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Death Constant Beyond Love

Company workers strike and the massacre by the Colombian
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION government in 1928 (and subsequent years of political turmoil
in Colombia). In “Death Constant Beyond Love” there is the
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GABRIEL GARCÍA familiar undertone of distrust in politicians that García
MÁRQUEZ Márquez carried with him throughout his career.
Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian writer, screenwriter,
and journalist widely regarded as one of the most influential RELATED LITERARY WORKS
authors of the 20th century. He was born in 1927 in Aracataca,
Many of the themes found in “Death Constant Beyond Love”
a small town near the northern, tropical coast of Colombia to a
are also found in García Márquez’s most famous work, 100
mother of indigenous Guajira Indian descent and a Bolivian
Years of Solitude—a story set in Colombia and featuring seven
father. García Márquez was raised by his maternal
grandparents, who would prove huge influences on his writing; generations of a single family. 100 Years of Solitude is known for
his grandfather had been a Liberal Colonel in the War of a its incorporation of magical realism, where events take place
Thousand Days, and his grandmother’s fondness for both that couldn’t actually happen but in a setting that is
Catholic folklore and indigenous Colombian mythology recognizably real. There are light touches of this in “Death
initiated his turn towards the magical. In 1947, Garcia Marquez Constant Beyond Love,” like when bank notes floating through
studied law in Bogotá while writing short stories and poetry; he the air take on the appearance of butterflies. Also related to
found some initial success, but his budding writing career was “Death Constant Beyond Love” is Julio Cortázar’s “Letter to a
sidelined because of the Bogotá riots of 1948. Garcia Marquez Young Lady in Paris,” an epistolary, surreal short story steeped
then moved to Cartagena where he worked as a journalist, in in magical realism and grappling with the difficulties of
Colombia and abroad, for the newspaper El Universal. In 1955 existence and mortality. Additionally, though working primarily
he moved to Geneva, then to Rome, then to Paris. Garcia in a different era than García Márquez, Argentinian author
Marquez traveled across Europe, studying cinema and Jorge Louis Borges’ short stories, such as his collection The
continuing writing, but he found his greatest commercial Alph and Other Stories, evoke a surreal quality that handle
success in 1967 when he published One Hundred Y Years
ears of themes such as life and death.
Solitude (Cien anos de soledad) in Buenos Aires. Garcia Marquez
married Mercedes Barcha and together they had two sons in KEY FACTS
1958 and 1962. He was politically active throughout his career
• Full Title: Death Constant Beyond Love
and was initially regarded by the US as a communist threat until
• When Written: circa 1970
the commercial success of his popular novels. In 1982, he won
the Nobel Prize for Literature for works including One Hundr Hundred
ed • Where Written: Mexico City
Years of Solitude and Lov
Lovee in the Time of Choler
Choleraa. His health • When Published: 1970
declined in the 2000’s after he was diagnosed with cancer, and • Literary Period: El Boom (Latin American Boom in
he died in Mexico City in 2014. literature), Modernism
• Genre: Short story, magical realism
HISTORICAL CONTEXT • Setting: Rosal del Virrey (a fictional city likely in northern
García Márquez is often associated with a literary movement of South America, near Paramaribo and French Guiana)
the 1960’s and ‘70’s called the Latin American Boom (or El • Climax: When Laura Farina is revealed to be wearing an iron
Boom) with young Latin American authors such as Julio padlock and Senator Onésimo Sánchez must decide whether
Cortázar (from Argentina), Mario Vargas Llosa (from Peru), and or not to give in to Nelson Farina’s demands
Carlos Fuentes (from Mexico). This period saw authors from • Antagonist: Nelson Farina, Death/Mortality
the global south gaining an international foothold. Their works • Point of View: Omniscient narrator
are typically categorized by experimentation, non-linear
narratives, and surreal or fantastic elements. Although “Death
EXTRA CREDIT
Constant Beyond Love” is a somewhat straightforward story
for García Márquez, the indicators of the experimentation of Increasing Recognition: With his win in 1982, García Márquez
this literary movement remain, with inanimate objects became only the fourth Latin American author to be given the
appearing lifelike and taking on a sentient quality. Additionally, Nobel Prize for Literature, though the award has been given
García Márquez was heavily marked by the United Fruit annually since 1901.

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Point of Origin: Though García Márquez is known daughter. The woman has since died, but she was buried
internationally as a Colombian writer, it may be more accurate peacefully in Rosal del Virrey, unlike Nelson Farina’s first wife
to say Caribbean Colombian writer, as the geography of whose body he used as fertilizer. Nelson Farina sees the
northern Colombia is often referred to as the “Colombian senator’s farce from the opposite side as the townspeople, and
Caribbean.” The coastal influence of García Márquez’s early life he sneers at the dishonesty of the politician. Typically, Nelson
is clear in stories like “Death Constant Beyond Love,” where Farina goes to all of the senator’s speeches; for twelve years,
people move to Caribbean islands and leave or enter the city on he’s been asking the senator to issue him a false identity card so
boats. that his criminal past can’t catch up with him. The senator
always refuses, and this year Nelson Farina appears to have
given up.
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY After his speech, Senator Onésimo Sanchez walks through
In the fictional city of Rosal del Virrey, Senator Onésimo town, shaking people’s hands and promising his constituents
Sánchez is a married, 42-year-old politician who has six months favors—but no favors that would be too burdensome for him to
and eleven days left to live. He’s making a campaign stop for his fulfill. The senator reaches Nelson Farina’s house; Farina sits in
reelection effort, and it’s ironic—since he’s so near death—that his hammock, looking unhappy, but the senator still walks over
Senator Onésimo Sánchez will meet the “woman of his life” to say hello. The two exchange stiff pleasantries; then, Nelson
during this trip. (He already has a family at home.) Farina’s daughter, Laura Farina, comes outside. Though she is
dressed in a worn robe and with sunscreen on her face and
The senator and his procession of political aides arrive in Rosal bows in her hair, the senator thinks she is possibly the most
del Virrey—a poor port city known as a haven for smugglers beautiful woman in the world. He mutters in awe to himself.
and criminals—on a hot summer’s day. The senator’s reelection
convoy comes with all the trappings of political spectacle: A little while later, the senator meets in his office with the
music, rockets, even wagons full of people (indigenous Indians) politically important people of Rosal del Virrey. Here, behind
that the campaign has rented to make the senator’s crowd at closed doors, he is much more forthcoming than he was with
his speech appear bigger. The city is dry and arid, and its name the citizens. He criticizes the others for not wanting to change
is a misnomer: there are no roses in town, save for the one that the conditions of the city, for making a living off of the
the senator carries on his suit. inhospitable weather and climate. However, he also crudely
insults the village and the conditions of the city.
Before his scheduled speech, the senator takes an hour to
himself. Alone in the house that his campaign has rented for his Meanwhile, Laura Farina waits outside the senator’s office;
stay, he sets the rose he’s carrying down in a glass of water. He Nelson Farina has dressed her in their best clothes and sent
takes his pain medication prior to the time it’s prescribed her to the senator. When his meeting is over, Senator Onésimo
because he wants to head off the pain rather than wait for it. Sánchez sees Laura Farina in the hall and asks her why she’s
He undresses and lays down in a hammock for a quick nap, there. She responds that it is on behalf of her father. The
trying hard not to think about the fact that he is dying. As he is senator believes he understands what this means—that she’s
the only person besides his doctors who knows of his fatal been sent as a bribe in exchange for a false identification card.
diagnosis, he feels an overwhelming sense of isolation. The senator hesitates, but then lets her into his office.

