Gabriel García Márquez's "Del amor y otro demonios".
Cada hebra de su cabello era el preludio de una larga vida.
- Usted puede prohibirme lo que quiera, y yo le cumplo. Lo malo es que no puede prohibirme lo que pienso.
La encontró muerta de amor en la cama, con los ojos radiantes y la piel de recién nacida. Los troncos de los cabellos le brotaban como burbujas en el cráneo rapado, y se les veía crecer.
These quotations explain and summarise quite accurately the plot of the story, and also its world vision, one that is filled with religious superstitions, and social traditions that brand the culture of the place. The place, must be said, is not Macondo.
Hair is a very important symbol in the story. It is the feature that makes the female protagonist unique, among the other women in the story. I believe it represents the neverending nature of some kind of loves, one that is able to grow even after death. Sometimes, with much more strength and determination, making souls present in the shape of spirits, or ghosts, a very usual device from G.G. Márquez.
This female protagonist is very stubborn, as it is shown in the second quotation. Many of us have gone through this situation, I think, when someone tries to control what we do or say. I liked very much the second part of the quotation, which states that our thoughts and feelings are never to be controlled by anyone, no matter how much they control our lives, or how much we let them do this. They are an inner part of us, a private place, where only we can go, anytime we want.
In the last quotation, the literary devices and figures flow as they do in the rest of the story (I must admit that when I first read this author, I hated that, but I learnt to understand and enjoy all these issues in time). Love is not a very usual cause of death, despite the many stories we have all heard about. In this story in particular, the author presents a story of denied love, which is perhaps the one that hurts the most, for lovers see their love being forbidden and sometimes punished for issues they do not understand or even care about, such as religion, politics, or some other cultural or social tradition. But anyway, this girl, beautiful as only a few are, died of love. And those who found her in her bed saw how her hair actually growing, rapidly, shockingly I guess, in an image that we as readers might believe or not. Though some things happen to be true, leaving beliefs aside – maybe a necessary requirement to read this author.
They made me think of Billy Bob Thornton in “The man who wasn’t there”: a laconic, chain-smoking barber trying to escape a humdrum life. He also wonders about this growing-after-death unique feature of human hair. He states: "Time slows down right before an accident, and I had time to think about things. I thought about what an undertaker had told me once - that your hair keeps growing, for a while anyway, after you die, and then it stops. I thought, "What keeps it growing? Is it like a plant in soil? What goes out of the soil? The soul? And when does the hair realize that it's gone?"
New Word: Contubernio
Rest of Quotations:
Un perro cenizo con un lucero en la frente.
Aun contra sus deseos tuvieron que conversar otra vez sobre asuntos que les eran comunes, como en los tiempos en que se odiaban menos.
Era idéntico al rey de bastos.
El interior de la casa, iluminado por dos ventanas abiertas a la mar grande, estaba arreglado con el preciosismo vicioso de un soltero empedernido.
No es que la niña sea negada para todo, es que no es de este mundo.
Con Judas aprendió a masticar tabaco y hojas de coca revueltas con cenizas de yarumo; probó en las tabernas el cannabis de la India, la trementina de Chipre, el peyote del Real de Catorce, y por lo menos una vez el opio de la Nao de China por los traficantes filipinos.
Ella le preguntó por esos días si era verdad, como decían las canciones, que el amor lo podía todo. “Es verdad”, lo contestó el, “pero harás bien en no creerlo”.
- Hubiera jurado que usted era incrédulo. - Qué más quisiera yo, señor.
Te hemos hecho venir, porque sabemos que estás necesitando de Dios y te haces el distraído.
La incredulidad resiste más que la fe, porque se sustenta en los sentidos.
A los demonios no hay que creerles ni cuando dicen la verdad.
Y lo borró de su corazón.
Aprendió pronto que un poder grande no se pierde a medias.
Así me maten, yo no me voy.
Rezando de miedo.
Pervirtiendo y tergiversando los sonetos por conveniencia.
Qué lejos había estado del diablo.
Se agotaban a besos.
En el Apocalipsis está anunciado un día que no amanecerá nunca. Quiera Dios que sea hoy.
Le enseñó que los demonios de América eran los mismos de Europa, pero su advocación y su conducta eran distintas.
“Me distinguí yo misma para ti”, dijo ella. “Tú no. Siempre fuiste como ahora: un pobre diablo”.
Le dijo que el amor era un sentimiento contra natura, que condenaba a dos desconocidos a una dependencia mezquina e insalubre, tanto más efímera cuanto más intensa.
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