Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’ a family’s story unfolds over the course of a century, with the curse of solitude and unhappiness running through the decades. Each episode of the show reveals a new set of problems and challenges, often caused by the characters themselves, which lead to a very compelling narrative, to say the least. By the eighth episode, which is where the first part of the series leaves us, so much has happened that it seems years have passed since we watched the story begin. As the story turns a corner and the glimpse of a new era of the Buendia family comes to light, some very shocking things happen that make us wonder what’s in store for them now. SPOILERS AHEAD
How did Jose Arcadio Die?
A lot of strange things happen in the town of Macondo founded by the Buendias. There are strange plagues, levitating priests, and mysterious gypsies, to name a few. Due to the magical nature of the place, all of these things are taken in stride by the people, and while some things do fascinate them, they are not considered entirely impossible. In the midst of all this, a murder happens, and the irresolution of it becomes yet another mystery of the place. The victim in this case is Jose Arcadio, the eldest child of Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguarán.
Despite being there when Macondo was formed, Jose Arcadio spends most of his life outside of the town. He leaves it with the gypsies when he is still a teenager and returns years later when his family has already been through so much that they are as much a stranger to him as they are to him. Due to this distance between them, it doesn’t pain Jose Arcadio much when he is ousted following his wedding to Rebeca. While he does talk about his adventures, there is a lot that remains unknown about his colorful past, and that is a thing one must remember when it comes to his death.
There are several unaccounted-for factors in Jose Arcadio’s murder, which happened inside his house, with a door closed, at a time when he was alone. Rebeca reveals that she had been in the bathroom and did not hear anything to suggest that Jose Arcadio’s life may have been in danger. When he is found, there is blood coming out of his ear, a smell of smoke emanates from the surroundings, and most interestingly, there is neither a murder weapon nor anything to suggest that someone entered or left the room. In fact, the first person to find out about his death is his mother, who follows a line of blood that comes to her house and turns out to be of her son.
The first thing that comes to mind in this case is suicide. However, considering that Jose Arcadio seemed happy and content, at least to the world, it doesn’t make sense for him to kill himself. More importantly, had he killed himself, a weapon would have been left behind in his vicinity. But no such thing is found, which suggests that he was killed, and the killer left the scene with the murder weapon. With the possibility of a murder, the most natural thing to do is to line up the suspects, and as often happens, the spouse is the first suspect.
Did Rebeca Kill Jose Arcadio? What Happens to Her?
The circumstances suggest that Rebeca had every opportunity to kill Jose Arcadio and hide the murder weapon. Her excuse of being in the bathroom and not hearing anything doesn’t seem very convincing, and that is enough to raise questions about her testimony. Still, no proof is found, which means her guilt is never established. Even if Rebeca did kill him, it raises another question: why? Why would Rebeca kill the man who made her happy, so to speak? She married Jose Arcadio, breaking the heart of Pietro Crespi, after whom she’d pined for years, and against the wishes of Ursula. From what anyone could see, she was happy with Jose Arcadio, and he was with her. So, it doesn’t make sense for her to kill him.
The only way to explain this is to assume that Rebeca and Jose Arcadio’s relationship wasn’t what it seemed to everyone in Macondo. While they may have looked all lovey-dovey and happy to everyone, no one knows what went behind closed doors. They were isolated from the town and cast away by their family, which left them vulnerable to each other’s vices. Perhaps Rebeca realized that in her passion, she had made a mistake marrying Jose Arcadio, and the only way out of the marriage was to kill him. But then, if it was so if Rebeca really did hate her husband enough to kill him, then why would she completely remove herself from society? It is revealed that following Jose Arcadio’s death, Rebeca closed herself inside the house and was rarely, if ever, seen outside again. She was always dressed in black, which means she continued to mourn for her husband. If she killed him, why would she keep up with the show for years?
Despite her being the most visible suspect, the evidence against Rebeca remains thin, which is why all of the questions about her motive and whatnot remain entirely theoretical. This leads us to ponder upon other possibilities. Whatever the grievances may or may not have been in their marriage, Rebeca wouldn’t be the only one in Macondo to hate Jose Arcadio enough to kill him. As we know, Jose Arcadio had started to seize the lands of those who had owned the place since the founding of Macondo. Due to his being a Buendia, especially under Arcadio’s liberal rule, and his own intimidating physical strength, no one could raise a voice against him. However, they did talk about the problem with one another. Perhaps one of those people, or a group of them, decided to do away with Jose Arcadio. They couldn’t fight him face to face, so they decided to find another way, which brings us to the murder.
