Love in the Time of Cholera #1: Fermina's Reaction to Florentino's Declaration of Love

Kai, I was wondering the exact same thing and I would love to write an entire post to answer your question because it's such a great one.

At first, I thought Florentino was creepy and stalker when he confessed his everlasting love for Fermina right after her husband had died.  He hadn't had contact with her for half a century, and tracking her down and spontaneously announcing his love for her seemed quite abrupt to me.  I thought Fermina's reaction was especially interesting.  She told him to "get out of here" and "don't show your face again for the years that are left to you" (p 50).  If she had no interest in him whatsoever, then why would he bother admitting his love??  After reading this I decided there was probably much more to this story.

Reading on, the love story of Florentino and Fermina revealed itself.  When Fermina's father found out, he was completely appalled.  He was so completely opposed to their getting married that he took Fermina off on a "demented" trip for a year and a half (p 83).  For Mr. Daza, the purpose of the trip was to ensure Fermina would forget about Florentino completely.  After Mr. Daza's wife had died, he had made it his life's goal to "turn his daughter into a great lady" (p 81).  Florentino was getting in the way of that dream.  After her father had rejected Florentino, Fermina had spent much of her life pressured to forget Florentino.  It was her father's obsession and I'm guessing that after a while, Fermina accepted it as well. 

Although Fermina may have loved Florentino, she left him behind and married another man.  She became the woman her father wanted her to be.  I think it was inconsiderate for Florentino to come barging in on her life, trying to bring back the old life that had been buried in a half century of a new one.  Even if Fermina still loved Florentino and wanted to dig up that old life, I'm sure her reaction was a display of her hesitance due to the new life she had created for herself.  I definitely would have hesitant as well.  What about you, Kai?  Do you think it was "right" of Florentino to come barging in on Fermina's life?