Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Comment on the following:
Comment at least twice on the following. Comment at two different times so that others can comment in between your comments. Respond to the prompt and to each other -- it's like a conversation -- but use specific text references. Here is the prompt material: When Aureliano Segundo enters Jose Arcadio Buendia's workshop, nothing has changed, "nor had the embers gone out under the water pipe where Jose Arcadio Buendia vaporized mercury." Melquiades speaks to him and is but forty years old. Yet when Jose Arcadio Buendia sees Prudencio Aguilar, Prudencio has aged and decomposed in death. Why do you think Marquez depicts an aging, rotting Prudencio in Jose Arcadio Buendia's eyes and an ageless Melquiades to Aureliano Segundo's eyes? How are these perceptions revealing about the history of the town?
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46 comments:
well i believe that since
Melquiades
is depicted as a immortal figure
he is depicted as a forty year old man
enhanceing the fact that he will neva die
yet
the other guy is already dead
by showing him decayed
it emphasizes the fact he died
i beklieve that it shows how convutled the hiostory of the town is
they cannot tell what realy happened and what has not
and by seeing an old man as somebody still in the prime of his life and a ghost that is slowly aging
we can see that
the history of this place is very messed up
Marquez is tampering with age and time because the town is supposed to be cyclical, i think. im pretty sure i read that on a website or something, i dont think i made it up. Marquez is presenting Aureliano Segundo with the same opportunities which Jose Arcadio Beundia had, maybe it is repeating. just like the recycle sign is a circle, it happens over and over again.
i agree with denzel that Melquiades
is portrayed as immortral but i think that Marquez depicts Meliquiades as a forty year old to show how nothing has changed
i think that Marquez shos Prudencio rotting and aging to show the way the the people in the town are out of touch with what is going on in the world around them
like when Prudencio came to visit it wasnt until Melquiades died because he put death on the map for the town Macondo.
i thought that aureliano segundo's image of melquiades is so much different from jose arcadio buendia's image of prudencio because they have drastically different feelings toward those two people. jose arcadio buendia hated prudencio at one time, killed him, and was haunted by his ghost for years. prudencio gave jose arcadio buendia a look into the afterlife, what death was like, etc. however aureliano segundo admired melquidades. marquez points out that melquidades taught aureliano jose about his experiments and discoveries that were intriguing and exciting. so for aureliano segundo, melquidades was an image of life, of excitment, so in his mind, he could never truly die, he stays the same forever. this says something about the history of the town because the characters experiences before the founding of macondo (prudencio, for example) are deteriorating slowly; they do not emphasize their heritage. however they focus on the future, these new inventions, life, progress, which melquidades and his tribe brought to them.
I agree with Denzel when he says that Melquiades is dipicted as an immortal figure. I think that Marquez showed him in this way to show that nothing has changed in the town of Mocondo.By showing him as a forty year old man when in fact he should be an old man shows that the history of the town is very weird.
well if yu view Melquiades as a symbol of the quest for betterment then the fact that he dies and comes back, go thru periods of good heath and bad
could symbolize that the quest of power goes thru periods of neglect, when life is boring or peaceful, or importance, when life is busy and violent
How about the perspectives of the two characters -- Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Buendia?
and Prudencio
in my opinion
represents memory
and how as time goes on it becomes old and faded in yur mind
just like the ghost
It all depends on the context of the character and their relation to power. As for Melquiades, who is a symbol of the quest for betterment (word?) and power, he continues to live on, much like man's quest for power. Prudencio, who is conquered by Jose Arcadio Buendia's "power" (the power of death,)continues to haut Buendia, a reminder of the terrible things that power does, to the point that it drives Buendia to a new place to live.
denzel = plagarism and theft of my ideas... i said it first, but changed my comment to broaden my view.
I agree with john. It all depends on the character. They had different views of Melquiades. The town itself had different perspectives on things because they had no contact with other socites except these gypsies. There was no set reason for anything they did.
i agree with bernice, i think that Marquez shows these perceptions to show how the town is caught up in their own perceptions and beliefs that they dont pay attention to whats going on around them. So he is saying the town hasnt changed. which is why he shows the aging and rotting. Then he shows Melquiades as forty year old (which means he hasnt aged or changed) to show the other perception of how the town hasnt changed over the years.
about what mr. koon said about the perspectives of the two...i think their different because jose arcadio buendia has been through so much in his lifetime that aureliano segundo has not even had time to consider yet. he killed a man, he founded a town, he has witnessed many new discoveries and peoples, so he has a more broadened view of life as a whole. aureliano does not have the experience or knowledge, or pesimism depending on how you look at it, that jose arcadio buendia has. aureliano segundo only has knowledge of life, of the new and coming future, not past events or failures.
Melquíades is a symbol of advancement and innovation, as he brought new technologies and ideas to Macondo.
Marquez displays Melquíades as ageless and "indecayed" because he displays innovation and advancement, something Buendía strives for and works towards.
This is also in relation to Latin America. Prudencio Aguilar is a symbol of strife, something that adversely affects a town's/country's development.
As for the question(s), Jose Arcadio Buendia sees an aged and decomposed Aguilar because he is older and his memory is decomposing.
Aureliano sees Melquiades as ageless because Melquiades represents innovation and abnormality, something of which Macondo is adapting too.
What was Aureliano doing when he saw Melquiades looking as he had many years earlier? Wasn't he reading or deciphering manuscripts?
i agree with ashley anne that Marquez shows as a forty year old man to show no change for the Buendia family. i also think that he shows Prudencio to show how the city has progressed into a flurishing city with many visitors and tourist.
The aging of Prudencio Aguilar shows how Macondo has changed throughout the novel from an endless peaceful civilization to a death village. Prudencio Aguilar falls into the group as almost all the main characters because in pgs. 100-200 everyone starts to die. for example jose arcadio, rebecca, jose arcadio buendia, melquiades, etc. Melquiades is pictured as ageless to Aureliano Jose because, i think, that it is showing how melquiades' knowledge is much more greater than that of aurelianos. so to aureliano jose melquiades seems endless.
melquiades is referred to as supernatural throughout the beginning of the novel and fools around with time/age, coming back from the dead and recovering his youth.
melquiades is like an unquestionable god/supernatural being.
prudencio aguilar seemed to symbolize jose arcadio buendia's growing guilt for having killed him. the more dead prudencio is described as, the more guilty jose arcadio buendia feels.
sorry! graham forgot to sign out/i forgot to sign in, so my comment was posted under graham's user.
"melquiades is referred to as supernatural throughout the beginning of the novel and fools around with time/age, coming back from the dead and recovering his youth.
melquiades is like an unquestionable god/supernatural being.
prudencio aguilar seemed to symbolize jose arcadio buendia's growing guilt for having killed him. the more dead prudencio is described as, the more guilty jose arcadio buendia feels."
Melquiades is seen as an enigmatic gypsie to Jose Arcadio Buendia therefore, to Jose Arcadio Buendia, Melquiades has supernatural abilities, one of which is immortality. Prudencio on the other hand is not paranormal to Jose
Arcadio Buendia.
and therefore isnt seen as immortal.
I agree with denzel. The main theme of the book is about time and memory and with Prudencio representing memory it shows the repetition of history and how the town has not changed from the past. Marquez also uses a forty year old man to illustrate how the Buendia family has not changed.
The perspectives of the of Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Buendia differ, which cause the aging of Prudencio Aguilar and immortality of Melquiades. Aureliano Segundo views Melquiades in positively, so much as he looks up to Melquiades, but Jose Arcadio Buendia is constantly haunted by the fact taht he killed Prudencio Aguilar.
Are you sure the book isn't about misunderstandings and the dangers that follow them?
well i think rissa2304 is agreeing with my first comment - the second one to be posted go check it - which means the town is cyclical. i noticed it and so did rissa2034. the sons seem to do the same thing as their fathers, sleep with aunts and cousins and what not, and then die in some weird way. a circle...
but how can the time cycle be cyclical if prudencio aguilar's growing deadness is more linear? i think that the town is changing and growing more in a timely linear way, but there are also cyclical ways of time too.
QUICK QUESTION... did anyone notice that Ursula did not want to have children at the beginning of the book due to "birth defects"? and how her offspring become "monsters" in a sense of world order?
Referring to what kevin said, the book could be about misunderstandings because in that cycical way, none of the memembers of the town can get out of that same loop of doing things. Maybe the deadness is linear, but the people continue to have the same names and be part of the same families.
i agree with west and rissa, i think that all of the men in the buendia family have a tendency to sleep with the same women, its like a continous thing.
Maybe, building off what Graham said, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the immortality of Melquiades, a symbol of growth and development in the community, as a message saying that technology and development in life is prosperous and therefore will continue forever.
On a completely other topic, Marquez uses the decaying of Prudencio Aguilar, a symbol of dishonor and disrespect, as a message saying that this behavior is not acceptable and therefore should stop.
How do you keep your memory fresh about the history of this discussion?
i agree with kevin, i think that since Melquiades is a gypsy he is viewed as immortal, and since predunico is normal is is viewed completely different
Kevin asked a question about the book being about mis understandings. I think it follows that perspective on a thin line. but it doesn't however follow those dangers.The buendia family tries to discover different ways in which they can solve their different issues.
i agree with what kenzie and mr. koon said about the two perspectives.i agree that they are different because jose arcadio buendia has struggled so much that aureliano segundo has not even had time to realize what is going on. if we first look at what all he has done, we see what jose arcadio buendia has. aureliano segundo only has knowledge of life, of the new and coming future, not past events or failures.and this is smilply what the entire book is based on(magical realism)
okay so im not really sure if anyone has said this yet or what not but to me, the aged question, just really shows like how Jose Arcadio Buendia feels about each person. Like good and bad, or friend or just passing buddy. Everyone veiws the person they see by what they already know about them and if they think highly of someone then they dont notice other things.
I was agreeing with west also on my first comment.(I didn't see that west sorry!) José Arcadio Buendía views an old rotting Prudencio because he is from an earlier generation than Aureliano Segundo. He is from the past and this aging I think represents the past and the cyclical theme in the novel. I agree with Graham on Melquiades. I think Aureliano Segundo see's him as immortal because he is part of an earlier generation and represents the present and future, and may also symbolize advancement. The only question I have is if he sees Melquides as the ageless man, why does it seem like the repetition of history from the past will occur? For example, incest.
I know west commented way earlier but i just want to add to his comment..i also remember reading on a website that the theme of time is cyclical throughtout the novel..memories tie in with time because it's as though the memories of one character are transfered to the next generation of characters..Aureliano Segundo has not lived through what all Jose Arcadio Buendia lived through, therefore his image of "life", symbolized i think by Melquiadez is different.
That's a good question Mr. Koon..we have to go back and read what everyone has said..in the novel Marquez refreshes us with what has happened by bringing the past to the future. For me personally i get the feeling that Marquez is trying to make a statement. What happens in the past is never lost, and it is up to the present to carry it into the future. I know that makes no sense but i can't describe what i want to say. Just like Aurelinao Segundo and Jose Arcadio Segundo..they are taking on the same characteristics as the generations before them, but they are totally different people living almost the same lives. It's like that website said, the theme of time is cyclical.
Hey, sry it took so long for me to respond. Ran out of time in class, and computer was crashed when I got home. As to the main question I tend to agree with what Graham said, about how since Melquiades brought innovation and science to Macondo, plus how Aureliano Segundo's memory is more recent, is why he is not decaying and such in death. And how since Jose Arcadio Buendia's memory is older, and Prudencio did not bring important things to anyone he is fading from peoples memory.
As to the two different perspectives from both characters, I think someone said this before but Im not sure. About how their different views on life result from their different experiences. Jose Arcadio Buendia has been through much more in his life and has a more wordly take, he's seen more and done more than Aureliano Segundo. Aureliano has only lived in one place all his life, and has not done many things to give him such a view. But their perspectives are good for each person, their experinces are what make them who they are.
I interpreted the prompt as thus:
The ageless Malquiades refers to the eternal foundation of knowledge he introduced to Macondo; one can revisit/"resurrect" him through reading his manuscripts and implementing them in experiments.
Furthermore, the decrepit Prudencio rots because he is a memory and memories deteriorate over time signifying Jose Arcadio Buendia's aging. Thus, the two examples provide a comparison of these two concepts.
I tend to agree with Kevin, that Melquiades represents inovation and progress which is the basis for knowledge. When a young and knowledge-seeking Auerilano visits the old room where Melquiades used to work he finds inovation and progress in the work that has been left and in Melquiades himself. I think it is only appropriate that Auerilano is young and so he sees what represents progress. On the other hand we see Prudencio coming back from the dead rotting which is why he visits Jose Arcadio Buendia. I believe that Prudencio represents the old memories yes, but at the same time he represents the rage and anger that Bundia had and what propelled him to found the town of Macondo. As we look into the book we see that rage and anger are symptoms of what will eventually lead to destruction and solitude in Colonel Auerilano Buendia's case. The setting of Jose Arcadio Buendia is also important, he is at the time next to tree, old and in solitude much like Colonel Auerilano is towards the end of the war. This is why Prudencio comes back as rotting and old because he not only represents the oldness of memories but the rage that Jose Arcadio Buendia had at one time and the solitude he is in now.
The way that Marquez depicts prudencio the way he does to jose arcadio buendia, in my opinion is because prudencio symbolizes the past and the land that they left. This is also how that past city has changed and grown. Melquiades is depicted the way he is to Aureliano Segundo is because Melquiades represents change in Macondo but ironically doesn't change and stays the same.
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