Chapter 3 Summary

There is a dusty plain outside the palace where the Caribbean Sea once was. The General changes the time and days of holidays. When his bird loses a cockfight, the person owning the winning bird feels obligated to give it to the General. Then the same man, in disgrace, kills himself. The General does not realize how the fear of him makes people kill themselves and do similar extreme things. At this point, the General is in the first flush of his power, and the prime of life, not the dreary ending and "autumn" of his power. The General stops running around the country with a group of senators because he fears receiving the same treatment that the Roman dictator Julius Caesar received, which is assassination. As the General plays dominoes with the Defense Minister Gen. Rodrigo de Aguilar, he wonders if he...