Gabriel García Márquez’s novel ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ is an intimate and deep reflection on love, life, death, and society. As is characteristic of his literary oeuvre, Márquez incorporates magical realism, merging the commonplace and the spectacular to explore the depths of human feeling. The book questions accepted ideas about love by emphasizing its transformational potential and the significant influence it may have on people’s lives.
Love
Gabriel García Márquez’s ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ delves into the concept of true love via the romantic lives of three main characters: Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza, and Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Fermina Daza, the daughter of a Spanish mule trader, marries Dr. Juvenal Urbino, an educated man from a prosperous family, and finds domestic love. Fermina discovers during her marriage that her partner’s deep understanding of her, their sensitivity, and their habit hold them together—but not always romantic love. In contrast, she falls deeply in love with Florentino Ariza, the telegraph operator, when she is a teenager. Florentino shows himself to be a hopeless romantic, hoping for Fermina to come back to him for the rest of his life, even if she rejects him in the end. After Fermina’s husband passes away at the book’s conclusion, the two of them get back together. Florentino’s passionate love appears to have prevailed over Dr. Urbino’s domestic affection, as seen by this joyful conclusion. Nonetheless, the book demonstrates that true love is not always simple to discern via Fermina’s uncertainties and introspection. ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ suggests that, depending on a person’s personality and stage of life, there may be different ways to love different people at different times. This is demonstrated by the various seasons of Fermina’s life.
Despite not being married for love, Fermina and Dr. Urbino’s relationship develops into one of mutual reliance over time, indicating that partnerships without romance can nevertheless have useful purposes. Rather than being deeply in love with Fermina, Dr. Juvenal Urbino marries her because he respects her qualities. However, as their marriage progresses, both characters grow to love one another. Fermina is devoted to her aged spouse and treats him as though he were a “senile baby.” The two characters realize that they are dependent on one another and think of one another all the time.
In the end, it’s unclear if Dr. Urbino and Fermina have ever experienced true love. “Only God knows how much I loved you,” Dr. Urbino tells Fermina as he lies dying following a terrible fall. Even though Fermina questions the nature of this love later on, this romantic phrase implies that he must have felt love for her after so many years of togetherness. She remarks, “It is amazing how one can be happy for so long in the middle of so many arguments and issues, damn it, and not really know if it was love or not.” Even though Fermina and her husband were obviously in love, it’s not apparent if sharing a household was enough to ignite a genuine, unwavering love.
Thus, the novel’s conclusion implies that although Florentino’s love for Fermina as an elderly man comes at the perfect moment, it is unable to take the place of or eclipse Fermina’s union with Dr. Urbino, a man she may not have loved but who she believes to be a suitable husband for her. While Fermina sees this conclusion as only filling a void at the end of her life, Florentino sees it as the realization of his lifelong quest to be united with the woman of his dreams. Thus, the narrative illustrates how love can manifest itself in many ways and have diverse functions throughout a person’s life.
Mortality, Aging and Death
‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ begins with Jeremiah de Saint-Amour taking his own life to avoid old age. This conduct is viewed as shameful, not because suicide is wrong in Catholic society, where sins are abhorred, but rather because it is believed that his death “is not for love.” The book reflects on the story and life of love as well as “gerontophobia,” which Dr. Juvenal Urbino believes is the “correct word” for an extreme fear of aging.
Upon seeing his friend’s corpse in Chapter 1 (Jeremiah de Saint-Amour), Dr. Juvenal Urbino believes, for the first time, that death had “looked back at him.” Having accepted that death is an “immediate reality,” he reflects on dying. His passing ultimately causes Florentino and Fermina to encounter resistance as they renew their “devastating love.” In Chapter 6 (New Fidelity), while Dr. Urbino Daza takes his mother Fermina on their steamboat excursion, he confides in his wife that he believes love becomes “indecent” at a certain age.
Moral Cynicism
The story of ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ is far more depressing, despite the fact that the plot mostly centers on interpersonal themes like love and relationships. The planet on which the novel’s characters live has been devastated by environmental degradation, cholera, and civil conflict. Religious leaders give way to social interests, politicians are unable to stop the flood of civil disputes, and business people are only interested in themselves.
As is customary with magical realism—a literary genre that García Márquez is credited with helping to establish—the narrator takes a neutral stance toward immoral or horrific events, bringing up difficult moral dilemmas with an air of detached detachment and indifference to mirror the characters’ cynicism toward their circumstances. The protagonists’ depressing disappointment throughout the book emphasizes the grave and pervasive effects of dysfunctional systems. Their meager attempts to improve their situation proved fruitless, which implies that living in a corrupt environment might occasionally force people to accept resignation over struggle.
Robust human establishments like the government and the Catholic Church look helpless against instability, ambition, and greed in the world. Politics falls short of delivering the stability and tranquility that the country’s citizens long for. Civil wars have erupted often since the nation gained its freedom, leaving its population without a moment of respite. Liberals and Conservatives are at odds in this struggle, yet, as Dr. Juvenal Urbino points out, politicians oppose one another more based on social class than political beliefs.
Dr. Urbino observes sarcastically, “A Liberal president was the same as a Conservative president, but not as well dressed.” His pessimistic outlook reflects the belief that the nation would never be able to break free from its warlike cycles. Like him, all of them have become accustomed to the notion that war is inevitable and will spread like a cholera outbreak. Dr. Urbino observes that despite people’s talk of the war as if it were a normal part of life, their eyes are nevertheless filled with fear. This statement, which contrasts with the narrator’s cold-blooded tone, serves as a reminder to the reader that war is abnormal and that everyone participating experiences severe stress.
