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Introduction: 

Love in the Time of Cholera is a romance novel written by Colombian author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the Nobel Prize. Love in the Time of Cholera was published in 1985. It was translated all over the world.

Plot:

The main characters in the story are Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. When they were young, they fell in love and had a secret relationship with the help of Fermina’s Aunt Escolástica and wrote love letters to each other. But when Fermina’s father found out, he immediately made her stop seeing Florentino. When Fermina refused, she and her father moved to another city to live with her mother’s family. Despite their distance, Fermina and Florentino kept in touch through telegrams. When Fermina came back, she realized that her relationship with Florentino was just a dream because they hardly knew each other anymore. She ended her engagement to Florentino and returned all his letters. Dr. Juvenal Urbino, a national hero, meets Fermina and wants to marry her. Even though Fermina doesn’t like him initially, she agrees to marry him because her father wants her to and because he is rich and can provide a secure life. Dr. Urbino is a doctor who cares about science and progress. He works hard to fight cholera and improve public projects. He likes things to be organized and wants people to respect him. Even though Fermina married someone else, Florentino promised to wait for her but ended up having many affairs. Fermina and her husband had both happy and difficult times in their marriage. Urbino admitted to having an affair, showing he wasn’t completely faithful either. Urbino, an old man, falls off a ladder and dies while trying to rescue his parrot. After the funeral, Florentino tells Fermina he has been faithful and asks for another chance. Fermina hesitates at first because she had just recently lost her husband but eventually agrees. They go on a cruise together and their love grows in their old age.

Analysis:

The book is named Love in the Time of Cholera. Cholera is “an infectious and often fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine, typically contracted from infected water supplies and causing severe vomiting and diarrhea.” This is an interesting setting to write about since its background is a time when there was a disease. In the novel, Dr. Juvenal Urbino and Florentino Ariza have complicated love lives. They both had at least an affair while having Fermina Daza in their heart. Florentino has put Fermina in his heart for the majority of his lifetime. This shows the true love of Florentino to Fermina and how patient and diligent he is, waiting for Fermina for over 50 years. Many years into the marriage between Fermina and Dr. Urbino, Dr. Urbino admits that he hasn’t been entirely faithful to her, also admitting that he had an affair during their marriage life. Meanwhile, Florentino had many affairs but hid that from Fermina and kept brainwashing himself saying, “I’m waiting for her.” This shows how honest Dr. Urbino is. However, Florentino isn’t guilty because he wasn’t having affairs while being in a relationship with Fermina. In the end, when Florentino asks Fermina for another chance, Fermina hesitates at first but accepts after a while. This is also crucial because Fermina just became a widow and Florentino was aware of the fact that Dr. Urbino just passed away. This may mean Fermina also had some feelings left for Florentino by how she accepted to give him another chance on that same day he asked. 

Conclusion:

Love in the Time of Cholera is a romance novel by Colombian author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was published in 1985. The book was set in the time of cholera, which is an infectious and often fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine. The main characters, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza were in love when Fermina’s father told her to marry Dr. Urbino. The story goes on with Fermina living with Dr. Urbino and how Florentino Ariza is waiting patiently for Fermina.