Of Love and Other Demons

     In modern life we rarely deal with events that are not able to be explained by science or reason.  Miracles are all but eliminated from our lives and instead have been drafted into an obscure part of our vocabulary only brought out directly after a bad motorcycle accident or perhaps a particularly conservative church message.  In "Of Love and Other Demons" Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses Magical realism to contrast two very different characters.  The Bishop de Caceres y Virtudes, a Bishop of the Catholic church and Abrenuncio de Sa Pereira Cao, a strange Jew with a less-than-savory reputation.  The author uses creativity to paint an unexpected contradiction in both of these characters.  While not directly at odds, their characters represent contrary ideas to the reader - which is a fun way play magical realism in the story.

     The Bishop is first introduced to us as a rich and distant individual; " The Marquis had seen him on very few occasions, always at a distance and in public, but the memory he had...was at mass...and [he] was carried in a sedan chair by government dignitaries."  Upon hearing of the bishop, the reader initially thinks of a pious man - God fearing, Bible believing, and perhaps even loving.  His speech and mannerisms show a different idea of who he is.  He is a complaining, arrogant, and selfish soul.  He seems to care more for his own standing than he does for the wellbeing of a small girl.  He is, strangely enough, not a character who believes in miracles.  He does not seem to care for what God wants in a situation.  The bishop is described as, "not a man given to celestial visions, or miracles, or flagellations.  His Kingdom was of this world."  This last sentence is in opposition to biblical teachings, which leads me to believe he perhaps does not believe in God at all.

     Abbrenuncio, in contrast, is a jocular man.  We first meet him sitting by his dead horse, a horse he believed to have lived for over 100 years.  Abbrenuncio believes in miracles, alleviating the suffering of the less fortunate, and all manner of unbelievable things.  We see that his is regarded as unclean - not only a jew, but with the last name meaning dog, and generally dabbling in things that church deems bad.  Despite this, his character seems more inclined to believe in God than does the Bishop.  He advices the Marquis on several occasions in matters of faith, saying "you mean you have recovered you faith," among others.  He frequently speaks of God, perhaps indicating he has an intimate relationship (though, clearly he has been burned by faith in the past).  

     Abbrenuncio's character plays with the imagination in a way that the Catholic Bishop does not.  He joking talks about having sex with a horse, and on the same page challenges the readers understanding of mercy.  The Bishop is purposefully written without an once of magic - where the strange doctor is nothing but magic.  It is obvious to the reader that Marquez believes in magic and miracles, and the unexplained.  These things, in the authors mind, are not necessarily in line with what the church believes or feels - but could ever be found in the lowest of places.