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Themes Of Cr�nica De Una Muerte Anunciada

Decent Essays

Crónica de una muerte anunciada by García Márquez centres on the death of Santiago Nasar, murdered by two brothers in an act of revenge for their sister’s modesty. Set in Colombia, the novella takes on a semi-journalistic style of narration as its narrator attempts to discover the truth behind what really took place before Santiago’s death. The choppy, nonlinear structure of the story explores the differing accounts of various members in the community, almost all of whom had foreknowledge of the brothers’ plans before Santiago’s death, bringing into question the ideals and the true nature of a community as they did nothing to prevent it. From the outset, García Márquez already establishes the themes of religion and violence with mentions of the bishop’s arrival and images of rifles chaotically bouncing against the walls, suggesting that these themes will play a key role in the novella’s development. The opening line is intentionally vague and non-descriptive, building suspense and encouraging the reader to take part in the speculation, wondering who will kill Santiago. This immediately makes the reader play an active role in the investigation and unwittingly participate in the murder about to unfold as they gain increasing knowledge of future events, just like the rest of the community. For this reason, the true nature of a community is already being explored as we see how easy it is to become implicit in the crimes of others without being truly conscious of what you are

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