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Lorenzo Daza
América is fourteen when she first meets her legal guardian, Florentino Ariza, in the city. Florentino initiates a sexual relationship with her, which highlights his underlying immorality despite his romantic persona. Although Florentino considers sex devoid of rules and moral obligations, he does not understand the power dynamics between him, an experienced old man, and an innocent teenager. As a result, Florentino remains blind to América’s sadness, frustration and anger when he terminates their relationship after three years to devote his energies to Fermina Daza. América’s suicide at age 17, after Florentino leaves her, highlights the extent to which her relationship with him has devastated her, and suggests that Florentino might have played a greater role in this tragedy than he cares to realize.
América Vicuña Quotes in Love in the Time of Cholera
The Love in the Time of Cholera quotes below are all either spoken by América Vicuña or refer to América Vicuña. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
She was still a child in every sense of the word, with braces on her teeth and the scrapes of elementary school on her knees, but he saw right away the kind of woman she was soon going to be, and he cultivated her during a slow year of Saturdays at the circus, Sundays in the park with ice cream, childish late afternoons, and he won her confidence, he won her affection, he led her by the hand, with the gentle astuteness of a kind grandfather, toward his secret slaughterhouse. For her it was immediate: the doors of heaven opened to her.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
Still looking at her, he said without warning:
“I am going to marry.”
She looked into his eyes with a flash of uncertainty, her spoon suspended in midair, but then she recovered and smiled.
“That’s a lie,” she said. “Old men don’t marry.”
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América Vicuña Quotes in Love in the Time of Cholera
The Love in the Time of Cholera quotes below are all either spoken by América Vicuña or refer to América Vicuña. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
She was still a child in every sense of the word, with braces on her teeth and the scrapes of elementary school on her knees, but he saw right away the kind of woman she was soon going to be, and he cultivated her during a slow year of Saturdays at the circus, Sundays in the park with ice cream, childish late afternoons, and he won her confidence, he won her affection, he led her by the hand, with the gentle astuteness of a kind grandfather, toward his secret slaughterhouse. For her it was immediate: the doors of heaven opened to her.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
Still looking at her, he said without warning:
“I am going to marry.”
She looked into his eyes with a flash of uncertainty, her spoon suspended in midair, but then she recovered and smiled.
“That’s a lie,” she said. “Old men don’t marry.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
