Compare/Contrast #4: Author's Message CITR

The moral you brought up about not worrying about age and living in the moment was a good one.  It is definitely an important part of the story.  I think it contradicts the message about love.  Personally, I think it was foolish for Florentino to waste his life waiting for Fermina.  He didn't get to enjoy every moment every moment of his life and instead became afraid of growing old without her.  He only lived in the hope he would one day be reunited with her.  I'm not sure if Marquez was trying to portray Florentino's actions as foolish or admirable.

Now to discuss the message I thought Salinger was trying to send to the reader.
Throughout the book, the reader witnessed the negative effects of Holden's lack of motivation and his attempts to be someone he wasn't: an adult.  In addition, I saw the depression and loneliness that resulted from Holden's lack of interest in school, and the way he alienated the people around him.  His judgmental behavior did nothing but cause him pain and make him even more insecure because he only had one person who he could trust:  Phoebe.  Because all we see from Holden's actions are negative results, agree with you:  I think Salinger was trying to tell the reader to not judge people.  There is so much more to people than what they appear.  Almost everyone Holden met was a "phony."  It is highly unlikely that they were truly no deeper.  Holden himself could seem like a phony because he judges other people for being phony, yet lies all the time.  Because the story is told from the first person, the reader can get inside Holden's head and see the depth in his character.  We are able to sympathize with him and understand that he's not superficial.  Why should the other people be any different?  I think this is the point that Salinger was attempting to make.  Using the first person helped her make her point clearer because as the reader, I had the ability to see Holden's thought process and understand not only him, but that there is much more to the people around him than their superficiality.

Using the third person for Love in the Time of Cholera helped the reader see from more than just Florentino's perspective.  Although he was the main character, the third person writing style allowed the reader to understand the other points of view (Fermina, Dr. Urbino, etc.) and know more than just what one character knew.  I think that each writing style was important to the different stories:  each of them would have been much different if they had been written from a different perspective.

Compare/Contrast Post #4 Morals

In this last post, I would like to talk about the morals of each story. I think that Marquez and Salinger are both trying to send very different messages to their readers. Love in the Time of Cholera definitely has a underlying moral that is important to understand. 

As I read Marquez’ book, I wondered what he might be trying to show us. Although one message is seen throughout the whole book, love, I think that Marquez was also trying to show us another important moral. I think that he was trying to show his readers that life is too short to suffer for only one cause. He is always showing us that the characters in the book were very self conscious and they worried about their age. They would always compare their aging to different characters. Aging will come for everyone no matter what, so the characters are wasting their time trying to compare their looks. I believe that Marquez wants us to be less fearful of aging so that we can enjoy the moment that we have now.

In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s message to us is very interesting. One of his underlying morals is to not be hypocritical. I think that Salinger is indiscreetly trying to tell us to look at ourselves and check to see if we are being hypocritical.  He does this by showing us how Holden hates certain things in other people like phoniness, yet Holden himself is a “phony.” Holden also seems to hate movies and the movie industry, but he still watches movies and plays often. I also think that Salinger is trying to show us that we should not look for everyones “phoniness,” but for peoples good nature and kindness. I learned, from Catcher in the Rye, that it is easy to be a hypocrite and not know that you are doing it.

Compare/Contrast #3: Author's Perspective LITTOC

I found what you had to say about the author's writing styles very interesting.  I do have agree with you:  I enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye much more.  Although I do love to read a beautifully written book, often with a poetic writing style, I didn't like the writing style in this book either.  I thought it was confusing and over done.  Like you said, Marquez introduced subjects or thoughts that didn't really tie in with the rest of the book.  I thought he left a lot of lose ends.  For example, he spent 20+ pages on Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, who never really comes up again in the book.

When analyzing a book, I always find it interesting to discuss the author's point of view, or what message they were trying to send to the reader.  In some ways, I think the messages were similar; in some ways very different.
I think one of Marquez's messages was about love.  I'm guessing he wholeheartedly believed in true love and believed in the power and importance of love in one's life.  I'm making these guesses based on the fact that he wrote a beautiful love story about two individuals who have such a deep connection that they are meant to be together, even if it means they are old when it's finally possible.  He never puts either of them in a bad light:  to the reader, they are heroes in way.  To me, I find this slightly disturbing.  I disagree with his message.  I think that love is powerful and valuable, but Marquez makes it seem like it's a beautiful thing to watch your life pass right in front of your eyes as you wait for someone.  It's not like Florentino was waiting two or three years wither.  Half a century!  And he continued to wait even after she got married!!!!
Even though Marquez's message seemed to be more about the power of true love, what I got out of it was slightly different, because I disagree with him:  don't waste your life waiting for someone.  Florentino did a lot of wandering around, filling up the years as he waited for Fermina.  In some ways, I think the message J.D. Salinger was trying to send is similar to this one.  One message that I got from The Catcher in the Rye was to not life my life like Holden:  don't waste your life.  Holden was very misguided.  Although he didn't have any motivation, I think Florentino's motivation in life was no good either.

This post is getting a little lengthy, so I'll discuss more about J.D. Salinger in my next book.  Kai, what did you get out of Love in the Time of Cholera.  Although it is difficult, what messages do you think the author was trying to send to the reader?

