Love in the Time of Cholera

“Each man is master of his own death, and all that we can do when the time comes is to help him die without fear of pain.” 

This passage appears early in the novel, revealing Urbino’s philosophy on death and his approach to caring for people at the end of their lives from the perspective of a medical doctor. Ironically, this thought occurs to Urbino on the day of his own death—death is a moment he fears, and fortunately for Urbino, he feels no pain when the times comes. 

“Neither could have said if their mutual dependence was based on love or convenience, but they had never asked the question with their hands on their hearts because both had always preferred not to know the answer.” 

This passage describes the love of Fermina Daza and Juvenal Urbino after decades of marriage. Neither Fermina nor Urbino are entirely sure if love can explain their continued marriage, particularly in old age; they are both afraid to acknowledge that they were never in love in the first place and that they just sought marriage as a form of stability. This fear reveals the significance of true passion and genuine love to both Fermina and Urbino and foreshadows Fermina’s eventual return to Florentino Ariza.

“The incident, of course, gave them the opportunity to evoke many other trivial quarrels from many other dim and turbulent dawns. Resentments stirred up other resentments, reopened old scars, turned them into fresh wounds, and both were dismayed at the desolating proof that in so many years of conjugal battling they had done little more than nurture their rancor.” 

A minor argument early in their marriage gives Fermina Daza and Urbino the opportunity to realize that, in their marriage, they hold onto years of unspoken pain and resentment. After a minor disagreement over soap, the realization of so much latent pain surprises them both; they both thought they were in love, but the conflict forces to them to view their relationship honestly, with all of its flaws and dysfunction.