The search for more suspects leads us to other parts of Jose Arcadio’s life, though the farther we go, the thinner the ice of theories gets. One could say that Jose Arcadio’s intervention in saving his brother, Aureliano, from execution may have led the Conservatives to punish him. However, it seems rather unlikely that they would send someone to murder someone so insignificant to the war. Moreover, they’d already taken over the town at the moment, so if they wanted, they could have executed him rather than kill him in secret. This leaves us with Jose Arcadio’s mysterious history around the world.
No one knows for sure what he was really up to all these years, despite hearing all sorts of stories from him. It is natural that he may have made an enemy or two down the road, and it could be that one or two of those enemies eventually tracked him down to get their revenge on him. However, considering that Macondo is so tight-knit, the presence of a stranger like that would be noted. But no such person is talked about. Moreover, there are too many “could-be” in this argument, which waters down its possibility even more. At the end of the day, Jose Arcadio’s death remains shrouded in mystery and is accepted as such, just as all the things that happened before this and all the rest that are to follow.
Do Aureliano Jose and Amaranta Get Together? Does Aureliano Jose Die?
The twisted nature of relationships is one of the major themes of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’ and it becomes prominent in the case of Aureliano Jose and Amaranta. They are aunt and nephew, and Amaranta raises him like her own son. Or at least, that is what she intended when Remedios died, which Amaranta blamed herself for. Then, when Colonel Aureliano Buendia leaves for the war, Amaranta takes over complete responsibility for the child. In that sense, she should have been like a mother to the boy, but as years pass by and the boy hits puberty, a strange relationship develops between them.
Aureliano Jose becomes obsessed with his aunt and expresses his desire to be with her several times. There are times when Amaranta gives into this taboo nature of their relationship, but eventually, she decides that it is wrong for them to be indulging in such a relationship, and she breaks it off with him. Aureliano Jose is so embittered by her refusal that he decides to leave Macondo, finds his father, and joins him in battle. This is where the eighth episode leaves us, but this is certainly not the end of their story.
According to the book by Gabriel García Márquez, which serves as the source material for the TV series, Aureliano Jose never gets over his obsession with Amaranta. If anything, his desire to be with her increases over the years. It is so strong that when he discovers that marrying one’s aunt is not as impossible as it seems, he deserts his father’s army and goes back to Macondo. This time, he proposes marriage to Amaranta, but she refuses to do it. Her repeated refusals do a number on Aureliano Jose, and he returns to war. This time, he does not come back. He dies in battle, shot to death by a Conservative soldier. As for Amaranta, she never finds love with anyone. After having rejected Pietro Crespi and Aureliano Jose, she doesn’t think much about marriage and instead focuses on her death. She dies the day she finishes making her own shroud.
How does Jose Arcadio Buendia Die? What do the Yellow Flowers Signify?
The story of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ and the curse of the Buendia family begins with Jose Arcadio Buendia. The man’s life and character are defined by a spirit for exploration and adventure. He is the one to inspire his people to leave the comforts of the village and join him on a journey that takes them through a trying two years. Eventually, he decides where to settle down and what to call the place. He remains a leader the other residents look up to for important things, at least for as long as he is sane. Then, he meets Melquiades and embarks on other explorations.
As curious-minded as he is, Jose Arcadio Buendia loses his mind soon after Melquiades’ death, which is when the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar finds him. He becomes so aggressive that he has to be tied to the chestnut tree, which is where he remains for the rest of his life until his son receives a premonition. In his dream, Colonel Aureliano Buendia sees his father and a yellow flower that remains with him even after he has woken up from the dream. He promptly sends a message to his mother, telling her to make his father as comfortable as possible because his clock is ticking, and he is going to leave his mortal coil soon.
Ursula doesn’t doubt her son’s visions and does as asked. Sure enough, soon after he is freed from the tree and given more comfortable accommodations, Jose Arcadio Buendia, the founder of Macondo, passes away. In line with Colonel Aureliano Buendia’s dream, yellow flowers rain from the sky, flooding the streets of Macondo and having to be cleared away, like snow, to make way for his funeral procession. His death, while sad, is also, in a way, freedom from a sad and lonely existence he’d had for many years. The yellow flowers that Aureliano sees in his dream represent death, which is how he knows his father’s end is near. The rain of yellow flowers marks Macondo’s grief on his death, but it also serves as a sign for change, as things are going to change in Macondo and the Buendia family. It’s the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, though not necessarily in a good way.
