Assigning Blame in Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is set in Columbia, where the extreme theocentricity means every character’s actions are intrinsically affected by religion. Whilst Marquez also explores much deeper religious issues, the action of the novel centres on the God-fearing townspeople allowing the murder of Santiago Nasar, which clearly contradicts the Christian commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’1 Since female virginity is so venerated in the Catholic faith, when Santiago is accused of taking Angela Vicario’s virginity, her life would be worthless without it, and Angela’s brothers are charged with redeeming her honour. The novel can boil down to the assertion that a

Angela takes “only the time necessary to say the name” (47) and arguably Santiago has been chosen simply by random fate; any male’s name would suffice, suggesting in a patriarchal society valuing a women strictly for virginity, all males share the blame. Angela’s appearance versus her reality is complex because while she has undeniably corrupt qualities, an admirable goodness shines through; the narrator acknowledges

Values are a vital part of any community. They shape the identity of a culture and help to form the identity of each individual in that society. Sometimes these embedded values have more power over a person than anyone would like to admit. Gabriel García Márquez shows the power of the value of honor in his book, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In García Márquez’s writing, the theme of honor shows to have control over most of the characters. Through the many characters in García Márquez’s book, we can see that the heavy burden of one’s honor is portrayed as the reason for Santiago Nasar’s unfortunate homicide.

Angela is described as the prettiest of her four sisters and was considered well-named by Bayardo San Roman, who had admitted that it was the first impression of her name that had really caught his attention and was one of the main reasons he chose to marry her after taking just one look at her from afar. Her first name, Angela means “angel” (messenger of God) and her last name, Vicario is an actual last name in Spanish which means “a vicar” (a member of the church who exercises a range of pastoral responsibilities and is usually a representative of the Bishop). This is all quite ironic because Angela is not a virgin and thus, not pure. Her confession caused her brothers, Pedro and Pablo to seek revenge by terminating the man that had taken her virginity, which results in a violent tragedy which is not holy or righteous in any way. The death of Santiago Nasar had caused the brothers to face a lot of misery, only due to the order of their sister, Angela Vicario. By exhibiting this, Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows the hidden power of women that only Angela had in the Columbian society at that time.

In the Columbian society portrayed in the novel Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Marquez, there is a significant double standard regarding gender. They live in a world where women have to follow extreme societal and cultural expectations. Men are encouraged to be experienced in the bedroom for their wedding night but if a woman is not a virgin, she is deemed unfit to marry. Women are taught when they are brought up that “love can be learned” (page 35) and that they must marry whoever impresses their family while men can choose whoever they want. When she doesn’t obey to the image of a “perfect women” Santiago Nasar is killed in the name of her honor. The result of these double standards leads directly to the death of Santiago Nasar in Chronicles of a Death Foretold. The idea that for women, love is something that can be taught and they are “brought up to suffer” while men can choose whoever they would like especially if they charm their family, is a significant unjust double standard that results in the death of Santiago Nasar. Santiago was murdered for supposedly taking Angela’s virginity. This was cause for his death because not being a virgin deemed you unfit to be married and soiled or impure, she was garbage if she wasn’t a virgin.

Márquez uses the character of Angela Vicario to show the power women can possess over the men in their lives. Angela Vicario is arguably the most powerful character in the novel, as she is the one who tells her brothers that it was Santiago who took her virginity, which consequently sets the entire plot of the story in motion. After Angela is returned by Bayardo San Román to her family due to the fact that she is not a virgin, when her brothers ask who it was who took her virginity, Angela “nailed [Santiago’s name] to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written” (Márquez 47). The way in which Angela searches for Santiago’s name shows that it may not have been Santiago who had taken

In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Marquez employs the motif of flowers within the novel to illustrate the role of women within a Latin American society; the cultural and symbolic implications of this associate flowers with purity, victimization, gender barriers, and deceit. In doing so, Marquez creates a microcosm of Latin America, exposing the core of Columbian culture and society with all its aspects such as ethnicity, and social norms and conventions that led to a series of insecurities and poverty in the community, and its affect on the role of women. The cultural context of this novel must first be considered before examining the symbolic importance of flowers.

