When reading the first chapter of Chronicles of a Death Foretold, the repeated use of tree imagery stood out to me, which alludes to the title and serves as an omen, employing the genre of magical realism. The story starts of with, “She had a well-earned reputation as an accurate interpreter of other people’s dreams, provided they told her before eating, but she hadn't noticed any ominous augury in those two dreams of her son’s, or in the other dreams of trees he’d described to her on the mornings preceding his death.” (Marquez pg 2). The fact that she had a well earned reputation as a dream interpreter, something that is considered as false or a hoax profession, reflects the values of the society this story was set in. It characterises them to be more emotional rather than intellectual. It also creates irony and alludes to the title because Nasar’s mother was able to recognise the omens or interpret other people’s dreams perfectly, but when it came to her own son she failed. The trees were a recurring symbol is his dreams and clearly held some significance, such an obvious fact being ignored adds to the ‘foretold death’. On page 11 it says that, “… and he constructed a wooden balcony that overlooked the almond trees on the square, where Plácida Linero would sit on March afternoons to console herself for her solitude. (Marquez pg 10-11). The almond trees were of significance to Linero, considering the amount of time she must have spent there grieving, so for her to ignore the symbolism presented in the beginning in Nasar’s dream about being in a tinfoil airplane and flying through almond trees without bumping into anything, should have sparked her interest. After looking up the significance of an almond tree, it said that they're usually used to denote happiness, joy, prosperity and honour. The dream can be interpreted as foreshadowing because Nasar was in a tinfoil airplane, which was “flying through the almond trees without bumping anything”, is a calamity waiting to occur because he could have crashed into the trees anytime. It is a risky situation and could signify how he was living his life like any other day and did not expect any danger from his surroundings, even though the situation itself was on the verge of becoming a disaster.
Would you say that sailing through the almond trees could also be that Nasar was unable to stop and enjoy happiness that day and how he was being killed, possibly wrongly(at least, García Marquez portrays it as killing the scapegoat)? As if the almond trees are all the happiness and possible joys that Nasar will miss?
After reading just the first sentence of the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the reader is told that the main character, Santiago Nasar, was murdered. As one reads on, they learn practically the whole town knew of his fate, but no one notifies him. The narrator explains, “No one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t,” (García Márquez 20). Still, it’s quite ridiculous that no one even attempted to confirm that he’s safe. Out of all the excuses for not informing Santiago, I thought Divina Flor’s was the most dismissible. On the morning of Santiago’s murder, he grabs Divina and comments, “‘The time has come for your to be tamed,’” (García Márquez 9). Later, Divina explains to the narrator that she “…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,” (García Márquez 13). Divina could have kept him in the dark out of spite for his rude comment, but I believe it was just her naiveness. But for everyone else, they were just being plain selfish.
One thing that I found very interesting in chapter one was the weather. The weather seems to be symbolic of the atmosphere and current culture in the book. When Santiago got killed, some remember the weather to be cloudy while others remember it not to be. Victoria Guzman is certain that it did not rain that day. All these different recalls of the weather may be foreshadowing that there will be different views of how Santiago was killed. Whether it was rainy, cloudy or nice out, may represent how people viewed the death. If they remember it as a sad day, then it may have been rainy. If they were not close to Santiago they might not have remembered any rain or clouds that day. There are many other descriptive things in the first chapter which remain unclear. They clearly seem to have symbolic value, but that value is yet to be evident. Another thing I found very interesting, was how Marquez did not hesitate to tell the readers that Santiago dies right away. It clearly is not something that he is trying to hide or make suspenseful. The title of the book is also very deceiving. This is clearly not a chronicle since he dies on the first day and then the story begins to work backwards in some way or another. This story does reflect Marquez’s real life in some ways. He uses the names Luisa and Mercedes which are the actual names of his mother and wife.
In his novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriél García Márquez creates a feeling of discomfort with the casual language surrounding Santiago Nasar's nonchalant steps until death. García Márquez opens the novel with the line “On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty”(García Márquez, 1). The reader might expect García Márquez to explain more of why Nasar was to be killed, or the events leading up to it. In contrast, the author continues with the start of Nasar's day, thus downplaying his death by treating it as common place, but simultaneously emphasizing it because it causes discomfort in the reader's mind. It is reminiscent of Elie Wiesel's novel “Night” when Wiesel speaks of an execution and moves on to the scenery at that moment. García Márquez furthers the casual language when he writes that, “Furthermore: all the many people he ran into after leaving his house at five minutes past six and until he was carved up like a pig an hour later remembered him as being a little sleep but in a good mood, and he remarked to all of them in a casual way that it was a very beautiful day”(García Márquez, 2). García Márquez moves past graphic imagery of Nasar's future to create juxtaposition with the attitudes of all the people in the town who were indifferent towards warning Santiago Nasar. It is ironic that Nasar remarked to so many of a sunny day and that Nasar was in a good mood. Perhaps it was sunny so that there was sufficient light to illuminate the issue of Nasar's death. It highlights García Márquez's portrayal of Nasar as an innocent man who got stuck in the middle of a conflict, and helps the reader sympathize with Nasar. Like the many townspeople who neglected to warn him, the reader knows the murder will happen and will only watch.
I like how you mentioned that there was a feeling of discomfort during the first couple pages of the book, and especially how this revolved around Santiago and the people. Not only does Santiago seem very relaxed today, he almost appears too relaxed, as it was said that he "took out the bullets" from his gun, a behavior that was unusual for this man considering he had several guns, and slept with a weapon at night. It serves as dramatic irony for the audience because we know that he will be killed and that he should've kept the bullets in the gun. However, do you think that there is another aspect at work here, the so called Magical Realism?
The first chapter of this novel is what makes it so unique. It is the only book I have heard of that gives away the ending in the first chapter. I really like the connection we made in class to the murder in this book and the murder of Kitty Genovese. In both cases, I was shocked that no bystanders reported the crime to anyone. However, discussing the topic in class and being able to see the way the people in the book were thinking made it more understandable. None the less, it is still hard to believe that not one person would make an effort to stop either of these crimes. In both of these cases I think the time period plays a big role in the lack of help from witnesses. Although today we may still see a number of bystanders act this way, I think it is more likely for at least one of them to come out and do something for the victim. One reason why bystanders may decide not to interact that we talked about in class was the idea of racial prejudice. I think this is present in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. “He had turned twenty-one the last week in January, and he was slim and pale and had his father's eyelids and curly hair ...They spoke Arabic between themselves, but not in front of Plácida Linero, so that she wouldn't feel excluded” (1.8). We know that Santiago is of Arabic descent and that he is in the minority in his town. For this reason, the idea of an Arab being killed may not have affected the majority of the people.
I like how you pointed out that this is one of the only books that gives away the ending in the first chapter. I agree that it is the reason that this book is so unique. Why do you think Marquez wrote this way instead of following the trend of letting the story play out slowly, with everything being revealed at the end? What effect do you think this is meant to have on the reader?
In "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," I found it very interesting how different people reacted to the news that Santaiago Nasar would be killed. It didn't appear to be a secret, since so many people were aware of the future murder. It was a small community, very close, so it would be assumed that everyone would know about such an event. However, it is strange that no one seemed willing to tell Santiago. Victoria and her daughter, of which Santiago might have had a romantic relationship with the latter, did not seem compelled to tell him. Especially Victoria, who recalled his name without affection. Others who knew about the murder included those who were at the dock to welcome the bishop. The reporter/narrator, was also there with his sister, fellow friend, and Santaigo. The remaining people all seemed to know about the murder, but gave the excuses, "He seemed safe," or "it seemed impossible," thereby avoiding the situation of saving a person's life. At this point of the story, it is still unsure of why the Vicario brothers are focusing on Santiago. Two people who seemed willing to help were the reporter's mother and sister. His sister said, having known Santiago would've been killed, would have dragged him to her house herself. It was apparent that there were people who cared for him, but no one seemed willing to speak up. This is a great indicator of the connection between this book and the real life murder of Kitty Genovese, and how despite the tremendous number of witnesses and bystanders, not one person was successful in calling for help.
