The Ogre Day 4

I think Ephraim represents clarity, spirituality, etc., the typical things one would expect to find in a prophet. This is the embodiment of what Tiffauges was looking to carry the whole time, but because he was looking at all the wrong signs, he didn't find it until the end of the novel. Yeah, sure he kind of got this twisted euphoria when he went recruiting and kidnapping children to serve as soldiers, but that was an insubstantial joy that did not produce longterm happiness or fulfillment. But Tiffauges finally found those things in Ephraim--a worthy cause to support. It is the only mirror image that is positive in the story, a parallel of what he felt when he went riding on Bluebeard, except he was the horse instead of the rider, and the rider had a brain this time. With this in mind, I think the ending had a redeeming quality, although it is a little vague. I think the star is an important clue, however, being a symbol for hope, a light through the darkness, and a guide for the right direction.

The Ogre Day 3

The emphasis on hunting is another example of how myth is being played with. In myth, there are several different types of creatures that our known to have wild hunt parties, as well as some gods who are associated mystical hunt leaders, such as Pan and Cernunnos. Both of these gods are associated with horned animals, especially stags, and thus even today are revered for being the ultimate expressions of masculine energy and fertility. Yet Tiffauges and his superiors seem to be leading a gross inversion of ceremonial hunts, since the author makes it clear that they are still in a childish state of mind and body which are reflections of malnourished souls. Thus they are hardly fit to represent the archetypes of Pan and Cernunnos, so their hunting becomes a way to capture something that they lack, which is perhaps why they emasculate the poor stags. This is the same reason why Tiffauges bonds with Bluebeard--horses are also phallic symbols and represent authority. Through Bluebeard he can enjoy almost literally carrying authority.

The Ogre Day 2

It's interesting that Tiffauges has finally gotten to the same status that Nestor has. His old school was an imprisonment for him in many ways, but Nestor was able to use his liberties to Tiffauges' benefit. Now we are seeing some sort odd parallel of their old school days at the camps where Tifauges is being held. It seems that by making himself more simple than he actually is has given him the same sort of freedom that Nestor had. He has often thought of himself as Nestor's heir and messenger, so I think this aspect of the story will be important later. Tiffauges has now found his own messengers in the pigeons, which I think will be carriers for these "symbols" that he is looking for.

The Ogre

This book at first did not strike me as being particularly complicated until references from the early beginning began showing up in later pages, with myth building on myth. I don't really know where to start analyzing except when Tiffauges' memories of St. Christooher's. Mystics and theologians often describe someone's inner mind and personality as the "interior person", usually expressed as an enclosed garden or a mansion, or another type of building. For Tiffauge, I think St. Christopher represents his interior person as well as the playground he frequents. Children can be wild on the playground as described in the story, so for him it must be his emotions and desires raging. I think it represents a kind of Eden for him that he never knew he had until it was too late, so he reconciles the passage of time with trying to serve and accompany children as much as he can.

100 Years of Solitude 16-20

Considering that Macondo was founded on incest and murder, and has continued spawning those things ever since, of course it has to be destroyed. The biblical version of the flood story says the flood was caused because God needed to rid the world of evil, which at the time, was most of the population. Macondo has lived through every tragedy and evil possible, and since that is what it fed on, it is now time to be destroyed. Ursula becoming doll like is a signal that there is no more spiritual glue to hold the place together, its moral conscience. She is too old to fulfill that role, and no one who might be a decent successor to the position. There really isn't anything more for the town to go through except death.

100 Years of Solitude 11-15

Ursula's clairvoyance always hits the nail on the head, time is always going in circles in Macondo. But at the same time it is adding some new elements. If Petra is fertility, then Fernanda must represent barrenness. There is a huge disconnect here--Fernanda still seems to be living as if it were about the 1600s. While it isn't completely her fault since that's just how she was brought up, her trying to impose her traditions on the Buendía household can't be a good thing. She does not belong to the present, in fact she shouldn't even exist. In this way, I think she and Rebecca are parallels of each other. Rebecca only forces isolation on herself for the most part, and represents the unwillingness to accept change. Fernanda, on the other hand, although raised in isolation she does not remain that way. As a result, instead of trying to keep reality out of her life, she tries to change it in an unhealthy manner with expectations that most humans would not be able to fulfill.

100 Years of Solitude 6-10

These chapters focus a lot on the corruption of war and motherhood. Aureliano becomes heavily involved in the war, and eventually becomes one of the most important figures of the Liberal side. The book says that he joins this side because they have more humanitarian qualities, but his intent becomes tainted later. He himself admits that he now only fights because of his pride. The novel also plays with the sense of motherhood and time. I get the impression that the founding mothers in the village are living for such a long time that they have a pretty clear view of how the war has messed with their children. If anyone's relatives could rise from the dead, I think many of them would have the same reaction--except the difference here is that the mothers are living long enough to see it happen. As a result, the mothers in this novel seem to represent the moral conscience of Macondo and making sure it doesn't completely loose its original identity.