She believed she had raised him like a son, as she had raised Rebeca, without privileges or discrimination. However, Arcadio was a lonely and frightened child during the plague of insomnia, in the midst of Úrsula's utilitarian fever, José Arcadio Buendía's delirium, Aureliano's hermeticism, and the mortal rivalry between Amaranta and Rebeca. Aureliano taught him to read and write, thinking of something else, as a stranger would have done. He gave him his clothes, so that Visitación could reduce them, when they were already too small. Arcadio suffered with his oversized shoes, with his patched pants, with his woman's buttocks. He never managed to communicate with anyone better than he did with Visitación and Cataure in their language. Melquíades was the only one who really took care of him, who made him listen to his incomprehensible texts and gave him instructions on the art of daguerreotype. No one could imagine how much he mourned his death in secret, and how desperately he tried to revive him in the useless study of his papers.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, page 108. Translation from Spanish to English using Google Translate.
When I got to this part of the book, I couldn't help but think of Kuvira. Arcadio reminds me so much of her in a way that hurts. The way Arcadio cried over Melquíades' death makes me think that Kuvira cried the same way over Aiwei's betrayal.
Visitación and Cataure were a Wayúu princess and prince who left their home on La Guajira peninsula to escape the plague of insomnia. Úrsula hires them and is Visitación who raises Amaranta and Arcadio. They both ended up speaking Wayúunaiki (in the book they refer to the language as the Guajira language) before speaking Spanish. This makes me think that Kuvira was not only close to Aiwei, but also to the chef. I have the HC that Kuvira doesn't know how to cook, so it's nice to think that the chef patiently tried to teach her, but due to Kuvira's volatile nature, she ended up burning everything. Either way, the chef would tell her to try again even if she burned the food again.
"We're leaving Macondo in your hands," was all they said to Arcadio before departing. "We left it in good shape; make sure we find it even better."*
Arcadio gave a very personal interpretation to the recommendation. He invented a uniform with marshal stripes and epaulettes, inspired by the illustrations in a book by Melquíades, and hung it on his belt.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, page 101-102. Translation from Spanish to English using Google Translate.
*This dialogue is an adaptation rather than a literal translation. I only have the original version, so it may differ from the official English translation.
It's literally Kuvira making her own army.