One thing I noticed when reading the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold is that the author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, focuses on time very specifically. In the first paragraph, Garcia mentions that Santiago woke up at 5:30 a.m., that he was killed on a Monday, and that the narrator is speaking from almost 30 years in the future. It seems like the author is trying to be very specific with time and the structure of the novel so far was very interesting. The way it is structured almost suggests that the events of Santiago’s death are going to be unclear in the upcoming chapters, and he is trying to connect his various viewpoints with time. Another thing I notices about the first chapter was the immediate juxtaposition Marquez used when describing the trees Santiago was dreaming about. Trees represent nature and peaceful scenery and are juxtaposed with the killing that is described following it. The fact that Santiago was dreaming about trees is interesting as well—could this have some connection to his death that is revealed later in the book? After doing research on the author, I found that Marquez developed the style of magical realism, a genre of writing that incorporates magical elements into an otherwise realistic story. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is actually based on the true story of a murder that occurred in Sucre, Colombia, in 1951. He uses this magical realism to incorporate dreams, omens, and coincidences into the realistic aspects of the story.
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, one part of the story that I found to be interesting was that, in addition to the entire town seeming to know that Santiago was going to be murdered and even still not letting him know, was that he is a mixed-heritage person, with his father being Arab and his mother being Columbian. This may have had a part in his murder because, at the time, interracial unions were generally frowned upon, and the offspring produced from the union were often rejected by both of their communities because they did not solely belong to either culture. This kind of thinking was especially dominant in villages, and being that this story takes place in a village, Santiago’s murder could have been prompted by his mixed-heritage, which is also proven because the reader is also told that his mother is left alive, stated when the narrator states that he asked his mother about her son twenty-seven weeks after he was murdered, and his father is mentioned to have died before the events of the novel take place. Therefore, by killing off Santiago, the villagers would no longer have any more “outsiders” living amongst their village. Another reason that this can be supported is because Marquez writes that Santiago and his father spoke Arabic amongst themselves when they were alone, but whenever they were with Santiago’s mother, they spoke in Spanish so that she would not feel left out of the conversation. Speaking a language that is not the dominant language of the society that you live in plays a big part in being perceived as an outsider, which only adds on to the possibility that Santiago’s mixed-race background could have contributed to his murder.
I agree with you that his Arabic/Columbian background could've had a part in his murder. Even though it wasn't the brothers' main motive, I bet his mixed heritage only added fuel to the fire.
Within chapter 2, we see the characterization of Bayardo. He seems deeply in love with her as he takes deep measures to show his love for her. He does this by buying all the raffle tickets she is selling. He also does whatever it takes to buy the house from the widower that Angela loves. By doing these things we can infer that Bayardo is a man with quite a deal of wealth. Aside from Bayardo, we can see that the Vicarios are a very close knit and protective family. Her brothers take a stand for her and make sure that Bayardo is deeply in love with Angela before they go on to get married. Within the Vicario family, they seem to clearly follow gender roles of that time. That is men were supposed to be wealthy, handsome and proper while women were raised to get married. That shows that men are very independent while women are dependent on a man to take care of them. Bayardo clearly fits this stereotype which is why Angela’s parents deeply favor and support this marriage. The last thing that was very interesting during this chapter is the fact that Angela lies about who took her virginity. It becomes apparent that it was not Santiago. However we do not understand the reasoning behind Angela’s lie, and we also do not know who actually took her virginity at this point.
A huge chunk of chapter 2 is focused around characterising the Vicario family and Bayardo San Román, along with describing the events leading up to their marriage. A quote in particular which stood out to me was, “ It was Angela Vicario who didn't want to marry him. “He seemed too much of a man for me,” she told me. Besides Bayado San Román hadn't even tried to court her, but had bewitched the family with his charm” (2. pg 37).The narrator tells the audience that Angela wasn't interested in Román and was forced to marry him, which is justified because he hadn't even courted her. By saying that he had only bewitched the family, shows cultural values that during those times, arranged marriages were the norm and the family had more say than the person getting married. It didn't matter whether Angela liked him or not, it was the family which was to be wooed. The narrator then states that Román had bewitched the family with his charm, and it could be an exaggeration of Román’s suave personality or in the literal sense that he had actually put them in a state of trance. The casual tone of the narration and the genre of the book makes him bewitching the town seem like a plausible thought too. If the literal translation is used, it can be seen elsewhere in the chapter too, for example when he buys Xius’s house and when the narrator’s mother wrote to him saying, “The strange man is called Bayado San Román , and everybody says he’s enchanting, but I haven't seen him.” (2. pg 28)
In chapter 3, the narration is set during the morning when Pedro and Pablo were informing the town of the crime they were about to commit. It was interesting when Clotilde Almenta says, “That’s not why,” said Clotilde Armenia. “It’s to spare those boys from the horrible duty that’s fallen on them.” and “Because she’d sensed it. She was certain that the Vicario brothers were not as eager to carry out the sentence as to find someone who would do them the favor of stopping them. But Coloner Aponte was at peace with his soul” (3. pg 65) The society in which they were raised, valued honour and dignity more than another person’s life and Clotilde along with the Vicario family were well aware of it. The only way they would win back their honour and not be looked down by others was if they served justice to the perpetrator. Many people said so themselves, for example when Pablo Vicario’s future wife, Prudencia Cortes was asked about the events she said, “I knew what they were up to,..and I didn't only agree, I never would have married him if he hadn't done what a man should do.”. (3. pg 72). She didn't care that he would be killing someone else, but rather that he had protected his family’s dignity. It says a lot about the community along with its priorities, and human nature.It shows the importance and value placed upon someone’s image and raises the question of whether keeping a reputable image is most important in society, despite its requirements? The brother did not want to carry out their duty either. The narrator says that Pablo later told him: “So he put the knife in his hand and dragged him off almost by force in search of their sister’s lost honor.” (3. pg 70) in regards to his brother, Pedro. They were desperately hoping someone would have stopped them. This is why they told the whole town this. After their first set of knives were taken, they had to go get new ones because it would seem like they didn't put too much effort. It had to seem as though they were trying their utmost best. They wanted to give the public the idea that they did all they could in their power to try kill Santiago, but the police just didn't allow it. This way, they would have won back their honour and the police were doing their job. The news was so widespread, that the people assumed someone would’ve gotten it under control but due to that assumption, no one did a thing.
Chapter 2 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold describes the events that lead up to the Vicario twins' motive for killing Santiago Nasar. The narrator opens the chapter with an introduction of a new character: a wealthy man named Bayardo San Román who came all the way to their small town to find a wife. The second Bayardo sees Angela Vicario, he wants to marry her, but Angela found Bayardo to be "'too much of a man,’” for her (García Márquez 34). Her mother dismissed her daughter’s lack of requited love by telling her, “‘Love can be learned too,’’” (García Márquez 35). In this culture and time period, arranged marriages were normal, and there was almost always no real love, at least not at first. Most arranged marriages were for political or social status gain, and in the Vicario’s case, it was financial gain, for Bayardo was rich. While Angela’s distaste for Bayardo is apparent, so is Bayardo’s love for her. After he learns what house she likes, he continues to beg the owner for it, offering him thousands of pesos for it. Though, his love is soon diminished after he figures out she is not a virgin, and throws her back to her family. When Angela’s brothers find out what happened, they ask who it was that stole her virginity, to which she replies, “‘Santiago Nasar’” (García Márquez 47). And from then on, the Vicario twins are set on killing the alleged man who stole their family’s honor.
Chapter 3 goes to show how people's preconceived view of people is very distinct and hardly changes. The Vicario brothers had always been good people, so when they started acting suspicious, no one really said anything because they did not think much of it. However, people should understand that everyone can change, especially for extreme measures. Clothlide seems to be the only one who suspects something but then when she tells her husband he does believe her. This can go back to gender roles and how women can easily be overviewed by men. Even though the knives were eventually taken away from the brothers, that still did not stop then. More extreme measures should have been taken to prevent the brothers from committing murder. Marquez does give the readers a little sense of confusion. It did not seem like the book was in chronological order since we knew that Santiago got murdered right away. However in this chapter we saw the clear order of all the things that took place leading up to his death. It is also confusing that we do not know who the narrator is. Sometimes he seems to be apart of the story and sometimes he seems to be telling the story from the view of a third person. The focus shifts to a different character every chapter which may also lead to confusion as well.
I found it interesting when you said that perhaps finding out about Angela’s impurity caused the Vicario brothers to change and therefore damage their reputation as good people. Another way the reader could look at this situation is that maybe the brothers had such a great reputation because they protected their families honor. Although the murder of Santiago would likely make people view the brothers differently, I don’t believe they needed to change in order to kill him. Since family honor is such a priority for them, I believe they would have been able to do this all along, if a crisis such as Angela's had come about.
Chapter 3 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold shows more of the Vicario brothers’ side of the murder. Though Pedro and Pablo seem cocky enough to tell the whole town of their plan, one of the brothers show signs of cowardice. Pedro was the one who created the plan to kill Santiago, but once the day came to kill actually go through with the plan, he tried to get out of it. Pedro told Pablo to go on without him, for he cannot pee, but Pablo stayed and waited around then “…dragged him off almost by force in a search of their sister’s lost honor,” (García Márquez 61). Pablo was probably the most motivated out of the two of them because, even though they both had their family’s honor hanging over their head, Pablo’s future wife “‘would never have married him if hadn’t done what a man should do,’” (García Márquez 66). Honor and dignity were important to this culture at the time, and some people went as far as murder just to restore it.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the second chapter to introduce Bayardo San Roman’s story and explain the motive for killing Santiago Nasar. However, the reader learns that he is not guilty of taking Angela’s virginity. In addition, gender roles come into play. It is understandable for when Angela is abandoned by her new husband when he learns that she is not a virgin. It does not even seem like a huge deal when her mother beats her for having premarital sex. The disturbing part is that it is acceptable for men to do whatever they want. We see this when the narrator, Santiago, Luis Enrique, and Cristo are at a whorehouse. In addition, Angela has no control over the fate of her marriage. It is clear she does not want to marry Bayardo. In attempt to urge Angela’s family to approve him as her husband he demonstrates how much money he has. The reader becomes aware that Bayardo is a very wealthy man when he buys all of the raffle tickets Angela is selling and he pays extra to get the specific house she wants. So far it is hard to tell if he does this thing out of love for Angela or because he is using his wealth to force her to be his wife. Regardless of his intentions, Angela ends up marrying him. It is likely that the parents had a huge say in the fate of their daughter’s marriage. For this reason, it comes to our attention that arranged marriages were common in this time period.
In the third chapter, we learn about Pablo and Pedro Vicario and the events they were involved with leading up to the murder of Santiago. I found it interesting that Gabriel Garcia Marquez chose this passage as the third passage because it is chronologically out of order. The book begins with the day of Santiago’s death and the third chapter is told from the point of view from the Vicario brothers, the day before Santiago is murdered. I think Marquez chose to tell the story out of order to create a tone of confusion which is present as well in the town while these events are taking place. One motif that come into play in this chapter is the idea of honor. The Vicario brothers make the decision to kill Santiago simply to defend their sister’s honor. It is obvious that honor is something very important in their family because upon hearing Santiago’s name from Angela’s lips, the brothers immediately grab knives. In fact, honor is so important to them, they are willing to kill a man to retain it. We know this is a difficult task for the brother’s becasue many of the townspeople did not believe the rumor because the brothers were such good kids. In addition, they need to intoxicate themselves in order to carry out the task.
Chapter two explained the wedding in detail, but it also helped characterize the characters in the story. Firstly, we become very familiar with the narrator himself, seeing as how he mentions himself on occasion in this chapter. He is able to throw little facts about himself without the story being paused, yet the mood of the story changes. With Bayardo, there are several legends that follow him, mostly having to do with his innate talents. Bayardo comes across as mysterious, and we learn that several characters including the narrator really like Bayardo. However, the one person he cares about-Angela, doesn't seem to care for him at all. Looking into their marriage, its easy to see how it could be compared to an arranged marriage, as Angela had little to no say in what she wanted. Even her mother says to her, "Love can be learned too." (pg.38)
In chapter three, we learn about the twin brothers, and the plans and measures they took the day they killed Santiago Nasar. Once their sister Angela let slip that Santiago was the one who had taken her virginity, the boys set out to kill him. What's interesting is that just a few hours earlier, they had been celebrating and talking with Santiago, so this shows that the three of them had to be at least closely acquainted with. However, they are willing the next day to kill this man. Why? The answer lies somewhere in the family honor ideal, and how family honor trumps everything else in the world. It also is so influential on the twins, that in court they admitted that they would carry out the act again. Therefore, it would be assumed that the twins were willing to carry out such a heinous act. This is not true, when looking at how the twins behaved later that morning. They openly stated that they would kill Santiago Nasar, and yet they needed alcohol to keep "motivated." Seen by others who were with them that day, the twins seemed relieved when Colonel Aponte took away their knives. Looking at this, it appears that the twins were not as motivated as it seemed. This was most likely carried out because there was a sense of duty to their family to restore their family's honor. The twins, according to witnesses, were sweet and good natured.
Chapter 2 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold strays from the story of Santiago Nasar’s death and focuses more on Angela Vicario, the sister of the two men who murdered him. In this chapter, Márquez describes Angela’s relationship with Bayardo San Román, a wealthy man in search of a bride, in order to emphasize gender roles during the time period. Márquez writes, “The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married. They knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace, wash and iron, make artificial flowers and fancy candy, and write engagement announcements” (34). There appears to be an explicit difference between the roles of men and women in society at the time. While men were expected to be strong and powerful and commanding, women were brought up learning things that would make them a “good” wife someday, such as sewing and cleaning. Within the confines of their own home, women had little say and were expected to devote themselves to their families and husbands. Women were also expected to remain pure and abstinent before marriage. After Bayardo leaves Angela and her mother finds out about her premarital sex, she beats her own daughter ruthlessly. Angela recalled, “‘The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me” (52). Angela is punished severely for having premarital sex; her mother sees it as her having ruined her changes of ever marrying well and dishonoring her family. However, Bayardo dumping Angela back off at her house after finding out that she isn’t a virgin is apparently completely acceptable. This shows how men courted women at the time not because of love, but to demonstrate their wealth and power and exert dominance over them. By “returning” his bride for not being pure, Bayardo is enforcing the idea that men and women were considered extremely unequal and treated very differently during the time period. It seems like during the time period, men and women only married out of convenience and not true love. However, in chapter 2 there is a glimpse of a relationship that may not have been like this at all. Xius, the widower who owned the farmhouse that Bayardo bought from him, seemed to have a relationship with his wife that made both of them happy. Xius told Bayardo, “‘You young people don’t understand the motives of the heart” (40). Xius’s story of his wife is an exception to the “normal” relationship at the time; In essence, marriage only occurred for utilitarian purposes and each gender existed only to benefit the other.