Angela simply named Santiago Nasar as her lover but there was no other evidence besides her word to back that statement up. The narrator explained that "most of those who could have done something to prevent the crime and did not console themselves with the pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies, giving access only to those who are part of the drama" (114). If the medieval idea that death brings honor is true, then it is safe to say Santiago Nasar died without honor for he did not know the reason for his death was. The Vicarios were poor Hispanics and the Nasars were rich Arabs, so social and racial tension was clear.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold revolves around the reporting of the murder of Santiago Nasar by the author; Gabriel García Márquez, who operates under the pretense of impartiality and journalistic integrity to create a subdued commentary through his minor characters. Márquez provides commentary on sociopolitical controversies frequent in his portrayed Columbian culture by juxtaposition and periphrasis using minor characters such as Victoria Guzmán, Father Amador, and Colonel Lazaro Aponte. In this effect, Márquez preserves his façade of journalistic style and narrative of a chronicle while making a

We learned that she does not love him nor did she wanted to marry him and the only way that would have happen is if she was not a virgin. She fake, she lost her virginity in society where virginity was highly valued. She was never alone. She go everywhere with her sisters or mother, work from home and she only talk to other women and had distrust of men and their intentions “No one would have thought, or did anyone say, Angela Vicario wasn't a virgin”. (37). Angale was destine to not have Bayardo as her husband until Santiago Nasar died because he was fated to be killed by the Victoire twins and the only that could have happened if something important was at stake and at this time virginty was very important to abtain honor in the society. The fact of the matter is she did not chose to be not a virgine but fate was planned which is beyond her control. In addition, when the twins demand the name of her lover or the man who took her virginity “She looked for it in the shadows, she found it at first sight among the many…” (47). This quote illustrate that she did not gave much thought to who took her virginty but said what came to her mind which fate is responsible. Basically Marquez wants the reader to make the connection that fate uses people or absurdity to achieve it’s purpose. Likewise, Angela had the option to fake her virginity but refuses to do it “They taught her old wives tricks to feign her

"My personal impression is that he died without understanding his death" (Marquez 101). The above statement is stated by the narrator in Marquez's text. The novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold tells the story of the narrator's return in a small Colombian town in the 1950's to resolve the details of the murder of his close friend, Santiago Nasar, who is a handsome and wealthy man, who is dead due to Anglea’s lies. Angela Viscario is a beautiful girl, who is not a virgin. She lies about Santiago taking her virginity, due to this false statement, her twin brothers Pedro and Pablo Viscario decide to kill him to restore the family's honor. In the book Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Santiago Nasar is a victim of murder

The traditions in Chronicle of a Death Foretold are revealed to be very important in this Latin American society. From arranged marriages, to greeting the bishop, we see tradition affecting the lives of many of the people in the river village. However we can also see this through the roles of women in this society. Purisima del Carmen, Angela Vicario’s mother, has raised her four fine daughters to be good wives. The girls do not marry until later in their lives, and only seldom socialize beyond the confinements of their home. The women spend their

In the novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, uses the element point of view supported by certain motifs to portray society and how its gender roles affect the narration. The author’s choice in doing so is important simply because the novella is based on a real life story which occurred in Sucre, Colombia, in 1951, where he had lived. The incident happened while Gabriel Garcia Marquez was in college studying journalism, just like the narrator of the novel. Marquez happened to know some of the people involved, which gave the novella more significance. In the mid twentieth century, Colombian culture had various aspects due to its diversity and how society had evolved while still containing traditional

Throughout the world women have been discriminated. Having unfair wages, jobs, voting rights and more. And it is shown through Angela Vicario being judged and told what or what she is not able to do. Though it's been getting better as the years gone by. In Gabriel Marquez novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, he uses the character Angela Vicario to emphasize the unfair nature of women's role in Latin American Society through the loss of her virginity, being dictated by everyone around her and the judgement that comes when getting married compared to where families are more focused on making them the brightest they can be and the society is also less judgemental.

Since “the brothers were brought up to be men,” they needed to take action in order to regain their sister and family’s honor (30). Honor was idolized in the town to the point that the act of killing Santiago can be forgiven, or even rewarded. The town’s ideal of honor closely relates to heroic, masculine theme like going on an epic quest. For instance, Pablo Vicario’s wife Prudencia Cotes “’never would have married [Pablo] if he hadn’t done what a man should do’” (63). In other words, Pablo is the hero who goes on a grand journey to slay the monster Santiago. After slaying Santiago, he proves himself as a man, gains his honor, and is rewarded with a bride, who would not have married him otherwise. Prudencia’s decision to marry Pablo amplify the hidden cultural expectation for a man to uphold the honor of the family, even if upholding the honor means sacrificing someone else’s life.