Summary
“Memories of my Melancholy Whores” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez concretizes the seemingly overtly romantic idea that one is never too old to fall in love. Set in the early 1960s, the novel revolves around the central character, a 90-year-old journalist, who, on his ninetieth birthday entertains the thought of celebrating his natal day through an ecstatic night with a virgin.
To materialize his desire, Rosa Cabarcas, the owner of the town's most reputable brothel gives him a 14 year-old girl with whom he eventually builds a whilst non-conversational, intimate relationship. For several nights, he arranges trysts with the girl, whom he calls Delgadina. On each tryst, he brings items such as books, paintings etc., transforming their room into a seemingly special love nest. He brings her gifts, reads to her stories and writes her love notes, showering her with love that he never knew in his ninety years of existence. Delgadina, on the other hand remains asleep, tired from her work of sewing buttons in a factory in town. She gives limited responses yet continues to meet with him on their regular rendezvous.
In the patient unfolding of their love story, the persona gives an account of his nujerous sexual encounters and regular visits to brothels. He also recalls his closest experience of a formal intimate relationship, which he abandons on the day of the wedding. He explicitly relates his life as a bachelor, and his daily routine as a mediocre, aging, and ugly journalist. He narrates his maturity in the writing profession, especially his current job as a weekly columnist. As his love for Delgadina develop, he starts to write columns on love, which capture a great number of readers, spark debates and elicit amorous responses.
A crime in the brothel forces them not to see each other for weeks. When the girl returns to him, he senses that she has been with someone else, thus, he decides to abandon her. Later, he reconciles with her, more passionately as Rosa Cabarcas tells him that the girl too, is in love with the old man. He once again fixes their room and showers the girl with gifts while finalizing arrangements with Rosa Cabarcas about the girl's future. The story ends with him deciding to live on towards his one hundredth birthday with his young love.
Formalist and Structuralist Reading of “Memories of my Melancholy Whores”
Weaving of Character and Imagery
One of the evident strengths of Marquez' “Memories of my Melancholy Whores” is its in depth depiction of the characters. However, the extent and style of the depiction of the major characters significantly differ. The persona, who is the also the narrator, is comprehensively presented starting with the basics - his family, his childhood and his occupation - down to the maturity of his old age. His present state is acutely portrayed with the elucidation of the details his routine, from his mornings plagued with a burning asshole, to the fragrance he uses, to the flavor of lozenges he prefers, to state a few. Significant in the development of the persona's character is the meticulous illustration of the persona's home, including its physical condition and furniture, especially the dominant paintings and books that constitute to the scholastic and artistic character of its resident. The depth of the persona's character as a writer is presented in the detailed illustration of his working table, dictionaries and books.
In contrast to the exhaustive depiction of the persona, the portrayal of Delgadina is limited to the persona's view of her. The reader gets to know Delgadina specifically from the point of view of the persona, thus tainted by the persona's intimate feelings for her. These descriptions are mostly physical and sensual, carefully scattered in the length of the narrative. Putting together the given descriptions, the reader can surmise Delgadina to be frail and malnourished, with high cheekbones, delicate lips, short curly hair and tanned skin. Very little is given of her character other than her preference to popular boleros and magical stories.
Other significant characters in the story are Rosa Cabarcas, Damiana, and the cat. The two women serve as live witnesses to the persona's life, while everyone else has died. Curious is the cat's significant parallelism to the character of the persona. Evidently, they are both old that the society is either deemed to kill or revere them in their old age. Other than their similarities in the mood and health, the cat also reflects much of the persona's attitude and aged state that requires so much patience and tolerance from those directly involved in their lives.
Marquez' Distinct Rhetoric
The novel is rich with figures of speech that are distinct and beautifully crafted, with metaphors that are vivid and even memorable. In the first chapter, the author states “The world looked as it was submerged in green water.” The metaphors the author uses remind me of the metaphysical conceit of the sixteenth century metaphysical poets as he uses unconventional comparisons to abstract concepts. In the line “I asked myself how I could give in to this perpetual vertigo that I in fact provoked and feared,” he calls love a "perpetual vertigo" probably referring to the nauseating and perplexing ardor when in love.
