Blog Post #8

"Many times he would prolong the talk beyond the expected limit and let them drift into comments of a domestic nature. Little by little, however, and as the war became more intense and widespread, his image was fading away into a universe of unreality. The characteristics of his speech were more and more uncertain, and they cam together and combined to form words that were gradually losing all meaning. Colonel Gerineldo Márquez limited himself then to just listening, burdened by the impression that he was in telegraphic contact with a stranger from another world.
'I understand, Aureliano,' he would conclude on the key. 'Long live the Liberal party!'"

This description of the telegraphic conversations between Colonel Marquez and Colonel Buendia illustrates the point at which both of them stopped believing in the cause of the war like they once did. This passage in the novel is indicative of a turning point in the attitudes of both Gerineldo and Aureliano, as it preceded by "at first those exchanges would determine the course of a flesh-and-blood war," but the seriousness of their conversations began to fade, after which Aureliano Buendia became much more introverted and Gerineldo Marquez began focusing more of his attention to pursuing Amaranta. Additionally, Colonel Buendia's "fading away into a universe of unreality" not only conveys how he becomes more solitary and invested in his own imaginary reality, but also strengthens the magic realism theme once again, in which "the characteristics of his [Colonel Buendia] speech were more and more uncertain, and they cam together and combined to form words that were gradually losing all meaning."