the ants were almost about to eat them alive as they were making love. I think that also shows their indifference to warning signs of the destruction of their family and Macondo. Because of this lack of awareness, the Buendia's finally see there end as well as Macondo.
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