Another theme seen in this passage is that of familiar love. This is similar to the previous theme of aging, however here we can see the depth of the relationship shared by Florentino and Fermina. They are now like an old married couple, having known each other for most of their lives even though they were separated for much of it. They understand each other’s needs and anticipate them. They are perfectly compatible. “Neither Florentino nor Fermina was aware of how well they understood each other: she helped him take his enemas, she got up before he did to brush the false teeth he kept in a glass while he slept, and she solved the problem of her misplaced spectacle, for she could use his for reading and mending. When she awoke one morning, she saw him sewing a button on his shirt in the darkness, and she hurried to do it for him before he could say the ritual phrase about needing two wives. On the other hand, the only thing she needed from him was that he cup a pain in her back.” This is an entirely differently love from that which Fermina shared with Dr Urbino, her husband. They have become an old couple, comfortable around each other yet still passionately in love. “Contrary to what the Captain and Zenaida supposed, they no longer felt like newlyweds and, even less like belated lovers. It was although they had leapt over the arduous calvary of conjugal life and gone straight to the heart of love. They were together in silence like an old married couple wary of life, beyond the pitfalls of passion, beyond the brutal mockery of hope and the phantoms of disillusion: beyond love.”
The final theme displayed in this segment is that of memories and nostalgia. They have reached a point where they look back with fondness over their past memories and try to relive their most fond ones. “Florentino Ariza, for his part, began to revive old memories with a violin borrowed from the orchestra, and in half a day he could play the Waltz of “The Crowded Goddess” for her, and he played it for hours until they forced him to stop.” This is the waltz that Florentino used to serenade Fermina with when they were first beginning their love, and in this way he is reliving his youth and becoming young again. Fermina’s memories are changing, and with her new acceptance of love and life she is changing her perspective of her old memories. “One night, for the first time in her life, Fermina Daza suddenly awoke choking on tears of sorrow, not of rage, at the memory of the old couple in the boat beaten to death by the boatmen. On the other hand, the incessant rain did not affect her, and she thought too late that perhaps Paris was not as gloomy as it had seemed, that Santa Fe did not have so many funerals passing along the streets.“ The new happiness she is feeling has made all her previous experiences seem enhanced, and she is forgetting the worst parts of her past and remembering only the pleasant ones. Furthermore, there is reference to the future after the boat trip, which has not been present before. “Which she would keep as her best memory of that lunatic voyage.” This gives the effect that this moment is also in Fermina’s memory, a flash of nostalgia which everything seems to be perfect.
There are many motifs also expressed in this section, such as flowers, scents and disease. These have been expressed through out the novel, and while there are not many examples of these in these pages, they are still evident. Flowers have been used by Marquez to symbolise love and the presence of love, and as this is when Florentino and Fermina consummate their life-long love, it is natural for there to be flowers here to highlight this. Nevertheless, there is an example of flowers being mentioned, such as “roses were more fragrant than before.” This shows how Fermina’s new found love with Florentino is a much more enjoyable time than her love and marriage with Urbino. Smell is also used frequently is the novel and once instances of this can be found. The example stated before “roses were more fragrant than before,” can be used again here, as it refers to the smell of the roses. Smell is the scent that Fermina relies upon the most, and by referring to it here it is showing how the love (roses) are affecting her perception through her strongest sense. There is further mention of smells in the quotes, “in the perfumed oasis of her cabin,” and “she had a headache scented with anisette”. These both relate to Fermina and how her sense of smell is being affected by the boat trip. The final motif that is evident here is that of disease. Throughout the novel love is compared to diseases, especially to cholera, as in the title. On the boat trip Florentino had convinced the captain of the boat to raise the cholera flag, so that they would not have to take on board any more passengers, and could be alone in their love. There is only one mention of this in this section, “some villages fired charitable cannons for them to frighten away the cholera, and they expressed their gratitude with a mournful bellow.” This does not much relate to love, however it does reinforce the idea that their passion is a disease and taking over their bodies.
The tone of these pages is relaxed, accepting and nostalgic. Although many pejorative words such as “exhausted”, “horrified” and “sorrow” are used at points, they are used to contrast the joy that the passengers are feeling. In the sentence, “During the day they played cards, ate until they were bursting, took gritty siestas that left them exhausted, and as soon as the sun was down the orchestra began to play, and they had anisette with salmon until they could eat and drink no more”, various negative words are utilised but in the context they have positive connotations. The nostalgic tone is added by the references to remembrance and the past, and the positive way in which Fermina now views her once miserable memories. This reiterates the theme of again and memory. And despite all there negative words there are plenty of positive words also, for example “favourable”, revelry”, “laughing” and “tranquil”, which echoes the comfortable love that has grown between Fermina and Florentino.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses many language techniques here, such as metaphors, similes, personification and sensory imagery. An example of a metaphor is “at last they saw the enormous matron nursing the baby she held in her arms.”-This is referring to a manatee seen on the river and this comparison allows us to see the caring compassion that Fermina Daza has for animals, especially as the manatee was thought to be extinct on the river. “They were together in silence like an old married couple wary of life,” is a simile that can be found here. Florentino and Fermina have found their love and feel as though they have shared all their lives together, and all they need is each other. Personification is used in the quote “Holding each other very close, the Captain and Zenaida danced the first boleros that were just beginning to break hearts in those days.” This gives a human quality to the dance, the bolero, and shows how in the Latin culture dancing is a very central part of life and love, so much so that it could almost be alive. Sensory imagery is applied frequently by Marquez in this novel. The main sensory imagery is olfactory, because of one of the motifs being smell. Yet there are still instances of other senses being triggered. In these pages we have visual “the Captain merged with his young wild woman in the shadows of the bolero,” and auditory, “a mournful bellow”. By using sensory imagery, Marquez makes the reader feel as if they were actually inside the story and having the same experiences as the characters.
To conclude, this passage from the novel Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The major themes of the novel, again, memory and familiar love are all expressed in these pages, through the characters of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza and their encounters on the river trip. The motifs of flowers, smell and disease/cholera are also evident here and emphasise the themes found. The tone is that of wistfulness, nostalgia and acceptance. The themes, motifs and tone are all enhanced by the language techniques used, for example, metaphors, similes, personification and sensory imagery.