In the second chapter of his novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez tells of how Bayardo San Román purchased a house from a widower. García Márquez writes that San Román offers the widower so much money that the widower cannot logically refuse it, yet dies of a broken heart because the sale is so forced(40-41). García Márquez writes, “He was healthier than the rest of us, but when you listened with the stethoscope you could hear the tears bubbling inside his heart”(41). García Márquez uses powerful imagery to cast a negative connotation on San Román for being so forceful and not accepting “no” for an answer. The imagery is a great and obvious example of the maxim “it's never just heart disease and rarely just illness”. It is interesting that San Román bought the house simply on Angela's offhand statement that it is the prettiest in town. It seems that he was going to great lengths to maintain an appearance of all capable and perfect, as if San Román had something to hide.
In the third chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez writes of how the narrator's siblings reacted to the idea that Santiago Nasar was going to be killed. The author writes, “… doesn't remember it. 'But even if I did remember, I wouldn't have believed it,' he told me many times. 'Who the fuck would ever think that the twins would kill anyone, much less with a pig knife!'”(79-80). The narrator's brother is incredulous when he looks back and considers if he would have believed it. It is not often that a person is told of an impending murder, and there is no automatic, practiced reaction to this. Sometimes, a mother might say that she would like to kill her one year old for getting up in the middle of the night and awakening her as well, but that is not a serious thing. Thus, it is shown that the Vicario brothers were not known for anything unusual as the narrator's brother still seems a bit shocked.
I really liked your breakdown of chapter 2, and how this part of the story portrayed Bayardo negatively. Firstly, although he appears initially to be a nice man, he also appears to be negligent in terms of a woman's right and opinion. He stated that when he first saw her, he was going to marry her. He then continues to impress Angela's parents, instead of impressing Angela herself. Because of this, and the culture at the time, Angela is pressured to marry this man, who she even said had scary golden eyes. He doesn't seem to take into account her feelings, even when he buys the house that she said she liked. To me, Bayardo seemed more like he was trying to maintain his own appearance of power and money. He persuaded the widower to take the money in exchange for this house, and it was evident that the widower's feelings were not taken into account because he continually pressured the old man to give him the house with an immense of money. The widower knows he needs the money, but his heart lies with the house. Bayardo created enormous stress on the widower, which further implies how he seems to only be looking out for himself.
Chapter 3 of the book describes the wedding night before Santiago’s death. This chapter should come before chapter 1 chronologically, but mixing up the order of the chapters reflects the complexity and mystery of the whole situation. It adds confusion as the first chapter talks about the morning of Santiago’s death, while the third chapter goes back to the night before. One concept that Marquez explores in this chapter is the idea of honor. When the Vicario brothers kill Santiago, it is justified by the fact that they are protecting their sister. In their eyes, they are serving justice and protecting their family; they blame Santiago for what happened to Angela. By choosing something as severe as murder, their actions reflect the severity of the oppression of women at the time as well. They justify their crime with the fact that they are covering up for Angela’s scandal, but in reality the scandal ends up forcing them to leave town anyways. The town seems like it is divided among people with varying levels of awareness about Santiago’s death. Either people already know about his death and believe it is going to happen (and do nothing to stop it), or they just think the brothers are joking and don’t take it seriously. The narrator appears to believe that the Vicario brothers are good people, referring to them as so several times. The murder took time, planning, and detail, instead of just an impulsive kill, which seems to make the murder more acceptable. In fact, a lot of people just accept his death, and this might have to do with social class. Santiago is part of the upper class, while people around him live in poverty. This might be why people condone the murder and accept it willingly; he most likely was a target of suspicion already.
In the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez uses irony to highlight the situation with Angela’s actions causing her family to have a mark of shame on it because of her having physical relations with a man before she is married. The irony in the situation is that when Angela, a woman, is discovered to not be a virgin after she is married, her husband leaves her and she is beaten severely by her mother in addition to her divorce. However, when Santiago, Luis Enrique, Cristo, and the narrator are at the brothel, engaged in trysts with various women despite being engaged to other women, nobody says anything against this because they are all men, and therefore their conduct is not as scrutinized, although this is also because the women they are involved with are prostitutes, therefore nobody really cares about them. Marquez writes this hypocrisy to highlight the double standards and unjust ways of the community, where a woman’s conduct is scrutinized more than a man’s, and where if a man engages himself with prostitutes, nobody really cares, but if he has relations with a woman of higher societal ranking, that’s the only time people really begin to care, and even in that situation, revenge is only done for the avengers’ family honour, not to get justice for doing wrong unto one’s family. The repetition of honour emphasizes that this is what the community is based on, and that people will go the most extreme lengths in order to be positively perceived by their community.
Really great analysis! I find the character of Maria Cervantes very interesting because she doesn't fit the ideal woman, and in that regards might even be considered more masculine. She works at a brothel which implies that she too has engaged in activity with several men or women. The narrator says, “It was she who did away with my generation’s virginity” (74). She’s almost like a figure the males look up to and admire, which is ironic because they treat her with more respect than Bayardo does after finding out about Angela’s virginity. It is as though rather than scrutinising women in general, her position in society is judged and then scrutinised or accepted accordingly. It definitely illustrates the double standards, in not only society but the way the males are brought up to think about such matters.
The third chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold emphasizes the concept of honour in the characters’ society. This is revealed because, after Angela’s secret is discovered and her husband divorces her on the night of their wedding, Angela’s brothers decide that they must kill Santiago in order to preserve the honour of their family in order to get back at Santiago because he ruined their sister’s chances of finding a suitable husband for her, therefore they feel that they must take action, even though the three of them were seemingly well-acquainted before the discovery of Angela’s discovery is made. This intense act of vengeance shows how the terrible treatment of women in that time period because everything a woman did related back to her family. However, although Santiago is successfully killed, Angela’s family is still forced to leave the village because the simple act that Angela did led to a series of scandalous events that totally tarnished her family name, therefore forcing them to have to leave and begin a new life somewhere far away. In this way, Marquez shows how society expected honour to be upheld.
In Chapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the reader gets a gruesome explanation on Santiago’s rotting body and autopsy, and also updates on Angela and Bayardo after their breakup. The priest tells the narrator how he found Bayardo passed out drunk in his home. They got him conscious, only for him to get passed out drunk another time. I believe he was so heartbroken about Angela that he turned to alcohol to drown out the pain. The narrator then explains how Angela actually was in love with Bayardo, and kept writing him letters for years, but never getting any response. In the end, Bayardo finds Angela and brings the hundreds of letters with him, and they’re all unopened. The author never explains why Bayardo never opened them; maybe he was too grief-stricken to read them. One of the quotes that stood out to me the most in this chapter was, “For the immense majority of people there was only one victim: Bayardo San Román,” (García Márquez 83). I do agree that Bayardo was a victim, but not the only victim of this chronicle. There was Bayardo: a victim of heartbreak, Santiago: a victim of honor, and Angela: a victim of sexist societal norms. Out of all the victims, I believe Angela’s was the most pitiful. Her society’s faith casted her out to be the bad guy—even some online sources like Sparknotes (not the best source, FYI) call Angela an antagonist. We never truly learn if Santiago was the man who stole Angela’s virginity, so some would argue that she was lying, but I don’t think lying makes you out to be an antagonist. Angela was simply a victim of her faith’s beliefs and societal norms.
In Chapter 5 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, we’re finally given the last piece of the book: Santiago’s murder in action. We’re also clued in on other parts leading up to the gruesome murder, such as Cristo, Santiago’s best friend, trying to stop the Vicario brothers by telling them Santiago has a gun. Another key part was that Santiago went to his fiancée’s house just before his murder, and the father warned Santiago of his fate—finally, someone warned him! Santiago then fled to his house as he was being chased by the brothers, only to find the door locked. Earlier, Divina Flor lied to Santiago’s mother, Plácida, and told her Santiago had come in and went upstairs, so when Plácida saw the brothers running towards the house, she shut the door and locked it. At the angle Santiago was running, Plácida didn’t see him, and assumed he was upstairs like Divina said. All this assuming is what lead to the death of Santiago. People assumed the Vicario brothers were lying, other people assumed Santiago was already told, and his own mother assumed Santiago was shouting upstairs, when really he was shouting at the front door as he was being stabbed to death. All in all, I believe the meaning of this story is not assume everything, because it makes an a$$ out of u and me.
