Why love in the time of cholera opens with the death of minor character who does not even die for love ?

Part One of Love in the Time of Cholera gives a very unusual introduction to the main characters of the novel. The main protagonist of the first section is Dr. Juvenal Urbino--an important character throughout the novel, but never again as central as he is in this first section. By making the day of his death both the opening of the story and the time his character is most important, Marquez underscores the fact that in this story, the true love story begins only when Dr. Urbino dies. Apart from Dr. Urbino, the people for whom his death are most important are Fermina and Florentino, so we can expect that the story will focus on them and be told to some degree from their perspectives.