True Love?

After finishing the third section of Love in the Time of Cholera, there are many similarities that can be pointed out between Dr. Juvenal Urbino and Florentino Ariza. First, the most obvious, they both fall in love with Fermina Daza. They both succumb to her spell, which makes them do things they don’t normally do. Florentino finds himself drinking cologne and eating flowers, making himself very sick. The doctor says that he, “did not drink coffee except for a cup first thing in the morning [and that he] did not drink alcohol (119).” However, after coming back to Fermina’s house for a second time, even though he said that he would not visit again unless something changed in her health, he gladly accepts multiple cups of coffee and anisette from Lorenzo Daza in hopes to see Fermina again making him sick.

The second similarity between Florentino and Urbino is their appearance and how they are looked at by those around them. Gabrial Marquez Garcia uses very similar passages to describe the two men in different parts of the novel. Both are regarded by women as this sort of heartthrob where the girls have lotteries to see whose turn it is to spend time with him, etc. The only difference is that Florentino does not come from as wealthy a background as Dr. Urbino does.

The third similarity is that both men attempt to serenade Ms. Daza through music. Florentino played a waltz on his violin in the middle of the night over and over again. Urbino has a renowned pianist, Romeo Lussich play various Mozart sonatas for Fermina, once again in the middle of the night.

The fourth similarity is that both men write letters to her; however, the content of the letters seem to differ a little bit. While those of Florentino continuously talk about his love for Fermina and how she is the “Crowned Goddess,” Dr. Urbino’s are less intimate and only talk about wanting to meet her and her father again. Nonetheless, Fermina refers to both of the men as a ‘poor man.’ The first time was when Florentino sees her in the market after she came back from her trip with her father. Florentino says this is no place for a crowned goddess. The second time is when Fermina is holding the doctor’s letter and is burning it.

Both men fall for Fermina Daza; however, so far, I don’t think that she really loves either of them. I think the primary reason that her love grew for Florentino was because she was young and felt as though she needed someone to be dependent on. You could see in her letters that she never had any deep feelings for Florentino like he did for her. In the end, Florentino ends up living his life waiting for a woman that doesn’t love him. Although Fermina marries Dr. Urbino, I have yet to see any passage that really shows the deep passion she should have for him. She accepts his hand in marriage very passively. It says that she, “wrote the letter as quickly as possible….it was one of her typical letters, not a syllable too many or too few, in which she told the Doctor yes, he could speak to her father (137).” This is one of the biggest moments of her life, where she is accepting a hand in marriage and she is ‘quickly’ writing a response. The way the passage is written shows no emotion in her; it’s as if this is just another task that she has to do that day. I’m not exactly sure why Dr. Urbino and Fermina get married. Towards the very end of the section it says that Dr. Urbino realizes that, “he...did not love her….[but that he was sure] there would be no obstacle to their inventing true love (159). Neither of them are completely in love with the other, so why would they decide to make a life-long commitment to each other? (667)

Is Jason Compson really a bad guy??

Granted, Jason Compson isn’t a very loveable character. As a reader, when I began his section, I immediately noticed that he is a very angry person—the first sentence of his part of the book begins with, “Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say (180).” From discussions in class, most people were turned off when they read not only this but the rest of his section. While there is much evidence to support why Jason is a bad person, I think that all of his actions can be justified.

When Jason was a child, there is a scene where he cut up all of Caddy’s dolls. I think that when he was young, he was not given as much attention as the rest of the other children. Benjy has the mental disorder, Caddy is the only girl, and Quentin is the eldest son. Benjy obviously needed constant attention. Because Caddy is the only girl, she was paid a lot of attention especially when she began liking boys. Finally, Quentin was sort of the “prodigy” of the family; they sold Benjy’s pasture so that he could go to Harvard. Jason only got attention from Mother and Damuddy. Mother constantly talks now, about how Jason is the only Bascomb of the family, the rest were all Compsons; however, I feel as though she doesn’t say that out of motherly love for him. I think she says it because he was the only one that didn’t completely mess up his life.

Another scene that displays Jason in a negative way is when he agrees to show Caddy Quentin but only lets her see the baby as he passes by in a car. Then as Quentin grows up, he and Mother burn all of the checks that Caddy sends Quentin. I think that the reason Jason is so hostile to not only Quentin but also to Caddy is that it’s Caddy’s fault that he has to look after Quentin all the time now. He already has the pressure of supporting the rest of the family and now he has to be responsible for a wild teenage girl too. His anger towards Quentin comes from the fact that she is beginning to act just like Caddy did when she was younger except to a worse degree. He loves the both of them and I think he is just trying keep Quentin from ruining his life like he thinks Caddy did.

I think Jason is very misunderstood. He cares a lot about his family, or else he would have abandoned them like the rest. He keeps a job that he doesn’t really like so that he can provide food for everyone. I think the reason that he acts out and is so angry is because he under so much pressure; he has a lot of stuff to take care of. In my mind he didn’t have that great of a childhood and now, when he should be enjoying life and living on his own, he is somewhat held down by his family. (514)