Compare/Contrast Post #3 Relationships

One thing that I noticed that was a common theme in both books was relationships. It is obvious that “Love in the Time of Cholera” is about relationships, but I believe that this theme is also in “Catcher in the Rye.” As Holden goes through this transition in his life he finds himself wanting to love someone, just like Florentino Ariza. 

Holden keeps searching for a partner during his loneliness and depression. In just one week he tried to enjoy himself with over nine women. In “Catcher in the Rye” this theme is more about growing into real relationships with others than just finding women. Holden wants to have a relationship with a girl named Jane, but he is too nervous and inexperienced to even call her. This inexperience is what causes Holden to try to have a relationship with someone, even a Prostitute.

In Love in the Time of Cholera, Florentino is not trying to get women because he is inexperienced, but because he was rejected by the one whom he really loved. Florentino had many relationships throughout the book, but he always wanted to be with Fermina. The theme in this book was more about making up a relationship that he could have had. 

In both books the main characters think about relationships a lot and they concentrate on the sexual side of that. While Florentino has had experience, Holden is trying to understand it by asking elders and friends that had bragged about having sex. I believe that this is one of few major themes that both of the books share along with, loneliness.

Compare/Contrast #2 Writing style

In this post I would like to discuss the differences in the writing style between the two authors. I would also like to explain why I personally like one more than the other. I believe that “Catcher in the Rye” was a better book than “Love in the Time of Cholera” to read overall.

“Love in the Time of Cholera” was written in third person by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. When I first started reading this book, I found it very confusing. I was hesitant to read it because I hardly understood what was happening. It was very oddly worded throughout the first quarter of the book and this is one of the main things that made this book less fun to read. For example the first sentence says, “It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of unrequited love.” It does not really make sense and it is never explained why almonds make him think of love later on in the book. One thing that made this book on more level of confusing was the way that Marquez introduced characters. He would describe how the looked but they weren’t given roles in the story.

In contrast “Catcher in the Rye” was written in first person by J.D. Salinger. I think that this book was much better to read and enjoy because of the way that Salinger wrote it. Unlike Marquez, Salinger gave each character a role in the book without describing in too much detail, how they appeared. Salinger also wrote in a more simplistic way, without using analogies. It was easy to understand and it was much more enjoyable to read. I think that Salinger really gave an in-depth story about Holden’s life even though the book was set in about one week. In contrast, Marquez gave much detail for the years and years that the book was set in.

Compare/Contrast #2: Loneliness

In my last post I discussed the differences between the two protagonists in the two books.  Although Florentino and Holden are obviously very different people, they had similarities as well.  For example, even though Florentino was very driven and Holden lacked motivation, they both struggled throughout the book.  One of the things that both characters struggled with was loneliness:  loneliness was a theme in both books.
Near the beginning of Love in the Time of Cholera, Fermina was "taken away" from Florentino because her father didn't approve of their relationship.  Florentino become lonely without his love, eating roses and drinking cologne so he may know Fermina's sent.  "He felt alone in the world, and the memory of Fermina Daza, lying in ambush in recent days, dealt him a mortal blow" (p 145).  When Fermina married Dr. Urbino and left Florentino in the dust, he attempted to bury his loneliness by having 622 relationships.  Unfortunately these "liaisons" could not fill the hole in his heart:  "At the height of pleasure he had experienced a revelation that he could not believe, that he even refused to admit, which was that his illusory love for Fermina Daza could be replaced by an earthly passion" (chapter 4).
Holden is also a very lonely character.  Unlike Florentino, he doesn't lose a lover; Holden just doesn't have the ability to connect with people or make relationships. Kai, I think you nailed it in your Catcher in the Rye post about loneliness.  Your examples really illustrate how he really wanted attention.  You also made the connection between his loneliness and his depression; they are very closely linked. Holden felt very lonely at his school because "it's full of phonies" (p 131).  He spends a lot of time wandering, looking for someone to talk to or someone to start a relationship with.  Holden is never very successful and this made him very depressed: "When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all.  I don't know why, but I was.  I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome" (p 153).

Kai, what do you think about the authors' writing styles?  Was one more effective than the other?

Compare/Contrast #1 Holden and Florentino

To answer your question Sasha, yes I have found at least one similarity between these characters. As I was reading your first compare and contrast post, I started thinking about the protagonists and Antagonists of each story. I then realized that the antagonists in both stories were the protagonists themselves. 

In Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s antagonists are himself and the “phonies” that he always mentions. Holden is his own enemy because he does not open up to other people and meet with them normally. He is making himself get expelled at multiple schools because of his unwillingness to apply himself in school and invest in the future. He only got into a depressive mode because he chose to feel sorry for himself when he was failing. He held himself in and the only time he felt happy was when he stopped being his own enemy and looked at his sister from a different perspective.

In Comparison, in Love in the Time of Cholera, Florentino was also his own enemy as he had no real enemies. He was defeating himself for not being able to find a stable relationship. Throughout the whole book he was criticizing himself, like holden, for not going on and finding a new partner. In Holden’s case he really wanted to go out with Jane, but he just couldn’t even call her. In Florentino’s case he wanted to be with Fermina so bad that he would not let go and he made himself feel bad for doing so. Florentino also criticized himself for sleeping with so many women because he knew that it was wrong, but he still kept doing it.


Sasha, What similarities can you find between the two characters even thought they are so different?