Marquez leaves the reader unsure of what Fermina feels for Florentino in this chapter. Although sometimes she does not give Florentino the time of day, there are occasions where it seems as if she does love him, for example when Aunt Ecolastica reveals Florentino’s feelings towards Fermina, and how he wants to give her a letter on page 62. “She longed with all her soul for her aunts predictions to come true, and in her prayers she begged god to give him the courage to give her the letter.” Here, it seems as though she does love him, however when Florentino finally gives her the letter, she does not reply, it seems as if she does not love him. Marquez gives the reader mixed signals about Fermina’s feelings because Fermina herself is unsure of what she feels. “These unexpected, almost childish antics caused an unfamiliar curiosity in Fermina Daza.” One part of her knows that her father would forbid this relationship but another part wants to see where this relationship with Florentino could go, but his determination scares her, because she is still unsure, and he already has his heart set on her.
Marquez shows Florentino’s determination in this chapter by showing how he persists in winning Fermina over even though she does not pay attention to him. He can have anybody he wants as a result of the skills he has. “Florentino was the most sought after man in his social circle.” Still he persists in trying to win over Fermina who does not even look at him”. He visits the park where she goes every day, just to catch a glimpse of her. The reason he does this is because of the challenge Fermina represents to him, and human habit of always wanting what we cannot have.
It becomes apparent in this chapter that flowers are a symbol for love. This is first seen when Florentino offers Fermina a flower as a representation of his love, however she refuses it. Marquez uses flowers to signify love, but by refusing to accept the flower, Fermina is refusing Florentino’s love. After seeing Fermina wearing a crown of flowers, he then plays a song entitled “Crowned Goddess” on the violin in her honour. Both these instances show flowers as a representation of love, as Florentino sees them. Further instances of the importance of flowers to Florentino can be seen later on in the novel when sends flowers to his mistresses.
In contrast, in this chapter, Marquez suggests that lovesickness is not just an emotional illness, but also a physical illness, and goes on to compare it to cholera. Showing flowers as a symbol for love, and then comparing this love to cholera is a contrast. When Florentino gets worried that Fermina will not reply to his love letter, he gets sick. This sickness is so real, that his godfather mistakes it for Cholera. Later in chapter two, to remind himself of Fermina, Florentino eats flowers and drinks cologne, to remind him of her smell. This results in him getting very sick. This “drunken” love which Florentino has, can be interpreted as obsession, even a state of being mentally disturbed, since he deliberately poisoned himself with cologne. However, his love for Fermina is a sickness, because it drives him to do all these things, which it turn make him ill. Because of this, it can be seen that love, like cholera is a literal sickness for the characters in the novel.
In conclusion, chapter two sets the scene for the relationship between Fermina and Florentino, and foreshadows its developments. Marquez introduces the idea of flowers to symbolize love, and also lovesickness as a physical illness.
