Write a commentary comparing how Marquez characterizes Florentino Ariza in these two passages. What is the writer showing us about this character? What affect does this have on the reader? Are there any references to theme(s)?

802 Words4 Pages
Throughout the novel, Marquez expresses the love Florentino Ariza has for Fermina Daza and we are also shown how Florentino copes with this love when Fermina rejects him. Florentino remains to love Fermina for fifty-one years, nine months and four days and it is questionable whether he is obsessive or devoted to her. In this commentary I will be demonstrating how Gabriel Garcia Marquez characterizes Florentino and the references to any themes within the two passages given. Throughout the two chosen extracts, there are many references to the theme of age. For example, on page 272, Florentino meets a young girl, America Vicuna, who is at the age of fourteen. She is described as still having “braces on her teeth and the scrapes of elementary school on her knees”. This demonstrates just how young this little girl really is and yet Florentino is extremely intrigued by her presence. Florentino is also perceived as being a “venerable old man” (page 272) which shows the extreme difference in their ages. Another reference to age is on page 338 and 339, when Florentino is on a boat with Fermina and she is described as having a “withered neck” and “hips with their decaying bones, her thighs with their aging veins.” This is the opposite to the previous passage as we are now being shown Florentino with a much older woman who is nearer to him in age. This therefore characterizes him as having a diverse love for women as he does not mind either young or older women as he finds pleasure in the company of those women. In the extract with America, Florentino seems to enjoy the fact that she is innocent and has not had many experiences in her life and he takes advantage of this by spending “Saturdays at the circus, Sundays in the park with ice cream and childish late afternoons, and he won her confidence” (page 272). Marquez is illustrating how Florentino is trying to seduce

More about Write a commentary comparing how Marquez characterizes Florentino Ariza in these two passages. What is the writer showing us about this character? What affect does this have on the reader? Are there any references to theme(s)?

Open Document