When it is time for his speech, the senator is clean and rested. Once inside, the two don’t quite know what to do. The senator
However, he notices that his emotions are sharper than usual. shows her the rose that he’s had since he arrived, which has
He begins his speech with a tone that is near fury. Rather than wilted in the heat. They talk, awkwardly; she tells him her
looking to tell the truth in his speech, he intentionally sets an age—nineteen—and birthday, and he notes that they are both
overly grand tone, speaking about “defeating nature.” While the Aires, which he says is the sign of solitude. Then, the senator
senator is giving his speech, his aides throw paper birds in the has them lay down next to each other. He attempts to touch
air, which take on the appearance of real birds flying out to sea. Laura Farina, but realizes she is wearing an iron chastity belt.
The aides then take out cardboard trees and houses; behind She tells him that her father has the key and will only give it to
the backs of the citizens, who are turned to face the senator, him if he gets him a false identity card. The senator sighs, then
they set up a fictional city over the real one, covering the run- considers the fact that he will be dead soon. This reality,
down homes of the village. coupled with her beauty, makes the senator agree to Laura that
he will help her father. She offers to go get the key, but the
While the senator is speaking, a man named Nelson Farina senator instead asks that she stay with him; he holds her close
watches from the hammock of his home. Nelson Farina to him and lays his head beneath her arm, while she stares
previously lived on Devil’s Island where he murdered his first ahead at the rose.
wife. He smuggled himself to Rosal del Virrey along with a
beautiful woman from Paramaribo with whom he had a Six months later, as predicted by his doctors, the senator dies.
He died marred in scandal because of this affair with Laura

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Farina, but at the end he was weeping only because she didn't who would give birth to Laura Farina and later die of natural
follow him in death. causes (and whom Nelson Farina buries respectfully). Nelson
Farina and his daughter speak French, likely as a result of
colonialization in French Guiana. For twelve years, he has been
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS attending Senator Onésimo Sánchez’s election speeches in the
hopes of convincing the senator to give him a false
Senator Onésimo Sánchez – Senator Onésimo Sánchez is the identification card so he might be “beyond the reach of the law”
protagonist of “Death Constant Beyond Love.” At 42, he is a and avoid being arrested for murder. This year, however, he
politician recently diagnosed with an unspecified terminal appears to have given up and stays home during the speech.
illness who reads Latin and once studied to be a metallurgical But, when Nelson Farina notices that the senator finds his
engineer in Germany. He is a standard politician in that he daughter attractive, he dresses her up in their best clothes and
overpromises and underdelivers to his constituents. He has a sends her to the senator wearing an iron padlock over herself
“radiant” German wife and five children, and prior to his fatal that he will only unlock if the senator promises to finally grant
diagnosis, he was quite happy with his life. However, he feels him his false ID card. Nelson Farina’s ultimate fate is unknown
deep isolation because of his prognosis and has compounded by the end of the story; the senator says he’ll agree to the terms
that solitude by telling no one that he’s sick. This loneliness of the bribe, but that is before his political career ends in
impacts his disposition: he becomes more irritable, direct, and scandal.
somber than before. While campaigning for reelection in the
city of Rosal del Virrey, he feels contempt towards his
constituents when they try to shake his hand, and he gives a THEMES
speech with an unusual inflection of rage. By the end of his
campaign visit, he will ruin his political reputation on account of In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
an affair with a nineteen-year-old woman named Laura Farina, coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
described as “the woman of his life.” Laura Farina is sent to him occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
as a bribe by her father Nelson Farina, a criminal who wanted a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
the senator to trade sex with his daughter for a false identity black and white.
card. Though Laura Farina offers to have sex with him once the
senator has agreed to the favor, he instead asks only that she POLITICS, DECEPTION, AND ABSURDITY
stay and sleep next to him. When he does indeed die at the end
“Death Constant Beyond Love” centers on Senator
of the story, six months later, Senator Onésimo Sánchez is
Onésimo Sánchez, a politician who’s campaigning
sobbing and despondent that Laura Farina is not with him.
for reelection in Rosal del Virrey, a small island
Laur
Lauraa Farina – Laura Farina, a resident of Rosal del Virrey, is town. Rosal del Virrey is dried up, impoverished, and crime-
nineteen years old and the daughter of Nelson Farina. She is ridden, but the senator’s campaign focuses on masking reality
likely mixed-race, as the story describes her mother as Black and making outlandish promises rather than proposing
while not addressing her father’s race. Her beauty is a focus of practical solutions to the town’s problems. For instance, his
the narrative, as both her father and Senator Onésimo Sanchez political aides create a “world of fiction” by paying people to
believe she might be the most beautiful woman in the world. inflate the size of the crowd at his speech and putting up prop
Her father takes advantage of the fact that the senator finds trees and cardboard buildings to cover the townspeople’s
her attractive by sending her to the senator’s office as part of “miserable shacks.” And during his speech, the senator assures
an exchange: sex with his daughter for a false ID card, since he the people that he’ll give them “rainmaking machines” to make
murdered his first wife and wants falsified identification to their crops grow, among other impossible solutions. Yet despite
evade prosecution. The senator treats Laura delicately, but all of this dishonesty, the townspeople still trust and revere the
ultimately also takes advantage of his power over her by having senator, swarming him after the speech to confide in him and
her spend the night with him while she holds him. In addition to ask him for help. In a later meeting with town officials, it’s
being called beautiful, she is often described as having revealed that he doesn’t even believe in his own campaign—the
animalistic or naturalistic qualities. Laura Farina is a character officials are pressuring him to fool the townspeople because his
who appears to have very little autonomy or authority over her reelection will benefit them. In other words, he’s betraying not
own life. only his constituents but also his own moral compass. The story
Nelson Farina – Nelson Farina, the father of Laura Farina, is a thus critiques the fanfare and false posturing that’s common in
criminal who fled from Devil’s Island to Rosal del Virrey after politics, and it pessimistically suggests that it’s easy for even
he murdered his first wife and desecrated her body. Stashing the most deceitful and manipulative politicians to gain loyal
himself away on a ship with “innocent macaws,” he was able to followings.
reach the Rosal del Virrey with the woman from Paramaribo Furthermore, the story continuously blurs the line between