The failure to have dominant figures in the town becomes apparent once again in chapter four. Since the one doctor is gone, Father Amador has to perform the autopsy. They do not perform the autopsy somewhere professional, they only do it at a public school. They also get the help of a first year medical student and a druggist. Neither of these people seem to know very much about the procedure. Hence, they got very broad results, concluding that it was from a very large hemorrhage from one of the fatal wounds. We also see the aftermath that Santiago has left in the town. The narrator will not be slept with just because he supposedly smells like Santiago. The brothers are also disgusted because they think that they smell like him as well. This goes to show how big of a tragedy taking a girl’s virginity is, in a town like this and in this era. The last thing that I found interesting in this chapter, was how Angela was portrayed. It seemed that women were to always be fragile and delicate so that their husbands could take care of them. However, in this chapter, Angela covers her face when leaving town so that no one can see her beatings. She also wore red so that no one would think she was still upset about her past incident. These actions seem to make her independent, which contradicts past conceptions of gender roles where women are only dependent on their husband.
I like how you talked about how nobody could get rid of Santiago's smell and how it was repulsive to anyone in contact with it, because I also noticed it as a symbol. I think his smell represents the remorse that the townspeople, as well as the Vicario brothers, felt after his death. It is evident in the brothers' hesitation to kill Santiago that the act didn't sit well with them and left them feeling at least some degree of regret. As far as the rest of the town, although everyone knew about the murder, nobody apparently cared enough to warn Santiago, and in effect they are haunted by the smell of his death as well. I also like how you mentioned Angela and how she is portrayed. However, I disagree with the statement that wearing red makes her seem independent and contradicts gender roles. I think it is actually the opposite; by forcing Angela to wear red, it is almost as if her family is hiding the shame that she has brought upon them. It seems like they are ashamed of her actions and are trying to maintain appearances by acting as though nothing happened and Angela isn't upset at all. In this way, this actually represents societal norms at the time because even in the face of something tragic, a family still tries to maintain a positive front.
In chapter 4, the plot discusses the aftermath of Nasar’s death. A line which I found interesting was, “Pura Vicario wrapped the face of the rejected daughter in a cloth so that no one would see the bruises, and she dressed her in bright red so nobody might think she was mourning for her lover.” (4.pg 95). The use of colour imagery and its meaning is juxtaposed in this line.The colour of bruises can range from blue, to purple to red, which arise from ruptured blood vessels. The red is hidden from her face while she wears a bright red dress. It shows the many connotations varied shades of red can have. It is generally used to signify love or pain, but irony arises because in this situation it is to show that she isn't mourning the death of her supposed lover. It depicts how colour symbolism can differ according to cultures. Another use of colour is when the narrator uses them to describe Angela Vicario’s appearance, “…with steel-rimmed glasses and yellowish-gray hair, and hanging above her head was a cage with a canary that didn't stop singing” (4,pg 102). The use of colours characterise Angela to appear more mature along with being tired and worn down. There is also a caged canary above her, which can symbolise Angela herself after the incident and how she was shunned by society. The canary didn't stop singing, similar to how Angela wouldn't stop writing letters to Bayardo.
Chapter five is the final chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In this chapter, it is clearly finally identified that Santiago Nasar is not the man who took Angela Vicario’s brother. We see this through the narrator’s personal insight. Santiago Nasar truly died without a purpose. This book is yet again not in chronological order since we see the detailed events of Santiago’s death with in this chapter. It seems that many people did try to inform Santiago of the planned murder, however they did not do it quick nor efficiently enough. We learn that Santiago was engaged before he passed away. His wife was very upset with him and he was very confused as to why. This shows that Santiago was very innocent and confused throughout this entire incident. He died a long a painful death as he was stabbed so much that his insides fell out and he was even able to walk several yards after trying to get help before he finally collapsed in a painful matter. This chapter does not depict the entire truth of how the death occurred but more so a scenario in which the death may have occurred. This book pertains events that occurred prior to the death and after the death, but never clearly shows how and why the death occurred.
In the last chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the final few hours of Santiago Nasar’s death are described. A question which came up was who’s actions were the most harmful for Nasar? Santiago’s mother closed the door shut, right when he was about to reach home safely, if she hadn't closed the door he might have survived. However, his mother bolted the door shut because Divina Flor had a “vision” of Santiago coming home and going into his bedroom. She could be lying or it can be an apparition of his death because he was dressed in all white and holding red flowers. In the earlier chapters, Santiago said how he didn't like flowers being cut because it reminded him of death. In the end, Santiago enters his house and dies there so maybe Divina Flor’s vision acted as foreshadowing. If Divina Flor hadn't seen the apparition would Nasar have survived? Even though Pedro and Pablo committed the crime, are they blameable? If it weren't for the society pressuring them to win back their honour, the situation wouldn't have occurred. If the authoritative figures, such as the policeman upheld his duty and monitored the brothers instead of letting them go, a man who may or may not have been innocent wouldn't have been killed. Oftentimes, humans feel the need to have one specific cause or reason to blame someone but in this story, everyones at fault. It can also be viewed as fate and there was no helping it. Everyone behaved a specific way because it was bound to happen, alluding to the title “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. This would imply that nobody was at blame but it was Santiago Nasar’s fate.
I like how you consider the various possibilities with Divina Flor and Santiago's mother. It seems ironic looking back that Divina Flor has a vision of Santiago coming home and he ends up doing that, and it is certainly an aspect of Magical Realism. It connects with the "Irony trumps everything. Irony doesn't work for everyone." maxim pretty well. What kind of message does the author send with this? It seems that everything came together in the most unexpected way, as if via fate it would happen somehow, but it could have been a happier ending with Santiago coming home alive.
In chapter four, the focus is on the aftermath of Santiago Nasar's murder. The Vicario brothers are in jail, yet they seem to be treated fairly nicely, considering their crime. However, while in jail, both brothers experience horrible bowel movements, of which they believe can be traced to poison; they believed the Arab population in the town was avenging Nasar's death. Their struggles to sleep and eat could be symbolic of how the karma for killing a possibly innocent man was coming back to haunt them. Pedro Vicario even told the narrator, "I was awake for eleven months." (pg. 92) Next the focus turns to Nasar, and the unprofessional way of handling his body. Everything about the days following his murder seemed messy, random, and unplanned, which is exactly the description of the murder on Nasar. First, they didn't have anywhere to momentarily preserve the body, so it lay in an open room, where it was subject to the heat, flies, and the attempted attack by dogs. His body, therefore, began to decompose, and they were forced to do a quick autopsy, where the main doctor was not present. The tools they used weren't meant for this line of work, and the body was ripped and torn. The result, was unnecessary, as the innards and body of Nasar was already ripped on numerous occasions. Also, Nasar's face took on a hostile expression, which could be symbolic of how in the afterlife, Nasar is aware of how people in his town refused to help him in a time of need. Lastly, the focus turns to Angela Vicario, and Bayardo, and their relationship following the murder. Angela was moved away, where she remained an old maid, perfectly content with her hobbies. She continued to state that Nasar was the one who took her virginity, even though many people believed this to be false. Throughout her years, she continued to write to Bayardo, pleading for him back and that she loved him. All of these letters remained unanswered, until one day he appeared at her house. Both had aged not necessarily well, but it appears as if they might get their happy ending. This means, the only one who really suffered for no reason was Nasar.
