Act Reading Journal #3

I. Elements of Magical Realism

- “When Jose Arcadio Buendia realized that the plague had invaded the town, he gathered together the heads of families to explain to them what he knew about the sickness of insomnia..”(p.46) I think it is an element of Magical realism because the insomnia is not the disease that goes around to people like flu.

II. Characters

1. Jose Arcadia Buendia – helps people in Macondo, even though they thought him crazy.
2. Ursula – she adopts Rebeca as her family and takes care of Arcadia
3. Aureliano – starts to become a man and figures out the way to help people out of the plague.
4. Rebeca – no changes and developments
5. Arcadio – No changes and developments
6. Melquiades – brings a new invention and an antidote.
7. Don Apolinar Moscote – becomes an enemy to Jose Arcadia Buendia

III. Plot Summery

-       The story started with Pilar Ternera’s son being brought to Ursula’s house. At that time, by the found of way to outside of world, Macondo had changed a lot. As Macondo changes, Jose Arcadio Buendia’s house was also changed. Their grand child was brought and the one of his son, Aureliano started to spend time most of time in the laboratory as he turns into a man. The other change was that the new girl, named Rebeka, came to live with them. Although she was an orphan who was earth eating and carried a bag of her parents’ bones, the family adopted her. Unfortunately, the family recognized that she had insomnia later and the insomnia started to spread out. First to the family, then to the whole town. Worse than that, it brought loss of memory. Although there was a plague going around the town, Aureliano tried to help people out from the plague by rebelling things with his father. Later, Melquiades came to Macondo with a new invention, camera, and an antidote. After Macondo calm down with the plague, there was a new man came to the town. He was Don Apolinar Moscote and became enemies. However, he started to stay in the household.

IV. Quotes

1. “We are so peaceful that none of us has died even of a natural death.”(p.56) It was quite inspiration because it is not what people usually think of when there is none of them died in the town.

2. “If we don’t ever sleep again, so much the better.”(p.43) I think this is stupid because they do not realize how much people need to sleep and it makes people healthier.

V. Themes

1. Changes – it is played in the chapter as Ursula finds the way to go to outside of the town in the previous chapter.

2. Magical Realism – it is played through the insomnia that Rebeca had.

3. Science – the gypsies came again and show another inventions and again, they brings the peace into the town which related to the science.