Marquez slips in some food for thought:
His (Florentino Ariza’s) uncle was angry with him because of the manner in which he had thrown away the good position of telegraph operator in Villa de Leyva, but he allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves. (p. 165)
Now there are several ways perhaps to take this. In one line of thought, we see man’s potential to change according to life experience and free will. This is likely Marquez’s meaning. But then I recall in his 100 Years of Solitude various references along the theory of eternal life of the soul, reincarnation occuring as a repeated span of physical life in which also, the purpose is to learn and grow, or change.
I do wonder to which, if either, he hints.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology