CHAPTER SUMMARY AND NOTES

CHAPTER 8

Summary

The war is essentially ended by the appointment of three Liberal representatives to the government. However, Colonel Aureliano Buendía, Aureliano José, and a few other rebel leaders flee, hiding out in the jungle and periodically attacking rural areas. One rumor makes it back to Macondo that the Colonel is dead. After Úrsula and Amaranta had been mourning for six months, news is received that he is in fact alive.

Aureliano José deserts shortly after a fellow soldier tells him that it is okay to marry one’s aunt. He goes home to his aunt, Amaranta, but she tells him that he cannot marry her unless he has special dispensation from the Pope. She also tells him about the curse of the pig’s tail.

Shortly after this, women begin bringing Úrsula young males who are Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s children. There are seventeen in all and they are of all colors and ages, but they all have the same "look of solitude that no doubt as to the relationship."

One evening, Aureliano goes to a theatrical production and a local military leader, Captain Aquiles Ricardo, searches him out and shoots him, only to be shot himself. Colonel Aureliano captures the city the next day, but Úrsula feels like he no longer belongs. He orders that General Moncada be shot.

Notes

The Colonel continues in his Quixote attacks on the opposition. The assimilation of the Liberals into the Conservative government represents a selling-out on the part of an idealistic opposition. The Colonel chooses to forego joining and maintains his rebellion.

Aureliano’s son, Aureliano José deserts when he learns from some fellow soldiers that it is okay to marry one’s aunt. This is significant because it keeps the pig-tail myth constant in the family. It also reinforces that the violation of the incest taboo will mark the end of the Buendía family.

The appearance of the seventeen sons of Aureliano Buendía serve to define "Aureliano" as the man of solitude: that is the feature that is recognized them. This also ties Aureliano to the town, which is also known for its constant solitude.

The Colonel returns to Macondo and gains control rather fortuitously. This event, unfortunately, will end up revealing Aureliano as no different from any of the others.

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