Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ unravels the twisted dynamics of the Buendia family over the course of a century. The first season focuses on the first five decades of the family, a part of which is influenced by the love triangle that Amaranta and Rebeca are caught up in. During this, their brother, Aureliano, falls in love with a young girl named Remedios, and despite the glaring age difference between them, they are married. Remedios’ arrival marks a happy shift in the Buendia household, which is why her sudden death leaves all of them incredibly heartbroken. Amaranta, particularly, feels deep guilt since the tragedy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she killed her sister-in-law. SPOILERS AHEAD
Amaranta Meant to Poison Someone, But It Wasn’t Remedios
Despite her brief presence in the family’s history, Remedios remains one of the most beloved figures of the Buendia family. Even though she is still a child when she is married to Aureliano Buendia, she brings incredible changes to the household. Her youth and innocence are like a breath of fresh air to the Buendias, who have been dealing with a lot of these issues even before their arrival in Macondo. Even if the family members hate each other, they love Remedios so much that they are ready to set aside their differences for her. This means that no one had any reason to kill her. Or at least, it wasn’t their intention.
The cause of Remedios’ death is revealed to be blood poisoning. It was something that no one had any control over. They couldn’t have stopped it from happening just as much as they couldn’t have caused it. Still, the timing of the death is such that it leads Amaranta to feel deeply guilty because it happens exactly one week before Rebeca was to wed Pietro Crespi. All this time, Amaranta had created all sorts of hurdles to prevent them from getting married. She had vowed to kill Rebeca if that’s what it took to stop the wedding. So, when it is finally set to happen, and she has no other excuse to have it delayed, she has only one option left.
Amaranta gets her hands on a vial of laudanum and decides to pour it into Rebeca’s coffee to kill her so that the wedding doesn’t take place. However, despite despising Rebeca and her love for Pietro, Amaranta doesn’t want to kill the sister she grew up with. While she is ready to poison her if that’s what it takes, she also dreads doing it. In fact, she got so desperate that she prayed to god to make something so awful happen that the wedding would be delayed and she wouldn’t have to poison Rebeca. Of course, she didn’t think that that awful thing would be Remedios’ death.
Amaranta’s Guilt Changes the Course of Her Life
Did Amaranta have poison? Yes. Did she poison Remedios? No. But, in her own eyes, she might as well have. The timing and the poisoning of Remedios’ blood are so coincidental that Amaranta convinces herself that god listened to her prayers and killed Remedios. If she hadn’t prayed so desperately for it, this wouldn’t have happened, and Remedios would still be alive. The guilt sits so deep inside Amaranta that her next couple of decisions are entirely influenced by her feelings. First of all, she decides to dedicate herself to raising Aureliano Jose, Aureliano Buendia’s illegitimate son, with Pilar Ternera, whom Remedios had accepted as her own. Because Amaranta blames herself for Remedios’ death, which left Aureliano Jose motherless, she decides to take over the task of being his mother and taking care of him.
The other major decision that Amaranta makes is not to marry Pietro Crespi, even when she has every opportunity to do it. Following Remedios’ death, the events turn out such that Rebeca leaves Pietro and marries Jose Arcadio, Aureliano’s elder brother, who returns years after leaving Macondo with gypsies all those years ago. With Rebeca gone, Pietro’s attention turns towards Amaranta, and even Ursula gives them the blessing. The wedding would have happened the very next day if Amaranta had wanted, but when the time came, she rejected Pietro’s proposal, leaving everyone shocked and confused about her decision. Even though Amaranta still loves him, not marrying him is the punishment she inflicts on herself. It was for Pietro that Amaranta prayed to god, and Remedios was dead soon after. Considering herself Remedios’ killer, Amaranta decides this self-inflicted sentence for herself and repents what her desires for Pietro led to by depriving herself of him.
