Machismo In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicles Of A Death Foretold

Lopez, R. A. (2009, April 09). The other side of machismo. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.latinoopinion.com/category/cultural-traits/machismo/

In Latin American culture, machismo is seen as a behavior through which the Latino males exhibit an overbearing attitude to anyone in a position he sees as inferior to theirs, thereby demanding total respect and subservience. Even though Machismo has been defined with an extremely negative connotation, a macho can also be seen as a caring and responsible person within the traditional Latino culture. The negative connotations that have been attributed to Machismo are aggressiveness, womanizing, emotional insensitivity and physical strength.

To understand the word Machismo, one must understand that in Mexico, being born a male is of high prestige and valued more than if one was born female. Women are raised that one day they will marry a man and he will oversee the family, the family must obey him, and get his approval before doing anything.

discusses the image of the ''Macho mans'' as an ideal for the American people. Throughout his

Machismo is a rather popular Spanish word meaning strong or aggressive masculine pride. I know this word so well that we could basically move in together because I have seen it take life before my own eyes for years now by my no one else but my father. This word has brought pain and suffering to my mother and by doing so has also inevitably harmed me. This word has shown me the ugly and the mean. But, this word has also shown me what I am and what I will not be and for that, I am grateful.

There are different countries and cultures in the world. Sometimes when Americans view other cultures’ values the actual truth becomes distorted. In her article “Americanization is tough on the Macho,” Rose Del Castillo Guilbault examines the concept of macho from both the Hispanics and Americans perspective. The Hispanic view of macho embodies a man described by Guilbault as manly, responsible, hardworking, a patriarch and a person who expresses strength through silence. She describes her father as a man who “handled most menial task with pride.” In a patriarchal society such as Mexico, the man is regarded as the nucleus of the family. The man represents

Although prostitution may be one of the world’s oldest professions to this day it is seen as a degrading and disrespectful career especially when regarding female prostitutes. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the town is very critical and strict about chastity and premarital sex. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes is the town madam which by society’s standards makes her to most marginalized, but ironically she is not brought down by her society’s rules. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses characterization and irony to demonstrate Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s contradictory role and to develop the theme of going against society in Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Normally when machismo comes up in a conversation, people are probably criticizing the behavior of a person or glorifying it. Machismo is generally referred to when men behave in an arrogant and aggressive manner often glorifying virility. Men who usually behave in this manner repute all feminine virtues in order to feel secure with their manhood, often going to extremes to protect their manly image. Even though this form of behavior is common among men everywhere, it is wrongly associated with an entire continent of Latin American men.

Santiago is also referred to as a butterfly, a very fragile creature, with no will or say in what happens to it. This insinuates that even if he was to try, Santiago Nasar would never be able to free himself from the fate Angela’s words set for him. This goes directly against the social norms of the time, in which Santiago, the wealthy man, should be able to control Angela, the poor woman. Angela’s statement that it was Santiago who took her virginity also exercises a certain control over her brothers. In the trial, Pablo and Pedro declared “that they would have done it again a thousand times over for the same reason” (Márquez 48). Even though they did have their own free will in committing the murders, Pablo and Pedro did not question their decision to murder Santiago in defense of Angela’s honor. By making the accusation, Angela is controlling her brothers as well, as it is clear that they will end up doing something to protect their sister’s purity. Whether Angela intentionally wanted Santiago to end up dead or not, it is still clear that at this point in the novel, she is exercising a control over Santiago, Pablo, and

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.

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. _Chronicle of a Death Foretold_. Trans.Gregory Rabassa. New York: Vintage-Random House, 1982.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez Works Cited Not Included Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, is a story that brings one to question the code of honor that exists in the Columbian town. Marquez' paints a picture that shows how societal values, such as honor, have become more important than the inherent good of human life. The Vicario brothers' belief that their sister was done wrong was brought upon by this honor, along with racial and social tension. The dangerous path of both honor and religious faith caused Santiago's untimely death.

“Don’t be silly,” he says to her, “they’re not about to kill anybody, much less someone rich” (55). He simply does not believe it was possible for the brothers to kill the much richer Santiago Nasar. Another character who is guilty because they solemnly observe the events leading up to the murder is the Nasar’s servant Divina Flora. “She, on the other hand, didn't warn him because she was nothing but a frightened child at the time, incapable of a decision of her own, and she'd been all the more frightened when he grabbed her by the wrist with a hand that felt frozen and stony, like the hand of a dead man” (13).

“Fake News”: Analyzing Gabriel García Márquez’s subtle commentary and use of minor characters through syntax, juxtaposition, and periphrasis

In Gabriel García Márquez’s novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Santiago Nasar is ruthlessly murdered by the Vicario brothers-Pedro and Pablo Vicario-in a remote Colombian town. Although the Vicario brothers are responsible for the murder, i.e. the actual killing of Santiago, the behind-the-scene culture, in particular the town’s beliefs, ideals and expectations, should be blamed for Santiago’s death. Aspects of the town’s culture, including the sanctity of pre-marital virginity and honor, drive the characters to perform the murder of Santiago.