Demons

 Sept. 12 2017

 

I completed another book.

But the book is beautiful and sad. The books "Of love and other demons" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is quite disturbing.

The story is from 19th century and revolves around the life of 12 year old daughter of a land lord (Marquis) - Sierva.  Her father the Marquis is stern and lives in his own world. Her mother Bernarda is a nymphomaniac and detests her daughter from birth.

Sierva  lives with the slaves and learns from them multiple African languages, and their customs.

One day a rabid dog bites Sierva  in local market. Her father starts worrying about her and takes her to a local doctor. Doctor says she is not having any symptoms of rabies. 

There was no cure for rabies then.

Thinking that she’s possessed by demons, Marquis takes Sierva to a convent for exorcising the demons . She is locked in a prison there and is bound to her bed by straps.

Father Cayetano who comes to exorcise her in this convent, falls in love with her and starts visiting her secretly every night. One day this priest is caught and is punished. His punishment was to work in a leper hospital.

Sierva does not know all these events and keeps wondering why Cayetano never comes. The torture she goes through makes us want to cry. 

In the meantime, they shave her beautiful hair and continue exorcism. Finally she dies of love for Cayetano. After her death her hair grows back.

At least in modern world, these practices are no longer followed and innocent people are not murdered in the name of demon.