Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote "Death Constant Beyond Love" to highlight the lack of morals amongst political figures in his time. The main character of this story, an ill and dying Senator Sanchez, is a walking testament to the vile promises made by politicians for political gain and reelection. What is so surprising about this story is that it could have been written yesterday, or two years ago. The storyline is still valid in today's society. Some readers may find this story to merely be about political promises, but Marquez wants us to dig deeper than that, to realize that some men lack any sense at all of integrity.
The story contains subtle hints at the author's disdain for the entire political campaign process when he calls the vehicles that carry the rally equipment "carnival wagons" and he refers to the Senator's show as a "circus" (Marquez 988-989). The Senator gets up to speak to his constituents and tells them lies about "rainmaking machines, portable breeders for table animals, the oils of happiness which would make vegetables grow in the saltpeter" (Marquez 989). He states all of this as he is observing the decaying cardboard props being arranged behind his audience, calling the props almost as poor and dusty as the town he was speaking in (Marquez 989). When his speech is done, he walks through the crowd to shake hands and grant some requests, including one from a single mother in need of a donkey to carry supplies. He grants her request, but only after the donkey's hindquarters have been emblazoned with his political slogan. It is here that if the reader looks more deeply into this story, one can find humor in the slogan being written on the ass!
Lastly, this Senator receives a woman that has been sent to him by a murderer looking for false identification so that he may operate as he did once before his crime. This murderer sends his only daughter as a prostitute for his freedom. The Senator accepts her and lays with her, ultimately falling in love with her. He decides that since he is dying, it is ok to betray his wife and family. Again, the author is showing us the degradation of this dying man, nothing is left of goodness in him. Promises that are never intended to be kept by a dying man that will not even see reelection because of his illness. He does not even possess enough integrity to be honest about his prognosis and let another person take his place in the campaign, he instead decides to condemn himself to eternity.
The story contains subtle hints at the author's disdain for the entire political campaign process when he calls the vehicles that carry the rally equipment "carnival wagons" and he refers to the Senator's show as a "circus" (Marquez 988-989). The Senator gets up to speak to his constituents and tells them lies about "rainmaking machines, portable breeders for table animals, the oils of happiness which would make vegetables grow in the saltpeter" (Marquez 989). He states all of this as he is observing the decaying cardboard props being arranged behind his audience, calling the props almost as poor and dusty as the town he was speaking in (Marquez 989). When his speech is done, he walks through the crowd to shake hands and grant some requests, including one from a single mother in need of a donkey to carry supplies. He grants her request, but only after the donkey's hindquarters have been emblazoned with his political slogan. It is here that if the reader looks more deeply into this story, one can find humor in the slogan being written on the ass!
Lastly, this Senator receives a woman that has been sent to him by a murderer looking for false identification so that he may operate as he did once before his crime. This murderer sends his only daughter as a prostitute for his freedom. The Senator accepts her and lays with her, ultimately falling in love with her. He decides that since he is dying, it is ok to betray his wife and family. Again, the author is showing us the degradation of this dying man, nothing is left of goodness in him. Promises that are never intended to be kept by a dying man that will not even see reelection because of his illness. He does not even possess enough integrity to be honest about his prognosis and let another person take his place in the campaign, he instead decides to condemn himself to eternity.
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