Does Aureliano Attack Macondo?
The story of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ begins with Colonel Aureliano Buendia facing the firing squad and remembering the first time his father took him to see ice. As the story stretches back in time to the beginning, we get a complete look at his often tragic life. Considering that he is in front of the firing squad, one imagines that he is bound to die that day, but then, there are the repeated mentions of how, even as he seemingly stood before his death, he didn’t get any feeling that he was indeed facing his death. Aureliano had a way of knowing things before they were about to happen, and on that day, with a squad pointing guns at him, he didn’t know what was about to happen. Like all the times before, his premonition, or the lack of it, was right.
Colonel Aureliano Buendia doesn’t die that day in front of the firing squad. If anything, it becomes the beginning of what would eventually become the legend of the man. That day, he is saved by Jose Arcadio and Rebeca. They live right outside the cemetery where Aureliano is taken to be shot, just as Arcadio had been taken there as well. For Arcadio, no help arrived, and he was executed. But Colonel Aureliano Buendia is a whole different person, and Jose Aracdio cannot watch his younger brother die. He and Rebeca confront the firing squad, and by the end, not only is Aureliano allowed to walk free, but the soldiers of the firing squad join him and follow him in battle.
Over the years, Aureliano gains a reputation for himself and becomes so embroiled in the war that he sees nothing but war around him. His legend grows as he fights one battle after another and survives one assassination attempt after another. When the Liberals decide to make peace with the Conservatives and find common ground, Aureliano is dissatisfied with the terms of the truce. He leaves the Liberals and leads his own faction into one war after another. Eventually, he comes back around to Macondo, and the last we see of him is his plans to charge at his hometown, which is now under the rule of Conservatives. By now, years have passed, and things have changed so much that the people of Macondo have started to appreciate the stability of the Conservative rule, especially after the torture inflicted on them under the rule of the liberal Arcadio.
After many years, Macondo finally has some semblance of peace, so when Aureliano comes back with an army, even his mother advises him not to advance. She pleads with him to stop this madness, as it would do nothing but shed innocent blood. Did Aureliano himself advise Arcadio, years back, to surrender so as to prevent unnecessary bloodshed? Now, he has left that same voice of reason to the wind and is going to do exactly what he would have hated himself for all those years back. What Ursula doesn’t realize is that the years of war have molded her son into a man who is very different from the one who left Macondo all those years ago. Now, he has only victory on his mind, and he will not stop until he gets it. So, setting aside all sense and reason, he charges at Macondo.
Does Colonel Aureliano Buendia Win the War?
There are no winners and losers in a war, and Colonel Aureliano Buendia figures this out soon enough. His charge on Macondo ends with him finally getting the taste of victory he’d been looking for. When Macondo comes under his rule, he tries to right the wrongs done by Arcadio. He tries to usher in the Liberal Paradise, which he had hoped Macondo would become when he left it to Arcadio. The horror of those days still haunts the residents of Macondo, which is why Aureliano has to work twice as hard to gain back their trust, especially after they’d enjoyed years of peace under a Conservative leader.
Even though he wins Macondo, the war doesn’t end for Colonel Aureliano Buendia for a while. Eventually, however, he tires of all the battles and the bloodshed. By this time, he has also lost his son, Aureliano Jose, to war. So, when the time comes, he decides to accept the treaty proposed by the Conservatives, and his years away from Macondo and on the field of battle come to an end. One would think that all these years away from his family would make him appreciative of them on his return. Instead, he slips further into his solitude and becomes lonelier than he had been during the war.
Aureliano spends most of his time in Macondo, spending most of his days in the laboratory that he used to spend most of his time in as a youth. He picks up the hobby of making golden fish, remembering the time he gifted one to young Remedios, who died soon after they were wed with a set of twins in her womb. Even as Aureliano’s sons, whom he fathered during the war with different women, come back home, he is not able to shake off his solitary nature. As tragedy strikes all of them, one after the other, Aureliano becomes even more withdrawn. His story ends with the loneliness he carries with him, along with the years of tragedy, heartbreak, bloodshed, grief, and loss. In many ways, he ends up exactly like his father, living in the vicinity of his family but completely removed from them. The only difference is that he is not tied to a tree for several years. His chestnut tree, in that sense, is the laboratory, which is where he spends his days until death eventually knocks on his door and claims him.
Read More: One Hundred Years of Solitude: Is Arcadio Dead? Why Doesn’t Jose Arcadio Save Him?
