Literary Analysis Essay on "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Marquez

Introduction

The novel "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez involves passionate man's unrequited love and his pursuit for over half a century to win the love of his true love. The story can be identified to contain some of the most emotional illustrations of love. Furthermore, the book also illustrates that being lovesick can be equal to contracting a disease such as cholera. In the narrative, Florentino Ariza is one of the main characters falls madly in love with Fermina Daza who is a young girl. However, Fermina rejects Florentino and marries Dr. Urbino. Florentino waits for 51 years for Fermina's husband to die so that he can marry the love of his life. This story contains different depictions of love and social inequality. Furthermore, the author uses irony as a literary device to further develop the storyline.

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The theme of love is one of the major topics of the book. About business and social class, love is mostly for those who are wealthy, influential and belong to the upper class. For instance, Fermina first rejects Florentino since he was poor and she felt he was beneath her (102). She marries Dr. Urbino for his wealth and not because she loves him. However, after the death of her husband, Fermina marries Florentino since he was wealthy enough to deserve her. The wealthy in this book are more capable of enjoying their love as portrayed in the scene where Dr. Urbino takes Fermina on a hot air balloon ride across the lands of Japan. In addition, the notion that love is for the wealthy and strong is depicted when Florentino's mother, after finding her son in a pool of his vomit, tells Florentino that the weak cannot inherit the kingdom of love and that women only give themselves to men who have resolute spirit (69). This comment spurs Florentino to work hard to become the man that Fermina would want to marry. Also, Fermina rejected Florentino because she felt he was beneath her in terms of their social classes and opted to marry Dr. Urbino who was a wealthy man in the upper class. Thus, only those who are wealthy enough or belong to the upper class can experience love.

In understanding the nature of love and passion, the main concern is how Florentino is depicted. Florentino is obsessive as he vows to wait for Fermina until the death of her husband. However, he sleeps with as many women as possible to forget Fermina for some time. This habit stains Florentino's character because it makes him become a heartless person who uses women. At one time, one of the women that he sleeps with gets murdered by her husband after their affair has been discovered.

Fermina Daza is quite likable even though she is both stubborn and snooty. There are scant details of her as compared to the men she interacts with in her life. It seems that Fermina gets married to Urbino because he is a different person. As a result, Fermina benefits greatly from Urbino's status and money. The marriage between Fermina and Urbino is used to show a real love between two spouses who face several challenges and overcome them throughout their married life.

In the book "Love in the Time of Cholera," love is described to be fleeting, passionate, intense, and interlocked with sex. The author presents love in this way to show the flaws and contradictions involved in it. Additionally, the author does this to show that love can appear in many ways and also be shallow. However, throughout the book, one can notice that love is depicted in a highly problematic manner.

There are three instances of rape in this book, and they are both presented as lovemaking. In the first case, a woman rapes a man. After that, the man starts to have fantasies about the woman who seems to be his potential rapist. In the second case, a man rapes a woman, resulting in the woman being in love with the attacker (168). The woman goes to the extent of believing that no one can be compared to the attacker. The third case is found in the last fifty pages, or so of the book, there is a description of sexual assault that is presented as lovemaking. Florentino's previous lover was groomed and manipulated by him to the extent that she committed suicide because Florentino rejected her for Fermina.

There are several instances of social inequality and justice in the novel. For example, Florentino is not allowed to be near Lorenzo Daza's daughter. Daza does so because he wants his daughter to become a lady and Florentino does not even have the name of his father (166). There are many instances where Florentino is prevented from eating with members of an exclusive club even though he has a prominent position in the society and is also wealthy (he worked hard to achieve this wealth because at first, he was poor). They do this because Florentino was born out of wedlock. As a result, Fermina Daza, Lorenzo Daza's daughter was married to Juvenal Urbino who was a physician, had a family and fortune, educated in Europe and had a good reputation for a man his age. Therefore, this shows that those who were born out of wedlock were highly discriminated and were not even respected. This is not good because a person does not choose to be born out of wedlock and such people deserve to be respected.

Before her marriage to Dr. Urbino, Fermina is threatened by those from the upper-class who do not want her. The people from the upper-class send cruel letters to Fermina because she is just a girl who lacks an important name and her father is rich but suspicious because of the deals that he conducts. She is discriminated against and even bullied through the cruel letters sent to her (156). Furthermore, Femina is embarrassed to be seen with Florentino when they arrive at the dock since he was of a lower class than she was. This depiction shows prejudice against people that are of lower classes than the upper class.

Fermina is humiliated that her husband had an affair with a woman who is of a mixed-race background (250). This explanation depicts the racial discrimination that was present within the book. These discriminatory feelings were not uncommon for women of her social class. After her discovery of the affair, she travels home to find that her home town was destroyed by a banana plantation (250). This destruction can be described as an effect of colonialism since the book is written in the post-colonialism era.

The statement "without river navigation, there is no love" that Uncle Leo XII told young Florentino has traces of irony (168). The irony of the quote is that the specific phrase can also be identified as a metaphor. Florentino had two significant voyages. The first one is where he decided to return to Fermina and wait for her. The second voyage is when they leave together to love each other forever. These two voyages can be identified as the literal meaning of the phrase. This phrase can also be understood to mean that without a material base, love cannot flourish. Uncle Leo tries to make Florentino understand that there are more things to worry about than just romance. The uncle also implies that to survive, the young man must also consider the practical side of life and not focus on love only. The irony, in this phrase, has been used to develop the storyline further as well as provide a hidden meaning for the readers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Marquez's book "Love in the Time of Cholera" is based on post-colonial era focuses more on the social divide in terms of classes as well as the destructive nature love can have on a man. The book is beautifully written with a well-progressive plot. The book depicts different instances where love and social inequalities are clearly expressed. Furthermore, irony, as a literary device has been used in this book to develop the storyline further as well as provide a hidden meaning for the readers. The author prefers to use characters instead of events to express the different nature of love and passion. Furthermore, there are various instances of racism as well as discrimination with people of the lower class being discriminated. The author uses different characters in the novel to explain that all sorts of people can love. Also, the different timespan in the book helps the reader to identify how love can change over time.

Work Cited

Marquez, Gabriel G. Love in the Time of Cholera. Penguin USA, 1989.