"It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days." (p. three-thirty-nine)
And so there is a plague of sorts upon the village of Macondo. And everyone awaits the "clearing." Aureliano Segundo moves out of his mistress, Petra Cotes’ home and back to Fernanda, but only as a waiting for the rain to stop. Then, when he needs his clothes, he goes back and remains, again waiting for the clearing. Ursula seems to wait to die, as she watches the funeral procession of Colonel Gerineldo Marquez go by the house:
" ‘ Good-bye, Gerineldo, my son,’ she shouted. ‘Say hello to my people and tell them I’ll see them when it stops raining.’ " (p. three-forty-five)
Why the dependency upon the weather, although indeed it is not only odd in itself for it’s duration, but for its unusuality in Macondo. Aureliano Segundo’s wealth is destroyed as his livestock drowns, left to the care of Petra Cotes who copes as best she can. Back home, the Buendia income dwindles as do the food supplies.
One thinks immediately of the ark, and God’s determination to cleanse and rebuild the world. But that was rain for forty days and forty nights. This is "four years, eleven months and two days." What is the significance of this time period that Marquez is so precise about? Being mathematical minded, I of course tried to make something of it. Approximately 1795 days. Means nothing that way, unless I’m missing an algebraic formula.
So then, it means something metaphorically, or symbolically, or perhaps, just one of those "definite" facts thrown in to add credence to a lie, one of those "of course" moments we add as proof to our tall tales and hope no one questions. A storyteller’s trick, and certainly one that Marquez is capable of using.
Meanwhile, as I read on, I’m sure I’ll come back to this as little hints and clues add their insight.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology