Tainted Love

In Love in the Time of Cholera, Marquez uses sickness, death, and gerontophobia as metaphors for the dangers of love. Early in the novel when Jeramiah de Satint Amour commits suicide with gold cyanide, Dr. Urbino immediately attributes the manner of the death to unrequited love. The mention of the scent of almonds is also foreshadowing the next chapter in which the love affair between Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza is narrated. Florentino frequently sees Fermina Daza beneath an almond tree and mentions how the scent of alomds will forever remind him of her.

During their discreet love affair, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza are literally in danger due to the wrath of Fermina’s father and the environment in which Fermina is being raised. The watchful eye of Lorenzo Daza forces Fermina and Florentino to only communicate through letters left in odd places. When waiting for his first reply from Fermina, Florentino is driven mad with eagerness and displays symptoms similar to those of cholera. Florentino’s joy in suffering for Fermina and his willingness to be a martyr for love makes Florentino an ideal romantic character because he has no fear of rejection and has absolute faith in the success of the doomed relationship. Since the reader already knows from the previous chapter that Fermina will marry Dr. Urbino, it is much easier to feel sympathetic toward Florentino.

Through the suicide of Jeremiah de Saint-Amour before his own clandestine love affair can fully bloom and the cholera-like lovesickness of Florentino juxtaposed with his raging affection for Fermina, Marquez touches on a fundamental human fear: fear of the ravages of love whether they be brought about by rejection, unfavorable circumstances, or death. Florentino’s melodramatic approach to love makes him seem absurd and thus makes the idea of hopeless romanticism seem absurd. He writes seventy pages of love letters to a girl who he has never met and foolishly expects that she will feel the same way. However, it can be inferred that Marquez is glorifying romanticism because Florentino comes to Dr. Urbino’s funeral and therefore uncovers hope at the bottom of the pandora’s box of love’s travails. (357)

Southern Honor

In The Sound and The Fury, the sections narrated by Quentin and Jason respectively show two very different characters who have very similar motivations. Both Compson men are intensely concerned with protecting the family honor.
Quentin seeks to maintain the code of ethics of a Southern gentleman. He wants to protect his family’s reputation by living up to a set of standards. He continually mentions how he wishes to protect his sister from men who he feels are not suitable for her because they are not gentlemen. In addition, Caddy’s loss of virginity greatly disturbs him because it signifies that his family honor has been sullied. However, because he loves Caddy he does not use this information as justification to mistreat her. The paradox of the person he loves the most destroying his fundamental beliefs is enough to drive him to end his own life.
Jason wants to protect the family honor for more selfish reasons. Like his mother, Jason is very pretentious and arrogant. He wants to have an excellent reputation because of his family and he censures them when they do not fulfill his expectations. Like Quentin, he sees Caddy as the main contributor to the loss of his honor. Although, since the only member of the family with whom Jason feels a genuine connection is his mother, he has no problem severing all ties to Caddy. In addition to frustration with Caddy’s behavior, Jason harbors a very strong jealously of Quentin because he feels that the opportunity to attend Harvard was wasted on him. By distancing himself from the rest of his family, Jason hopes to create a good reputation independently. However, by the end of the novel, it is apparent that none of the other characters admire the way he treats his family.
Jason’s egotistical desire for honor is also apparent in the way he treats his niece, Quentin. He sees her as nothing more than the product of Caddy’s sinful actions and treats her as such. Jason refuses to accept any money from Caddy and never mentions her name in his house in hopes that forgetting her will bring back his honor. However, because of Quentin he cannot forget about Caddy because she so closely resembles her. Both of the Quentins disappear as a result of quests for honor that become futile due to Caddy’s actions. Mr. Quentin’s death is brought about by his own struggle with honor. Ms. Quentin disappears as a result of Jason’s zealous desire for a good reputation. (417)