The last chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, focuses more on the present occurrence of the murder, and Santiago's reaction. It turns out that the family's counselor asked Nasar if he knew that he was going to be killed by the Vicario brothers. Santiago seemed shocked, and left right at once to go home. The thing that I found surprising was that no one tried to stop him and keep him safe. This coincides with how restoring the family honor, even to someone close to Nasar, seems justified. Santiago was even warned by the brothers that they were going to kill him, yet he still seemed very confused and lost. My guess is that he had no idea why he was being targeted at all, considering how he was close with the Vicario brothers, and no one had previously mentioned to him why he was going ot be killed. The chapter then goes into detail about the stabs that Nasar encountered as he tried to make it back into his house; ironically the door was shut off. Nasar received multiple stab wounds, but somehow managed to make it inside before collapsing and dying. Throughout this chapter, there is a sense of dramatic irony, but not in any sense of good humor. It is one of impending doom, as we ourselves as the audience want to help Nasar and tell him what is going on, so that he may hopefully survive, or at least be able to defend himself.
Chapter 4 opens with the priest performing Santiago’s autopsy because the doctor is out of town. It almost goes worse than the actual killing of Santiago by the Vicario brothers. The dogs in the yard start barking and trying to eat the guts of Santiago that have been spilled, but the narrator and Placida Linero lock them up. This is ironic because although his body is saved from the dogs, it suffers almost a worse fate at the hands of the people. Marquez writes, “It was a massacre, performed at the public school with the help of a druggist…” (86). Comparing Santiago’s autopsy to a massacre shows just how brutal it really was. He is presented almost as a sacrifice and reminds the audience of how animals used to be sacrificed to the Gods. This reference symbolizes how the community seemed to have sacrificed Santiago in order to rid themselves of their sins. Why else would everyone know about his death and do nothing to stop it? Another symbol following the death of Santiago is the smell that lingers throughout the town long after he is gone. The smell symbolizes guilt and remorse that start to show not only in the Vicario brothers, but within all the townspeople who partook in the killing, however indirect. The twins are unable to get rid of the smell and are forced to endure diarrhea almost as a punishment for taking an innocent man’s life. The smell seems to stick in the entire town, showing how everyone is guilty of the killing, not just the brothers. There were many examples of magical realism in Chapter 4 as well. Santiago’s lingering smell in the jail cell with the Vicario brothers, as well as the idea that the ghost of his wife is raiding Xius’s house, are just two examples of Marquez adding strange aspects to his writing. The narrator’s dream about the child eating the corn also contributes to the magical realism of the story, since dreams and reality tend to intertwine with one another.
really like your post and how you discussed the brutality of Santiago’s death. You bring up a very interesting point, when saying that his death is a sacrifice. I never thought of it that way but it definitely could make sense. Although it was a sacrifice, everyone is still guilty because they did nothing to stop it from occurring. Magical realism is very evident especially in this chapter. To what extent do you think magical realism has an affect on the readers in chapter 4, and to what extent does it change the perspective of the story?
In the fourth chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez uses the reaction after Santiago Nasar's death to show the issues within the community.
With Santiago Nasar's body in her house, Plácida Linero's dogs were howling. At one point, they are put in a different room, and then in the stables, but the smell of Santiago Nasar's body drives them to escape. Eventually, García Márquez writes, “'Those shitty dogs!' she shouted. 'Kill them!'”(85). The community where Santiago Nasar lived only failed to protect once, when Santiago Nasar died, just as Plácida Linero only lost her patience with her dogs once. García Márquez wrote that, “no one knew how, they escaped from where they were”(85), much like how no one knew quite how Santiago Nasar died.
Later, when Santiago's body is being examined, García Márquez writes that, “It was a massacre, performed at the public school with the help of the druggist, who took notes, and a first-year medical student who was here on vacation. They had only a few instruments for minor surgery available and the rest were craftsmen's tools”(86). The autopsy of Santiago Nasar was indicant of the entire community, as many were angered at Santiago's death but were ill equipped to deal with the result. It is interesting that there was a medical student on vacation, as if the closest thing to authority is still only temporary, much like the bishop who merely sails past.
This is a really interesting analysis! I like how you related the killing of the dogs to be symbolic of the community. Another aspect I found intriguing was when the narrator says, “ They’d brought in fans from the bedrooms and some neighbouring houses, but there were so many people anxious to see it that they had to push back the furniture..” (84). Even after his death, instead of the community feeling remorse for their lack of action, they continue to treat it as a public spectacle. They seem too detached to realise that Santiago Nasar was a part of the community and treat him as an object or a surreal experience. The community almost finds it hard to empathise with their family, maybe because they're rich. It can relate to modern culture, in relation to celebrities where there is a lack of privacy and rather than treating them as humans who are doing their job, their lives because a public spectacle.
One thing I noticed in the fourth chapter is the continuation of gender roles. We see the sexism of this era develope as many people feel sorry for Bayardo after he had to leave his fiance. However, not one person bats an eye at Angela after her mother beats her, leaving her face bruised and scarred, and she is dishonored for having premarital sex. In addition, no one thinks the narrator is in the wrong when he is turned down for sex because he “smells like Santiago” Another thing I found interesting in this chapter was the scene where Santiago’s body is examined. Considering this is a true story, this passage speaks a lot about this time period. The autopsy is performed carelessly by inexperienced doctors. Without coming to a conclusion, the body is buried. The carelessness we see here is very similar to the way everyone in the town ignores the fact that Santiago is going to be murdered. These two scenes brought me me to the conclusion that the people in this time period were big believers in fate. If this were true, it would make a little sense that no one would do anything about the rumor of Santiago being killed because they would believe that it was bound to happen. In addition, the autopsy of the body would be unimportant because whatever happened already happened and can not be changed.
In each chapter of “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” the same story of the death of Santiago Nassar is told, but each time with different and more information about it. Chapter 5 reveals the events that occurred just before his death to show just how preventable the murder actually was. Just before Santiago is killed, the author writes about large crowds gathering in the square, showing that the townspeople almost consider themselves bystanders or observers on the murder and don’t have the power to stop the Vicario brothers. The audience also gets a closer look into the narrator’s role in the murder. Because he is part of the community, he must have been a bystander as well, but the reader knows little about him, and he remains very mysterious throughout the entire book. Even twenty years later, the narrator still is unable to shed any light on the murder. And the story entirely lacks a conclusion—the reader gets the idea that the narrator is finally going to reveal who really took Angela’s virginity or the full details of what happened that day. However, it is never actually is revealed. Santiago’s innocence is never confirmed, although it is merely hinted at. The smell is brought back as a symbol again on the second to last page. It would have been the first reference to the smell symbolizing remorse and regret if put in chronological order. Argenida Lanao said, “‘What I’ll never forget was the terrible smell…” (142), showing how even before he had died, his smell of death was starting to spread regret and remorse throughout the town.
In the fifth chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez writes, “'It's serious,' Cristo Bedoya told her. 'They're looking for him to kill him.' Victoria Guzman forgot her innocence. 'Those poor boys won't kill anybody,' she said. 'They've been drinking since Saturday,' Cristo Bedoya said. 'That's just it,' she replied. 'There's no drunk in the world who'll eat his own crap'”(124). Victoria Guzman refuses to believe that the Vicario twins are going to kill Santiago, which is in line with how one might say to kill another but in reality it is a hyperbole. Being told someone is about to die is almost like the idea of someone calling and saying they are being eaten by a bear. The idea is so far from the norm that it is difficult to entertain it seriously at first. Looking back, the Vicario brothers gave everyone so much opportunity to stop them and drank so much beforehand that perhaps they drank to forget the woes they were to commit rather than the woe they had experienced at that point in time.
