100 Years of Solitude (Day 2)

Tragedy or death is one theme we can say that is apparent in these chapters, specifically chapter 7. In this chapter we have the mysterious death of Jose Arcadio. It is not evident how he died, but it is nonetheless tragic. Here we also have his wife becoming a hermit. She went on to live life alone in grief. Jose Arcadio Buendia dies next after living along outside tied to a tree for years. The yellow flowers falling from the sky represents his death. In chapter 8 Aureliano Buendia is killed by a soldier. Following his death is Jose Raquel Moncada. Like the repetitive deaths, incest has showed up a couple times. Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula are cousins who eloped and had children together and Aureliano Buendia sleeps naked with his lonely aunt Amaranta. So the theme of tragedy within the family and death is very evident within these chapters.

Another Theme that keeps appearing throughout the novel thus far is solitude. We start off with Jose Arcadio Buendia secluding himself in the laboratory working on experiments and then later on being tied to a tree. In a sense his wife Ursula lives in solitude, as well because her insane husband does not provide much company to her. He remained there alone until his death years later. Rebeca slipped into solitude after the mysterious death of her husband, Jose Arcadio. She keeps herself in her house to dwell on the memories and her husband.