‘Bitter Morning’ - “Bon Voyage, Mr. President”
Marquez writes, “they looked for the pain in his liver, his kidneys, his pancreas, his prostate, wherever it was not. Until that bitter Thursday, when he had made an appointment for nine in the morning at the neurology department.” The metaphoric bitterness alludes to excruciating insight that materializes on the Thursday apropos the foundation of his discomfort which is in his ‘spinal column.’
Devious - “Bon Voyage, Mr. President”
Marquez elucidates, “For him (Mr. President) it was not simple. His pain was improbable and devious, and sometime seemed to be in his ribs on the right side and sometimes in his lower abdomen.” The metaphorical deviousness accentuates the intricacy of diagnosing the particular setting or basis of the pain. As a result of the delicacy, it takes copious tests before it is finally diagnosed.
Stonecutter - “The Saint”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes, “I began, little by little, to recover him from the treachery of his years and see him again as he had been: secretive, unpredictable and as tenacious as a stonecutter.” Here, Marquez likens Margarito Duarte to a stonecutter to stress, his unmistakable fortitude. The metaphor highlights Duarte’s unyielding disposition.