Source on bear reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026914/Mum-bear-eating--Final-phone-calls-woman-19-eaten-alive-brown-bear-cubs.html
I agree with your point that the Vicar brothers had given everybody enough notice to stop them from carrying out the murder, even drinking enough to try forgetting their woes. Do you think that this is evidence that the brothers did not actually want to murder Santiago, and that they were only doing it because they felt the need to win back the honour of their family? Considering that this book takes place in the '50's, where men were expected to fulfill the stereotypical gender roles that were given to them, do you think that the Vicario brothers murdering Santiago was a way of showing the community that they weren't weak, especially with their excessive drinking the previous night before?
One thing that is discussed in the final chapter is that there are no clues that Santiago Nasar took Angela’s virginity and it is probable that he died without knowing why he was being killed. After reading about this it helped me better understand the passiveness of the people in the town when the rumor of the murder was passed around. Since, Santiago and Angela were never seen together, it seemed unlikely that he would have taken her virginity. The people must have trusted that the Vicario brothers would understand this logic as well. Another thing we learn in the fifth chapter is that Yamil Shaium was planning on warning Santiago of the rumor of his murder. This contributes to the theory of fate. Much like the letter that Santiago did not come across before he was murdered, there were a few people trying to warn him. The fact that he just missed both of these warning suggests that maybe he was bound to die. In addition, the fact that his mother had closed the front door, trapping him in front of his house to be stabbed by the brothers repeatedly, suggests the same idea.
I really like how you connected this chapter back to fate. Do you think that the idea of Machismo can take away from the concept of fate in this book? I think that the men were so caught up in protecting their honor, that they forgot to let fate take care of things sometimes. This leads to irony because the town seems to be very religious, yet they partake in major sins. The murder of Santiago Nasar was a prime example how the need to protect one’s honor can lead to destructable decision making that contradicts religious beliefs.
In the fourth chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez writes about the events that follow up the murder of Santiago Nasar. One thing that I found interesting about this chapter was the encounter between the narrator and Maria. The narrator describes that he felt himself, “…[S]inking into the delights of the quicksand of her tenderness. But suddenly she stopped, cough from far off, and slipped out of my life. “I can’t,” she said. “You smell of him.” Not just I. Everything continued smelling of Santiago Nasar that day…” (Marquez, 90). The part about this encounter that interested me was that Maria tells the narrator that she cannot “behave physically” with him because he has the scent of Santiago Nasar on him. This follows with a description of how everything that day smells of Santiago, including how the Vicario brothers still have his scent on their clothes after killing him. The olfactory imagery in this chapter hints that Santiago’s murder has left a profound effect on the town, even if they seemed like they didn’t care. This is probably due to the fact that, although everybody in the town knew that he was going to be murdered, everyone was surprised that it actually happened because they assumed that word would reach him, somehow. Therefore, his scent lingering around the town is symbolic of the guilt that they might feel, because even though Santiago himself is gone, is essence remains in the town, reminding the villagers of their wrongdoing.
In the final chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez describes the profound effect that Santiago’s murder had on the town. To highlight the effect of what happened, Marquez uses irony to describe the attitude that the townspeople had about the murder. The narrator describes in the opening lines of the chapter, “For years we couldn’t talk about anything else. Our daily conduct, dominated then by so many linear habits, had suddenly began to spin around a single common anxiety” (Marquez, 113). The irony in the narrator’s description is that he describes how nobody can talk about anything else but the murder for the years that followed, and that it caused lots of guilt amongst the townspeople, despite the fact that everybody remained silent before Santiago was murdered, even though they all knew that it was going to happen, and nobody seemed to really care. The irony continues throughout the chapter because the narrator describes that many people died of guilt and that everybody had something to say and begged to testify in court about the murder, even though when word had reached all of them about what was to happen, nobody was willing to openly discuss what was about to happen. This goes to show that people do not think about the consequences of their actions, until something terrible has happened. This is emphasized with the events of this book, and the murder of Kitty Genovese, whose murder is the basis for this story. Therefore, Marquez writes this book to express that if you know something bad is about to happen, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make sure that something is done about it as quickly as possible.
I agree with you about how ironic it was for the townspeople to feel so much grief afterwards, but didn't do anything during the crime. I feel like the grieving people went through was more of a selfish grieving; they were more disappointed in themselves for being indirectly to blame for the murder than the actual murder.
When reading the first chapter of Chronicles of a Death Foretold, the repeated use of tree imagery stood out to me, which alludes to the title and serves as an omen, employing the genre of magical realism. The story starts of with, “She had a well-earned reputation as an accurate interpreter of other people’s dreams, provided they told her before eating, but she hadn't noticed any ominous augury in those two dreams of her son’s, or in the other dreams of trees he’d described to her on the mornings preceding his death.” (Marquez pg 2). The fact that she had a well earned reputation as a dream interpreter, something that is considered as false or a hoax profession, reflects the values of the society this story was set in. It characterises them to be more emotional rather than intellectual. It also creates irony and alludes to the title because Nasar’s mother was able to recognise the omens or interpret other people’s dreams perfectly, but when it came to her own son she failed. The trees were a recurring symbol is his dreams and clearly held some significance, such an obvious fact being ignored adds to the ‘foretold death’.
ReplyDeleteOn page 11 it says that, “… and he constructed a wooden balcony that overlooked the almond trees on the square, where Plácida Linero would sit on March afternoons to console herself for her solitude. (Marquez pg 10-11). The almond trees were of significance to Linero, considering the amount of time she must have spent there grieving, so for her to ignore the symbolism presented in the beginning in Nasar’s dream about being in a tinfoil airplane and flying through almond trees without bumping into anything, should have sparked her interest. After looking up the significance of an almond tree, it said that they're usually used to denote happiness, joy, prosperity and honour. The dream can be interpreted as foreshadowing because Nasar was in a tinfoil airplane, which was “flying through the almond trees without bumping anything”, is a calamity waiting to occur because he could have crashed into the trees anytime. It is a risky situation and could signify how he was living his life like any other day and did not expect any danger from his surroundings, even though the situation itself was on the verge of becoming a disaster.
Would you say that sailing through the almond trees could also be that Nasar was unable to stop and enjoy happiness that day and how he was being killed, possibly wrongly(at least, García Marquez portrays it as killing the scapegoat)? As if the almond trees are all the happiness and possible joys that Nasar will miss?
DeleteAfter reading just the first sentence of the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the reader is told that the main character, Santiago Nasar, was murdered. As one reads on, they learn practically the whole town knew of his fate, but no one notifies him. The narrator explains, “No one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t,” (García Márquez 20). Still, it’s quite ridiculous that no one even attempted to confirm that he’s safe. Out of all the excuses for not informing Santiago, I thought Divina Flor’s was the most dismissible. On the morning of Santiago’s murder, he grabs Divina and comments, “‘The time has come for your to be tamed,’” (García Márquez 9). Later, Divina explains to the narrator that she “…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,” (García Márquez 13). Divina could have kept him in the dark out of spite for his rude comment, but I believe it was just her naiveness. But for everyone else, they were just being plain selfish.
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ReplyDeleteOne thing that I found very interesting in chapter one was the weather. The weather seems to be symbolic of the atmosphere and current culture in the book. When Santiago got killed, some remember the weather to be cloudy while others remember it not to be. Victoria Guzman is certain that it did not rain that day. All these different recalls of the weather may be foreshadowing that there will be different views of how Santiago was killed. Whether it was rainy, cloudy or nice out, may represent how people viewed the death. If they remember it as a sad day, then it may have been rainy. If they were not close to Santiago they might not have remembered any rain or clouds that day. There are many other descriptive things in the first chapter which remain unclear. They clearly seem to have symbolic value, but that value is yet to be evident. Another thing I found very interesting, was how Marquez did not hesitate to tell the readers that Santiago dies right away. It clearly is not something that he is trying to hide or make suspenseful. The title of the book is also very deceiving. This is clearly not a chronicle since he dies on the first day and then the story begins to work backwards in some way or another. This story does reflect Marquez’s real life in some ways. He uses the names Luisa and Mercedes which are the actual names of his mother and wife.