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artifice and reality to highlight the absurdity of life in Rosal del control over one’s life.
Virrey. The story uses magical realism—as when the senator’s
aides release paper birds that seem to actually come alive and DEATH, NATURE, AND INEVITABILITY
fly into the sea—to emphasize that one can never fully
Death and nature loom large in “Death Constant
distinguish reality from artifice in a place where corrupt
Beyond Love,” both as things that cannot be
politicians and criminals run amok. Even the reference to roses
avoided or defeated. García Márquez emphasizes
in the island’s name is an ironic joke that obscures the truth,
death’s presence by acknowledging in the first sentence that
since it’s actually an arid, desolate, economically depressed
the protagonist, Senator Onésimo Sánchez, has “six months
place where no roses grow. Finally, when the criminal Nelson
and eleven days to go before his death.” The senator chooses to
Farina sends his daughter Laura Farina to have sex with the
tell no one of his illness, either out of fear, stubbornness, or
Senator Onésimo Sánchez, seemingly as a kind of peace
both, and he goes about his political business as though he is
offering, even the senator is duped: he discovers that the young
not dying. In addition to keeping his diagnosis a secret, the
woman is actually wearing a chastity belt that he can only
senator takes his prescribed medication ahead of schedule,
unlock if he gives in to Farina’s extortion. Through its use of
hoping to stave off the pain associated with his illness.
magical realism and dark absurdist humor, “Death Constant
However, despite these efforts to ignore his prognosis, the
Beyond Love” suggests that in a place where deceptive people
senator feels himself changed: he is more irritable than before,
hold power, the truth is never certain.
finding himself annoyed with the citizens of Rosal del Virrey,
forceful when he speaks, and, ultimately, reckless when he
ISOLATION AND POWERLESSNESS agrees to an affair with Laura Farina, a young woman sent to
The characters in “Death Constant Beyond Love” the senator as a bribe by her father who needed a favor from
who do not have any sense of power or control the senator. Through the senator’s behavior, García Márquez
over their lives feel a deep solitude and isolation. suggests the impossibility of avoiding the effects of mortality.
Senator Onésimo Sánchez—who’s come to the impoverished Moreover, this attempt to avoid death is mirrored in the
town Rosal del Virrey as part of a reelection campaign—has a senator’s (hollow) suggestion to his constituents that they can
great deal of power politically (he has been in office for at least “defeat nature” and change the dismal conditions of the city’s
twelve years), financially (his campaign is well-funded, and he climate. The senator knows this is impossible, that Rosal del
has a rotating array of linen and silk clothes), and socially (his Virrey will never be fertile land. The climate is always hot, arid,
constituents appear to cherish him, and he has a wife and five and even when the senator sits in an air-conditioned car
children and a “happy home”). Yet, all of this is offset by the fact (avoiding nature by being “weatherless”) he eventually has to
that he has been given a fatal prognosis and has only six months leave it, and it is getting hit with a gust of hot air that reminds
left to live. Rather than share his diagnosis, the senator tells no him of his own mortality. Additionally, by having his aides
one, and thus is plagued throughout the story by an construct wooden houses and place them in front of the real
unavoidable feeling of isolation. shacks the villagers live in, he is suggesting an alternate reality,
Other characters, too, appear to retreat from society when in a one apart from nature. However, he cannot avoid nature’s
place of powerlessness. Nelson Farina, a criminal who’s taken inevitable destructive hand, as the senator realizes that even
refuge in Rosal del Virrey, doesn’t attend the senator’s speech the cardboard houses meant to symbolize a better life for the
this year because he seems to have accepted his powerlessness townspeople are run down on account of the real climate.
to make the senator do his bidding. Nelson is bitter and alone, Ultimately, through both Senator Onésimo Sánchez’s reaction
swinging in his hammock, as the rest of the town flocks to the to a fatal diagnosis and his broader attempts to avoid natural
senator’s speech. And Laura Farina, Nelson Farina’s nineteen- realities, García Márquez suggests the importance of
year-old daughter, has perhaps the least amount of power; she recognizing that death and natural decay are inevitable parts of
is young, poor, and female, and she must listen to her father existence.
when he sends her to the senator’s office as a bribe. When
Senator Onésimo Sánchez and Laura Farina are together, the
senator comments that “no one loves [them],” because Laura SYMBOLS
has no mother and her only parent has used her as a bargaining
chip. The senator connects with the young girl because he Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and
believes she is as alone as he is, despite their radically different Analysis sections of this LitChart.
positions in life. By showcasing characters who have a
spectrum of social and interpersonal power but who,
nevertheless, are lonely and isolated, García Márquez makes
THE ROSE
the case that solitude often comes from feeling a total lack of The rose, which Senator Onésimo Sánchez carries

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to Rosal del Virrey on his suit, symbolizes the inevitability of
death. Typically used as a symbol of love, García Márquez turns QUO
QUOTES
TES
the image of the rose on its head by insisting—much as he does
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the
with the title of his story—that the one constant in life is not
Harper Perennial edition of Collected Stories published in
love but death.
2008.
When the rose is first introduced, it is already dying, just like
the senator himself. The senator seems to pay particular
attention to the rose. For instance, when he first reaches the
Death Constant Beyond Love Quotes
city, he places it in a glass of water before having a snack or Senator Onésimo Sánchez had six months and eleven days
undressing. The senator’s fixation on keeping the rose alive to go before his death when he found the woman of his life.
gestures towards his tendency to avoid or deny the reality of
death, which is also reflected in his staunch denial of his own Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez, Laura
terminal illness (which he never tells anyone about, seemingly Farina
because he doesn’t want to acknowledge the truth).
Later, when Laura Farina is in Senator Onésimo Sánchez’s Related Themes:
office, she takes an interest in the rose and, when the senator
explains to her what it is, she says she already knows. This Page Number: 255
scene can be interpreted as an older person explaining to
Explanation and Analysis
someone much younger about death, but Laura Farina has
indeed learned of death already since her mother has already This is the first sentence of “Death Constant Beyond Love,”
passed away. The last paragraph of the story is peculiar, as it and it is significant that García Márquez starts off by telling
skips ahead six months: in the first sentence, Laura Farina and the reader two of the most important plot points: that the
the senator are still alone in his office, laying next to each other, protagonist, Senator Onésimo Sánchez, will die, and that
and she has her eyes “fixed” on the rose; by the last over the course of the story he will meet someone he
sentence—and the end of the story—the senator is dead. By considers the love of his life. This makes the story unfold
including Laura Farina’s fixation on the rose in the same with less suspense but with more drama: for example, when
paragraph as the senator’s final moments, García Márquez the reader finds out that the senator is married with five
emphasizes the rose as a symbol of the inevitability of death. children, they realize that it must be a woman other than his
wife that he falls for. Additionally, by giving away the
senator’s fatal situation in the very beginning, García
THE PAPER BIRDS Márquez aligns the reader with the senator and his feelings
The paper birds that Senator Onésimo Sánchez’s of powerlessness and lack of control, since both the
aides throw into the air during his speech to his character’s ending and the story’s ending are similarly
constituents symbolize the deceitful nature of politics. During inevitable.
the senator’s speech, when political theater is at its height, the This opening sentence is more casual than someone might
paper birds appear to “take on life” and fly out to sea. These expect (“to go” is fairly informal), which contrasts with the
birds are described in a contradictory way as “artificial seriousness of its content. The irony here—that one might
creatures” (“creatures” suggesting living beings and “artificial” find “the woman of [their] life” just months before their
acknowledging that they are not, in fact, alive). These paper death, and so they wouldn’t be able to take much pleasure in
birds are embodiments of the hollow promises that politicians that affair—is indicative of the dark, ironic humor running
make, since these promises can seem real when there is enough throughout the story. Importantly, this phrasing—“six
fanfare, but they’re often proved empty when all of the months and eleven days”—will reappear in the very last
excitement dies down. Indeed, later on, when in his office with sentence of “Death Constant Beyond Love,” suggesting a
only the “important” people of Rosal del Virrey, the senator cyclicality to the story that almost mirrors the cyclicality of
admits that they “can’t, of course, eat paper birds.” The life, death, and rebirth found in nature.
senator’s acknowledgement of the performance that the birds
put on shows his acceptance of the deceptive nature of political
spectacle. By having the birds appear real in one scene only to
confirm their artificiality in another, García Márquez draws
attention to the tricks and illusions of politicians.

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He met her in Rosal del Virrey, an illusory village which by
night was the furtive wharf for smugglers’ ships, and on Explanation and Analysis
the other hand, in broad daylight looked like the most useless
Here, the senator is arriving in Rosal del Virrey in his
inlet on the desert (…) so far from everything that no one would
government car, which keeps him cool and away from the
have suspected that someone capable of changing the destiny
heat of the city. However, when he opens the door and is
of anyone lived there.
“shaken” by the reality of the climate, he immediately begins
to sweat and feels “more alone than ever.” This reaction links
Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez, Laura the town’s climate to the senator’s feelings of solitude and
Farina isolation, which are already linked to his impending death.
That the climate would remind the senator of his fatal
Related Themes: illness is logical, since both death and weather are natural
and unchangeable, no matter how much he might wish
Page Number: 255 otherwise. By defining the senator as “weatherless,” García
Explanation and Analysis Márquez suggests that that the senator has attempted to
remove himself entirely from the environment around him.
This passage describes the city of Rosal del Virrey, where He frequently sweats through his shirts despite his attempt
Senator Onésimo Sánchez will meet the “woman of his life,” to avoid the climate, demonstrating how nature will always
Laura Farina. The town’s misleading appearance (in that it find a way to show its effects in the end.
looks “useless” during the day but at night is an active place
for smugglers and criminals) foreshadows the consistent The senator is also the only character who gets to enjoy air
motif of things, people, and places not being what they conditioning, and he is also seen here wearing a silk shirt,
appear. García Márquez uses this mismatch of appearance which confirms his status as far wealthier than his
and reality to emphasize the difficulty of being sure of constituents. Despite his wealth, he still feels terribly lonely,
anything when living under deceptive politics. which shows his class and political status are not salves for
his deep sense of isolation.
Additionally, the fact that Rosal del Virrey is a haven for
criminals suggests that it is an unruly city, lacking a sense of
control. Further, the fact that it is surprising that anyone
“capable of changing the destiny of anyone” lives in this Before he lay down he put in a glass of drinking water the
town indicates that it does not generally have much rose he had kept alive all across the desert (…) and he took
influence over anything. The city being also “useless” several analgesic pills before the time prescribed so that he
suggests that this it is not financially powerful. Through would have the remedy ahead of the pain. Then he put the
“Death Constant Beyond Love,” García Márquez shows that electric fan close to the hammock and stretched out naked for
where there is a lack of power, feelings of isolation and fifteen minutes in the shadow of the rose, making a great effort
solitude will follow, so he literalizes this idea with the city of at mental distraction so as not to think about death while he
Rosal del Virrey being “so far from everything:” just like dozed. Except for the doctors, no one knew that he had been
many of the characters in the story, the city itself is isolated, sentenced to a fixed term, for he had decided to endure his
remote, and powerless. secret all alone, with no change in his life, not out of pride but
out of shame.

Senator Onésimo Sánchez was placid and weatherless Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez
inside the airconditioned car, but as soon as he opened the
door he was shaken by a gust of fire and his shirt of pure silk Related Themes:
was soaked in a kind of light colored soup and he felt many
years older and more alone than ever. Related Symbols:

Page Number: 256

Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez
Explanation and Analysis
Related Themes: This passage describes what the senator does when he is
alone in the rented house right after he and his team arrive
Page Number: 256
in Rosal del Virrey. The first thing he does is set the rose in

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water, presumably to prolong its life. This makes the rose a than they used to be is notable, as this speaks to how he
stand-in for the senator himself, who is also slowly dying but can’t avoid all of the symptoms of his illness even if he can
is still somewhat in denial about his inevitable death. That stave off some of the physical pain with medication. His
he’d kept the rose “alive all across the desert” is an indicator temperament getting sharper suggests that his growing
that the rose does not have much longer left to live, just like isolation is taking a toll.
the senator. Additionally, of course, this passage shows how dishonest
By taking his medication ahead of time, the senator is trying and callous his political campaign is, since the “barefoot
to preserve the illusion that he isn’t dying—he thinks that if Indians” have been bussed into Rosal del Virrey and made to
he doesn’t feel the pain of his condition, he won’t have to stand on the hot street only to pretend that the senator has
acknowledge its reality. And when the senator lays in “the more spectators in the crowd than he really does. This
shadow of the rose,” García Márquez’s language subtly underscores the senator’s cruelty; he’s subjecting these
suggests that the rose is associated with death, because this people to physical pain, just to make himself seem more
image sounds ominous and lethal, like “the shadow of death.” popular and important, and he doesn’t care at all.
This passage also shows that the senator’s isolation is Sometimes a fatal illness can make a person more
entirely related to his inability to process his illness, since he empathetic towards others, but in this case, it has the
has “decided” not to tell anyone about his diagnosis out of opposite effect, which partially explains the senator’s
shame. This is proof of the senator attempting to deny growing isolation.
nature, because, although the illness is never named, there
is no indication that the diagnosis came out of any fault of
his own. This points to an irrationality that is mirrored in the “We are here for the purpose of defeating nature” he
senator’s politics, when he suggests to his constituents that began, against all his convictions. “We will no longer be
they can “defeat” the natural climate of Rosal del Virrey. foundlings in our own country, orphans of God in a realm of
thirst and bad climate, exiles in our own land. We will be a
different people, ladies and gentlemen, we will be a great and
Nevertheless, the erosion of death was much more happy people.”
pernicious than he had supposed, for as he went up onto
the platform he felt a strange disdain for those who were Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez
fighting for the good luck to shake his hand, and he didn’t feel
sorry as he had at other times for the groups of barefoot Related Themes:
Indians who could scarcely bear the hot saltpeter coals of the
sterile little square. Page Number: 257

Explanation and Analysis

Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez This scene demonstrates the lengths the senator will go to
lie—both to his constituents and to himself. In this line from
Related Themes:
the campaign speech, he suggests that they can “defeat
Page Number: 257 nature,” which refers literally to his idea that he can change
the city’s climate (he can’t), but it also cryptically refers to
Explanation and Analysis his own illness (which he also can’t defeat). The senator is
This passage shows two things: first, that even if the senator saying this while fully understanding that he’s making a false
isn’t in physical pain from his illness, he’s in tremendous promise, which is clear when he must force himself to say it
emotional pain, and second, that even though he’s anyway “against all his convictions” (in other words, against
somewhat sympathetic as a character because he is dying, what he really believes to be true). In making such an insane
he is still guilty of political deception. claim, the senator is counting on the desperation of the
people of Rosal del Virrey. Because they have nowhere else
Death “eroding” the senator calls to mind the erosion of a
to turn for hope, they may choose (perhaps against their
cliff, which is slow but sure and which is very often
own convictions) to believe him and therefore re-elect him.
impossible to stop. This is a metaphor for the illness that will
kill the senator whether or not he chooses to accept that he More than being simply another faulty campaign promise,
is sick. Additionally, the fact that his emotions are different though, this passage is also indicative of the way that the

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The audience turned around. An ocean liner made of
senator feels about his own “nature”—his illness. The painted paper was passing behind the houses and it was
senator might be intentionally fooling the townspeople, but taller than the tallest houses in the artificial city. Only the
he’s also subliminally trying to convince himself that nature senator himself noticed that since it had been set up and taken
can be defeated—specifically, that his fatal diagnosis can be down and carried from one place to another the superimposed
ignored, perhaps overcome. Even though he doesn’t believe cardboard town had been eaten away by the terrible climate
what he’s saying to the townspeople about Rosal del and that it was almost as poor and dusty as Rosal del Virrey.
Virrey’s climate, he there is a defiance in this statement that
speaks to his willingness to ignore the reality of his own
Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez
fate.
Related Themes:

There was a pattern to his circus. As he spoke his aides Page Number: 258
threw clusters of paper birds into the air and the artificial
Explanation and Analysis
creatures took on life, flew about the platform of planks, and
went out to sea. There is something a bit tragic about this scene, which
comes at the end of the senator’s speech to the citizens of
Rosal del Virrey. The senator has just told the crowd to turn
Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez around, because his aides have finished erecting fake
houses and trees to cover up the crumbling shacks that the
Related Themes:
people of the city really live in. While his constituents take in
the effect of this “artificial” city, the senator thinks to himself
Related Symbols:
how even the fake homes are looking dingy because of the
climate.
Page Number: 257
There are many layers to this realization: first, that the
Explanation and Analysis citizens of Rosal del Virrey do not have much to hope
This passage describes the events happening while Senator for—the senator will not actually change the material
Onésimo Sánchez is finishing his speech to the people of conditions of their city, since even the fake city he has
Rosal del Virrey. The magical effect that occurs with the created to sell his false promise is already fading. Second, it
paper birds—that they “take on life”—is a metaphor for the is a metaphor for the senator’s own situation, since he has
way that the senator’s speech has twisted reality, promising been trying to erect a new reality for himself by ignoring his
things to the citizens that are impossible to achieve. This illness, but he is unable to do so because nature, in the end,
signifies how difficult it is to differentiate reality from fiction is an inevitable force.
when politicians willingly lie to the people. More, the fact
that this is a “pattern” for the senator and his team proves
that they pull this type of stunt regularly, suggesting a world
where they never even bother to try to tell the truth. García Related Characters: Laura Farina , Nelson Farina, Senator
Márquez makes it clear how ridiculous their act is, too, by Onésimo Sánchez
calling it a “circus.” Still, people line up to go to the circus,
and the senator continues to have a crowd at his rallies. Related Themes:
It is also noteworthy that these creatures fly “out to sea.”
Page Number: 262
Rosal del Virrey is a desperately isolated city, where the
citizens don’t have much money or much power. The image Explanation and Analysis
of a bird flying out to sea denotes total freedom: something
In this passage, the senator has just found Laura Farina
the isolated citizens do not enjoy at all. So, the image is
waiting outside of his office, dressed in her best clothes.
doubly important, as the real/unreal birds not only
When the senator asked her why, she said it was on behalf
represent the difficulty of understanding reality when
of her father. The senator believes, here, that he
politicians are being deceitful, they also represent the very
“understands” what this means—that Laura Farina has been
thing that is impossible for the townspeople: to be light,
sent to him as a gift or peace offering or bribe in exchange
free, unburdened, and to fly away to somewhere better.
for the false identification card that Nelson Farina has

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wanted for years. By looking at the guards, the senator For the senator, this moment is an indication that Laura
suggests that he is considering who might find out about Farina is isolated, and he feels bonded to her because of
this deal, and what the costs (political or personal) might be. this. It is worth noting that the reader does not know if “no
But by convincing himself that Laura Farina’s beauty is so one” loves the senator—the senator’s wife and children may
“unusual” that it could break him out of his isolation, he love him, as the story only mentions these characters to say
concludes that “death had made his decision for him,” giving that they’d been a happy family before the illness. However,
himself over to the impulse of passion and irrationality that the senator feels entirely and irreversibly cut off from his
he likely would not have succumbed to before he was ill. family because of his secret and fatal diagnosis, so he
At the same time, the senator is certainly evading positions his isolation as similar to Laura Farina’s, whose
responsibility when he makes this claim. The reader gets to mother is dead and whose father uses her as a means to an
decide whether or not he actually has control in this end. García Márquez doesn’t make a judgement on who
situation, despite the senator’s belief that death made the might really be the lonelier of the two, only that Senator
choice. The narrative is most clearly aligned with the Onésimo Sánchez believes he is terribly isolated, at that is
senator’s emotions, even though he is a duplicitous enough to empathize with Laura Farina. It is the only time in
politician. García Márquez does not leave any clues that the the story the senator relates to or connects with any other
senator should have made a different decision here, but it is character.
still a moment up for interpretation by the reader.

Then she laid his head on her shoulder with her eyes fixed
Then he realized that she was naked under her dress, for on the rose. The senator held her about the waist, sank his
her body gave off the dark fragrance of an animal of the face into woods-animal armpit, and gave in to terror. Six months
woods, but her heart was frightened and her skin disturbed by and eleven days later he would die in the at same position,
a glacial sweat. debased and repudiated because of the public scandal with
“No one loves us,” he sighed. Laura Farina and weeping with rage at dying without her.

Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez, Laura Related Characters: Senator Onésimo Sánchez, Laura
Farina , Nelson Farina Farina

Related Themes: Related Themes:

Page Number: 263 Related Symbols:

Explanation and Analysis Page Number: 264

This passage shows the moment that the senator first
begins to touch Laura Farina after she’s been sent to him in Explanation and Analysis
his office. She is frightened, and her skin sweats, just as the These are the last sentences of “Death Constant Beyond
senator’s does when he is faced with the climate of Rosal Love,” and in them García Márquez echoes the “six months
del Virrey. In this way, the senator (and her father who sent and eleven days” from the opening sentence. This confirms
her there), can be seen as a force acting on Laura Farina the senator’s fate—that he did die, despite trying hard to
without her ability to stop it, just as the climate and death pretend that he might not. It is noteworthy, though, that in
are forces acting on the senator that he cannot control. By his final moments he is not weeping because he is dying, but
describing the young woman as having a “dark fragrance” instead because Laura Farina isn't following him in death.
like “an animal of the woods,” García Márquez animalizes This suggests some small adjustment in the senator’s
Laura Farina, and this adds to her vulnerability, suggesting character: his greatest sorrow is no longer his death, but
she is prey. However, this could also be read as a fetishized rather the loss of Laura Farina. But it is also significant that
or racialized description, because Laura Farina is the only Laura Farina is described in animalistic terms here, a choice
character of explicitly African descent, and there is a history that could demonstrate a fetishization of the young woman.
in literature of aligning Black characters with animalistic Before the passage jumps to the senator’s death, Laura
traits as a form of dehumanization. Farina takes one long last look at the rose. This “fixation”
confirms the rose as a symbol of the death of the senator: it

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is almost as though she can see and understand what is A few sentences later, he does. The compressing of time in
happening, even as the senator looks away in “terror.” The this paragraph by García Márquez reinforces the rose as a
rose, already wilted from the weather, is an omen in this beacon of death, but also that death is as natural as a flower.
passage, confirming the inevitable: that the senator will die.

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

DEATH CONSTANT BEYOND LOVE

Senator Onésimo Sánchez has just over six months to live when Senator Onésimo Sánchez’s fatal diagnosis is the first sentence of
he meets “the woman of his life” in Rosal del Virrey. Rosal del the story, and this colors everything to come with a feeling of
Virrey is a port town that seems uneventful during the day but inevitability: no matter what happens during the narrative—even an
that turns into a busy dock for criminals at night. Despite the affair where the senator will feel great passion—the reader already
city’s name, the only rose in the city is the one that the senator understands that the senator will die at the end. García Márquez
wears on the afternoon he meets Laura Farina. describes the city of Rosal del Virrey in a contradictory way (quiet
by day but a busy haven for criminals by night), which is the first
hint that things will not always be what they appear. Additionally,
there’s an irony to the name of the city (one would expect a city with
“Rosal” in its name to be fertile, but the reality is just the opposite)
that accentuates the story’s dry sense of humor. The rose
introduced in this early passage mirrors the senator’s inevitable
death, as the rose has been cut, so it’s in the process of dying, too.

The senator is in Rosal del Virrey to make the same obligatory The emphasis on spectacle here demonstrates that politicians often
campaign stop that he makes every four years. He arrives in feel if they make you look at something exciting, then they can
town with all the trappings of political spectacle: music, rockets, distract you from what is really happening. Also, the fact that the
a caravan of campaign aides. His aides have even brought in senator’s aides are bringing in “rented Indians” from other villages to
“rented Indians” to make the crowd at the senator’s speech pad the crowd at his speech is an early sign of the senator and his
look bigger. aides swapping reality for fiction.

The senator sits comfortably inside the air-conditioned car that The senator begins feeling lonely and isolated after he’s hit with a
carries him into the village, but a gust of hot air hits him as soon gust of hot air while leaving the air-conditioned car, which shows
as he opens the door, and he begins to sweat through his silk the link between the unforgiving climate of Rosal del Virrey and the
shirt. He suddenly feels very old and alone. The senator, who’s senator’s mortality. Just as he likes avoiding the heat in the air
only 42, has an engineering degree and is an avid reader of conditioned car, he likes living in denial about his disease—but he
poorly translated Latin classics. His wife (a German woman) cannot avoid the arid climate forever, just as he will not be able to
and five children are not with him on the trip. Just prior to his avoid thinking about his impending death. The senator had been
arrival, the senator received the diagnosis that he only has a happy with his life and his family until receiving his diagnosis, which
short time left to live, shattering the happiness that he had felt emphasizes how the illness has given him a completely different
with his family. outlook on life and suggests that he had previously been living as
though his mortality were not inevitable.

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As his staff prepares for his public speech, Senator Onésimo The senator is very attentive to the rose, which he puts in a glass of
Sánchez steals an hour b byy himself in the house the
they’v
y’vee rented water to extend its life. However, any rose being carried around and
for his sta
stayy. Before doing an ything, he sets the rose he
anything, he’s
’s been placed in a vase is already dying, and so this act of putting the rose
carrying in a glass of water
water.. He eats a health
healthyy snack and tak
takes
es in water echoes the senator’s desire to ignore the reality of his own
his medication ahead of the prescribed time, wanting to “ha “havve impending death. The same is true when he takes the pain
the remedy ahead of the pain.” He then undresses and briefly medication earlier than prescribed: he doesn’t even want to feel the
has time to la layy down in a hammock, fanning himself with a small pain of his illness, effectively pretending it doesn’t exist. The shame
electric fan and working hard to aavvoid thinking about death. that he feels because he cannot control this facet of his life (his
He
He’s
’s kkept
ept his diagnosis a secret from eevveryeryone,
one, out of shame health) prevents him from telling anyone about the illness, which is
rather than pride. the root of his isolation.

When it is time for the senator to meet the public, he appears in Again, the senator believed he might be able to control his fate by
clean, light clothes, feeling rested and stable. However, despite remaining clean and rested, but he realizes that his diagnosis affects
his appearance, and despite feeling stabilized from the pain him mentally as well as physically, which is much harder for him to
medication, he realizes that he still feels the “erosion of death” ignore. The anger he feels towards the townspeople demonstrates
gnawing at him. His emotions are harsher than usual: he feels his continued isolation, as he did not always feel so irritated by
disdainful of the townspeople who are enthusiastically shaking them. By writing that death is “eroding” the senator, García Márquez
his hand, and he is practically rageful as he begins his speech to uses language tied to nature and inevitability, underscoring the
the crowd of Rosal del Virrey’s citizens. connection between the senator’s fatal illness, death, and
environmental inevitabilities.

The senator starts his speech with an idea that came to him not In the fourth book of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations
Meditations, Aurelius
because of any desire to tell the truth to the village people, but argues against fighting nature. He emphasizes the need to respect
as rejection of Book IV of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations
Meditations. The nature and to accept death, since every person eventually
senator insists they are all here to “defeat nature,” that they experiences it (a useful quote is: “Pass then through this little space
who live in this arid and unforgiving location will no longer be of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just
“orphans of God in a realm of thirst and bad climate.” as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it,
and thanking the tree on which it grew”). By referencing this chapter
of Mediations and writing that Senator Onésimo Sánchez is
intentionally rejecting Aurelius’s theories, García Márquez
underscores the senator’s obsession with working against what is
natural—be it the climate of Rosal del Virrey or death itself. By
beginning his speech like this, the senator is also making a
completely false promise to his constituents by suggesting they
could possibly change the environment of the city, which
demonstrates his willingness to lie for political gain.

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As he is speaking, some of the senator’s aides throw paper This scene encapsulates the senator’s deceitful behavior as a
birds in the air, which appear lifelike as though they are flying politician because he and his aides are truly swapping reality for
out to sea. At the same time, other aides—behind the backs of fiction. That the paper birds appear lifelike emphasizes how difficult
the citizens turned to face the senator—bring out “prop trees” it can sometimes be to determine fact from fiction in a political
with felt leaves and cardboard houses made to look like brick setting when politicians are actively trying to deceive. Even the
homes. They place these in front of the run-down shacks that senator extending his speech by adding two quotes in Latin adds to
the citizens actually live in. Noticing that his aides are taking his dishonesty, because, if he added them at the end only to buy his
longer than usual to set up the “farce,” the senator throws in aides more time for the setup, it’s clear that he didn’t actually
two extra quotes in Latin. believe they were relevant to the townspeople.

At the end of his speech, Senator Onésimo Sánchez promises Again, the false—even absurd—promises in his speech show the
the citizens of Rosal del Virrey all sorts of wonderous things: senator’s willingness to lie to and deceive his public. There is an
new technologies that will make rain, breed farm animals, and irony to this scene, though, because even though the fake houses are
create fertile soil that will grow abundant vegetables and meant to represent a better reality for the citizens of Rosal del
flowers. “Look! That’s the way it will be for us,” he shouts, and Virrey, the senator notices how run-down even the fictious homes
gestures toward the constructed city set up behind the have become because of the city’s climate. This furthers the idea
citizens. Though presumably impressing the citizens, the that that trying to fight against nature or natural conditions is
senator notices how dingy the artificial houses have become as ultimately futile, underscoring that the senator also cannot defy
a result of the heat and climate. He thinks the artificial city is death.
nearly as decrepit as the town of Rosal del Virrey.

While this speech is happening, Nelson Farina watches from The disturbing fate of Nelson Farina’s first wife is an eerie reminder
afar. He is a criminal who escaped from Devil’s Island to Rosal that all bodies are a part of nature, and that they will return to the
del Virrey on a boat filled with “innocent macaws” after earth eventually. Additionally, by stashing a criminal away on a boat
murdering and dismembering his first wife then using her body with “innocent macaws,” García Márquez furthers the idea that
as fertilizer. He lives in the city with his daughter Laura appearance is not always reality. It is a bit creepy the way Nelson
Farina—her mother, a Black woman from Paramaribo, is dead, Farina thinks of his daughter here, which foreshadows his
though she died of natural causes. Laura Farina inherited her willingness to use her beauty to get what he wants.
mother’s “color and her figure” and her father’s “yellow and
astonished eyes” and Nelson Farina feels that his daughter
might be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Though he typically goes to the senator’s speeches, this is the As someone who’s exercised much control over other people (by
first time in years that Nelson Farina has remained at home. killing his first wife) and over his own life (by successfully escaping to
For years, he’s been asking the senator for a false identity card Rosal del Virrey), Nelson Farina’s frustration at his lack of power in
to hide his criminal record, and the senator always refuses. This this situation is evident. If he cannot get a fake ID card—which he
year, Nelson Farina finally appears to have given up, finally sees as impossible—he feels like he’s officially cut off from the
“condemning” himself to “rot alive in that burning den of rest of the world forever. By comparing the senator to Blacamán, a
buccaneers.” Nelson sees the fake city from the back and performing actor from Italy who was known as an animal hypnotist,
mutters to himself about how dishonest the performance is. He Nelson Farina is making a comment about the senator’s
calls the senator the “Blacamán” of politics. distrustfulness.

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When the speech is over, the senator walks through the streets This moment is a comedic one, but still highlights the dishonest way
of the town while music plays. The townspeople all swarm him, that Senator Onésimo Sánchez operates politically. He can’t be
confiding their problems in him and asking him for things. He bothered to put in any more effort than is necessary, and even when
makes a few small promises, like getting a donkey for a woman he does someone a favor it’s clearly a political stunt.
whose husband had just left her for a new life in Aruba. The
senator has done this many times before and knows how to
make the people of the city feel better without actually doing
any “difficult favors.” A little while later, when an aide brings this
donkey to the woman’s home, the animal has the senator’s
campaign slogan written on its backside.

As the senator is walking, he comes across Nelson Farina, The senator’s reaction to Laura Farina is intensified by his distaste
looking unhappy, swinging in his hammock. The senator greets for Nelson Farina—his shock is in part a reaction to her beauty but
him and asks how he is. While they are speaking, Farina’s in part surprise that the sullen criminal who has been pestering him
daughter, Laura Farina, comes out of their home. She is wearing all these years could have such a lovely child. Once again, García
an old, faded Guajiro Indian robe and some sort of heavy Márquez shows that in a world where politics are deceitful, anything
makeup or sunscreen. But even in this state, she leaves the could be misleading or deceptive.
senator stunned. He thinks she is beautiful, and mutters under
his breath in shock and awe, saying “the Lord does the craziest
things!”

Later that night, Nelson Farina outfits Laura Farina in the best By suggesting the importance of the people in the room with the
clothes they have and sends her to the senator. Two armed senator, it’s clear that Senator Onésimo Sánchez previously didn’t
guards who are lazily watching the senator’s office door tell her take any of the townspeople—his constituents—seriously,
to wait outside. The senator is in a meeting with everyone who underscoring the senator’s political disingenuousness. Meanwhile,
might be politically important in Rosal del Virrey. Nelson Farina sending his daughter to the senator shows his
willingness to sacrifice her well-being for his own gain, which
emphasizes that she is an isolated and powerless character.

While in his meeting, Senator Onésimo Sánchez tells the other The senator is at last being honest, but this only emphasizes that he
attendees everything that he omitted from his public speech. willingly lied to the citizens of Rosal del Virrey. The image of the
His manner of speech is gruff and direct. He accuses the other paper butterfly is reminiscent of the paper birds from earlier and
people in the room of having no desire to change the area’s symbolizes the mixing of fiction and reality that the senator does as
dismal conditions, because these conditions are politically a politician. The butterfly flies fairly far for a piece of paper,
useful for them. As he talks, the senator takes a piece of paper suggesting that it appears lifelike, just like the birds. The senator’s
and creates a paper butterfly, tossing it aimlessly into the air. It lack of attention to the paper butterfly that he makes underscores
soars lightly out of the door. The senator continues berating how he takes part in propping up these blends of reality and fiction
the Rosal del Virrey officials. but doesn’t even care about the outcome.

The guards outside the room are asleep, rifles in hand. As Laura The image of the guards sleeping, still holding their rifles,
Farina waits in the hallway, she sees the paper butterfly come demonstrates again the notion of something not being what it is
out, fly a bit further, and then flatten against a wall. She tries to supposed to be. Likewise, the butterfly is not actually painted to the
peel it off, but one of the guards wakes up and tells her that wall, but the guard suggesting that it is demonstrates the
now it is “painted” to the wall. changeability of everything in a political world that is disingenuous.

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The senator comes out of the meeting, and only after everyone Death “making the decision for him” implies that the senator feels as
else leaves does he notice Laura Farina. He asks her what she is though he is powerless to refuse Laura Farina. By looking at the
doing there, and she responds in French that she’s there on guards, he shows that he understands he is taking a political risk by
behalf of her father. The senator believes he understands what inviting her in. However, his agreeing to let her in underscores the
this means. He then observes the two sleeping guards and senator feeling as though he has truly lost control of his life because
deliberates over what he should do. He decides that Laura of his diagnosis.
Farina’s beauty is overwhelming, and that death has “made the
decision for him.” He invites her into his office.

Laura Farina is stunned when she walks into the senator’s The banknotes flying in the air reference the paper birds from earlier
office and sees thousands of banknotes flying through the air, in the story. By saying that “even shit can fly” in reference to these
propelled by the electric fan. When the senator turns the fan fluttering notes, the senator is implicitly suggesting his whole
off, the money settles on the objects in the room. He jokingly political charade is a joke. The rose—which, by now, has succumbed
says to her, “even shit can fly.” He then finds the rose that he to the climate and is wilted—signifies the impending and inevitable
brought, which the weather and dry air have wilted, and death of the senator. Laura Farina saying she knows about roses
presents it to her, telling her what it is. Laura replies that she suggests she knows about death too.
learned about roses before.

Senator Onésimo Sánchez then sits down on a cot and begins The senator’s continued chatter about roses demonstrates his
to undress while he continues talking about roses. He takes off obsession with the idea of death, even if he has still not accepted his
his sweat-soaked shirt, revealing a tattoo of an arrow piercing a own. He is once again sweaty, showing the pervasiveness of the
heart on his chest. He has Laura Farina help him remove his city’s climate and the unavoidability of nature. In saying that both
boots. He watches her, struck by her beauty but also the senator and Laura Farina are Aries, the “sign of solitude,” García
commenting that she is a child. She rejects this, saying she Márquez is fairly explicit about the loneliness that these two share,
turned 19 last April. The senator asks what her birthday is and despite their very different social positions.
comments that the two are both Aries, which he says is “the
sign of solitude.”

The senator then starts thinking about how he isn’t used to The fact that Laura Farina is naked under her dress confirms for the
impulsive affairs, and that he’s not sure what to do now with senator that she has been sent to him by her father to have sex with
Laura Farina. He gathers her between his knees and lays her him This makes the senator melancholy, as it proves that no one is
down on the cot beside him as he considers what to do next. looking out for the young woman. He then believes he feels a
When he notices that she is naked underneath her dress, he connection to her, thinking her to be terribly isolated on account of
sighs and comments that “no one loves us.” her powerlessness, and he recognizes this feeling in himself because
of the fatal secret he is carrying around with him.

The air is too stagnant for Laura Farina to respond. When When the senator finds the padlock on Laura Farina’s body, he can’t
Senator Onésimo Sánchez turns the light off, the two are cast believe that he’s being blackmailed by Nelson Farina, but, through
in shadow by the rose. The senator begins to stroke her. this bizarre scene, García Márquez is only further commenting on
However, when the senator tries to touch her below the waist, the absurdity of a society where politicians can’t be trusted. Laura
his hand hits metal. He realizes that she is wearing an iron Farina is barely given any room to speak, confirming that she lacks
padlock and is angry and shocked. He asks Laura Farina where any control over her life. Additionally, the shadow of the rose that
the key to the padlock is, and she tells him that her father has it. falls over the two characters confirms that the senator’s death is
She says to the senator that she’s been instructed to tell him near.
that one of his aides can go and collect it from him if the
senator promises to “straighten out” Nelson Farina’s legal
problem.

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The senator is not happy, and he curses Nelson Farina. But, as The senator appears to finally accept his death and the choices that
he closes his eyes, he seems to surrender to some type of fate, death are guiding him towards. He knows the political
telling himself to remember how it won’t be long before he is consequences both of sleeping with Laura Farina and of giving
dead. He shudders. He then asks Laura Farina what she’s heard Nelson Farina what he wants, but he no longer cares. He accepts
about him. She wonders if he wants to know the truth, and he the inevitability of his death, even as it scares him, and makes his
says that he does. She tells him that people say he’s worse than choice specifically because of his illness.
everyone else because he’s different. The senator doesn’t get
upset and decides he’ll fix Nelson Farina’s problem.

Laura Farina then offers to go get the key from her father As promised by the first sentence of the story, Senator Onésimo
herself. But Senator Onésimo Sánchez just asks her to sleep Sánchez dies in the last sentence. His isolation is complete by the
next to him for a while, because it’s nice to have companionship end, too, as he dies in the midst of a political scandal and is going
when one is lonely. He sinks his face into the crook of her arm. into death alone, because Laura Farina isn't dying with him.
Laura Farina lays next to him, staring at the rose. The senator However, he does seem to have changed his outlook on death,
dies six months and eleven days later, disgraced after word of because it is not his death nor his political disgrace that makes him
the scandal got out. He dies in much the same position as he weep, only the lack of Laura Farina after death. This implies that he
slept that night, lying next to Laura Farina and “weeping with understands the importance of accepting death, and he only wished
rage” because he's "dying without her." that he had more time to live with this knowledge.

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To cite any of the quotes from Death Constant Beyond Love covered
HOW T
TO
O CITE in the Quotes section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA García Márquez, Gabriel. Death Constant Beyond Love. Harper
Perennial. 2008.
Tilden, Alexandra. "Death Constant Beyond Love." LitCharts.
LitCharts LLC, 21 Mar 2022. Web. 3 May 2022. CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL García Márquez, Gabriel. Death Constant Beyond Love. New
York: Harper Perennial. 2008.
Tilden, Alexandra. "Death Constant Beyond Love." LitCharts LLC,
March 21, 2022. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/death-constant-beyond-love.

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