Love ♥

So our conversation today got me to thinking. I thought to myself, "This would be a good thing to write my blog about, since I forgot to write it last night and have been wondering what topic I could write about." So this was quite convenient for me.

So, tonight we'll be talking about love ♥

I'd first like to talk about the subject of today's class: primarily love vs. obsession. Florentino Ariza is clearly the embodiment of both sides, and represents a unique fusion of the two. When first declares, "Fermina, I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love," the reader is surprised at the intensity of a love that could withstand the corroding effects of fifty long years, but Fermina's response tells us that it is a love unreturned. It is at this point that we begin to gain some perspective into the type of love exhibited in the case of Florentino Ariza, indicating a slightly troubling situation.

Our first clue lies in the nature of Fermina and Florentino's early love. It is purely naive. They claim to be in love, when in reality they only love an idealized version of the truth, a comforting lie in which each views the other as perfection. Anyone who has ever been in love, or even in a relationship, knows that no one is perfect, but the beauty of love is that one takes the faults in stride, and moves past them to the person beyond. Fermina and Florentino never do this, for neither can know the other's faults. So they live in an imaginary relationship, and as such in a relationship which cannot succeed.

It is also that this point that Florentino's love takes on a new aspect, that of obsession. He allows himself to become possessed by the feeling that have arisen in him, becomes so involved and tied up in those feelings that he becomes ill, and relishes it. He can't get enough, like a druggie who just can't stop. It becomes an addiction for him, these emotions and feelings he has, and they become part of the essence that is Florentino Ariza.

Dr. Urbino, however, is an example of a different kind of love. For Florentino, love is something uncontrollable, something wild and devastating. For Urbino, it is something that is created, not found. For him, it is something that grows as two people become closer out of necessity, just as he and Fermina grew to love one another. For them, love is a constant in their lives, a pillar that stands against the raging waters, whereas for Florentino love is more like a log, being pushed and shoved by the current, helpless and always at the forefront of his mind. Urbino likely never thinks of Fermina unless she is right in front of him, or doing something involving her directly. Yet his love is no less than that of Florentino, albeit in a quieter, less obvious way.

As to the ven diagram proposed in class, I believe it is impossible to confine such a thing as love to a simple math concept. Love is an unfathomable thing, and there is little one can do to affect it, despite Urbino's belief that it will grow if two people spend time together. It is so huge that it would be quite impossible to fully comprehend and facet of it, and anyone attempting to do so would either give up or go crazy. It is more than attraction. It is more than fate.

It's just... love (605).

♥