Love in the Time of Cholera: Blog 2

In the novel, I find Florentino’s character to be quite peculiar. Although every character in the book seems to be a little eccentric or quirky in some way, everything about Florentino’s disposition strikes me as very odd. From the manner in which he is physically described to the actions he is involved in make him out to be the strangest character in the book. Yet, without Florentino, there would be no "Love in the Time of Cholera" at all. Like it or not, Florentino is the central character for the driving force of the plot even though he appears to be a character that no one could relate to.

The strangest aspect of Florentino’s abnormal lifestyle is his pursuit of vulnerable women. After Fermina rejects him early in his life, he vows that he will spend his whole life trying to win her back. He is sick from depression for many days over her loss and marriage. So much so that it drive him away from the only home he knows in the hopes that he will forget about her in his long journey. Despite his efforts, all he can continue to think about is Fermina Daza. Yet on his riverboat voyage, a woman essentially rapes him and his first experience seems to be life changing for him. When he returns home, he again experiences sexual relations with a widow, his first true lover. As their relationship continues, Florentino observes that widowed women seem to be the most free spirited females he has ever know. Yet he feels that they too have experienced a love lost with the passing of their husbands. As his thirst for women develops, Florentino learns that his sexual experiences serve as an elixir to heal his wounds from Fermina. Throughout the next decades, Florentino’s major pastime is the pursuit of what he calls "lost birds". In all of his loose relationships, Florentino ensures that the connection they have is purely physical, and that he is not emotionally attached to another women. For one, he does not want Fermina to ever know that he has "cheated" on her. Secondly, I believe that Florentino does not want to get hurt in another deep relationship. The only way that he can have relations with women is in a physical sense, because once they get to close he always likes to have the power to step away. Florentino is very cautious with his emotions ever since his crushing rejection.

As the years continue to pass, Florentino still has not lost hope in his quest for Fermina’s hand every though he has had so many other opportunities to live a happy life. Even after fifty years, Fermina continues to occupy his life day in and day out. Yet, he is still able to keep her a secret from everyone around him, along with his sex life. What is strange to me is that he says he has all his sexual encounters to get "experience" for when he finally receives his chance to get back with Fermina. He also uses his love exposure to help young lovers write letters to their sweethearts. Everything he does is part of his master plan to win her back. Florentino is such an obsessive-compulsive character that he cannot simply let go of his past-lost love. If only he would learn to move on, he would have so many opportunities to live a happy life with one of the many women that he has had encounters with. What also strikes me as strange is that if he is willing to go the trouble to start relationships with married women, why does he not try to steal Fermina from Urbino? If he cares so much about her that his life is devoted to her, he might as well try to have an affair with her. Florentino has the ability to woo almost any women he desires; yet he will not even talk to Fermina while she is married to the Doctor. If it was anyone else but the eccentric Florentino, he would not have wasted his time with the other women, and would have just gone for what he wanted the most, or just plain forget about her and move on. (701)