ReplyDeleteIn his novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriél García Márquez creates a feeling of discomfort with the casual language surrounding Santiago Nasar's nonchalant steps until death. García Márquez opens the novel with the line “On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty”(García Márquez, 1). The reader might expect García Márquez to explain more of why Nasar was to be killed, or the events leading up to it. In contrast, the author continues with the start of Nasar's day, thus downplaying his death by treating it as common place, but simultaneously emphasizing it because it causes discomfort in the reader's mind. It is reminiscent of Elie Wiesel's novel “Night” when Wiesel speaks of an execution and moves on to the scenery at that moment. García Márquez furthers the casual language when he writes that, “Furthermore: all the many people he ran into after leaving his house at five minutes past six and until he was carved up like a pig an hour later remembered him as being a little sleep but in a good mood, and he remarked to all of them in a casual way that it was a very beautiful day”(García Márquez, 2). García Márquez moves past graphic imagery of Nasar's future to create juxtaposition with the attitudes of all the people in the town who were indifferent towards warning Santiago Nasar. It is ironic that Nasar remarked to so many of a sunny day and that Nasar was in a good mood. Perhaps it was sunny so that there was sufficient light to illuminate the issue of Nasar's death. It highlights García Márquez's portrayal of Nasar as an innocent man who got stuck in the middle of a conflict, and helps the reader sympathize with Nasar. Like the many townspeople who neglected to warn him, the reader knows the murder will happen and will only watch.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that there was a feeling of discomfort during the first couple pages of the book, and especially how this revolved around Santiago and the people. Not only does Santiago seem very relaxed today, he almost appears too relaxed, as it was said that he "took out the bullets" from his gun, a behavior that was unusual for this man considering he had several guns, and slept with a weapon at night. It serves as dramatic irony for the audience because we know that he will be killed and that he should've kept the bullets in the gun. However, do you think that there is another aspect at work here, the so called Magical Realism?
DeleteThe first chapter of this novel is what makes it so unique. It is the only book I have heard of that gives away the ending in the first chapter. I really like the connection we made in class to the murder in this book and the murder of Kitty Genovese. In both cases, I was shocked that no bystanders reported the crime to anyone. However, discussing the topic in class and being able to see the way the people in the book were thinking made it more understandable. None the less, it is still hard to believe that not one person would make an effort to stop either of these crimes. In both of these cases I think the time period plays a big role in the lack of help from witnesses. Although today we may still see a number of bystanders act this way, I think it is more likely for at least one of them to come out and do something for the victim. One reason why bystanders may decide not to interact that we talked about in class was the idea of racial prejudice. I think this is present in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. “He had turned twenty-one the last week in January, and he was slim and pale and had his father's eyelids and curly hair ...They spoke Arabic between themselves, but not in front of Plácida Linero, so that she wouldn't feel excluded” (1.8). We know that Santiago is of Arabic descent and that he is in the minority in his town. For this reason, the idea of an Arab being killed may not have affected the majority of the people.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that this is one of the only books that gives away the ending in the first chapter. I agree that it is the reason that this book is so unique. Why do you think Marquez wrote this way instead of following the trend of letting the story play out slowly, with everything being revealed at the end? What effect do you think this is meant to have on the reader?
DeleteIn "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," I found it very interesting how different people reacted to the news that Santaiago Nasar would be killed. It didn't appear to be a secret, since so many people were aware of the future murder. It was a small community, very close, so it would be assumed that everyone would know about such an event. However, it is strange that no one seemed willing to tell Santiago. Victoria and her daughter, of which Santiago might have had a romantic relationship with the latter, did not seem compelled to tell him. Especially Victoria, who recalled his name without affection. Others who knew about the murder included those who were at the dock to welcome the bishop. The reporter/narrator, was also there with his sister, fellow friend, and Santaigo. The remaining people all seemed to know about the murder, but gave the excuses, "He seemed safe," or "it seemed impossible," thereby avoiding the situation of saving a person's life. At this point of the story, it is still unsure of why the Vicario brothers are focusing on Santiago. Two people who seemed willing to help were the reporter's mother and sister. His sister said, having known Santiago would've been killed, would have dragged him to her house herself. It was apparent that there were people who cared for him, but no one seemed willing to speak up. This is a great indicator of the connection between this book and the real life murder of Kitty Genovese, and how despite the tremendous number of witnesses and bystanders, not one person was successful in calling for help.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I noticed when reading the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold is that the author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, focuses on time very specifically. In the first paragraph, Garcia mentions that Santiago woke up at 5:30 a.m., that he was killed on a Monday, and that the narrator is speaking from almost 30 years in the future. It seems like the author is trying to be very specific with time and the structure of the novel so far was very interesting. The way it is structured almost suggests that the events of Santiago’s death are going to be unclear in the upcoming chapters, and he is trying to connect his various viewpoints with time. Another thing I notices about the first chapter was the immediate juxtaposition Marquez used when describing the trees Santiago was dreaming about. Trees represent nature and peaceful scenery and are juxtaposed with the killing that is described following it. The fact that Santiago was dreaming about trees is interesting as well—could this have some connection to his death that is revealed later in the book? After doing research on the author, I found that Marquez developed the style of magical realism, a genre of writing that incorporates magical elements into an otherwise realistic story. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is actually based on the true story of a murder that occurred in Sucre, Colombia, in 1951. He uses this magical realism to incorporate dreams, omens, and coincidences into the realistic aspects of the story.
ReplyDeleteIn Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, one part of the story that I found to be interesting was that, in addition to the entire town seeming to know that Santiago was going to be murdered and even still not letting him know, was that he is a mixed-heritage person, with his father being Arab and his mother being Columbian. This may have had a part in his murder because, at the time, interracial unions were generally frowned upon, and the offspring produced from the union were often rejected by both of their communities because they did not solely belong to either culture. This kind of thinking was especially dominant in villages, and being that this story takes place in a village, Santiago’s murder could have been prompted by his mixed-heritage, which is also proven because the reader is also told that his mother is left alive, stated when the narrator states that he asked his mother about her son twenty-seven weeks after he was murdered, and his father is mentioned to have died before the events of the novel take place. Therefore, by killing off Santiago, the villagers would no longer have any more “outsiders” living amongst their village. Another reason that this can be supported is because Marquez writes that Santiago and his father spoke Arabic amongst themselves when they were alone, but whenever they were with Santiago’s mother, they spoke in Spanish so that she would not feel left out of the conversation. Speaking a language that is not the dominant language of the society that you live in plays a big part in being perceived as an outsider, which only adds on to the possibility that Santiago’s mixed-race background could have contributed to his murder.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that his Arabic/Columbian background could've had a part in his murder. Even though it wasn't the brothers' main motive, I bet his mixed heritage only added fuel to the fire.
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ReplyDeleteWithin chapter 2, we see the characterization of Bayardo. He seems deeply in love with her as he takes deep measures to show his love for her. He does this by buying all the raffle tickets she is selling. He also does whatever it takes to buy the house from the widower that Angela loves. By doing these things we can infer that Bayardo is a man with quite a deal of wealth. Aside from Bayardo, we can see that the Vicarios are a very close knit and protective family. Her brothers take a stand for her and make sure that Bayardo is deeply in love with Angela before they go on to get married. Within the Vicario family, they seem to clearly follow gender roles of that time. That is men were supposed to be wealthy, handsome and proper while women were raised to get married. That shows that men are very independent while women are dependent on a man to take care of them. Bayardo clearly fits this stereotype which is why Angela’s parents deeply favor and support this marriage. The last thing that was very interesting during this chapter is the fact that Angela lies about who took her virginity. It becomes apparent that it was not Santiago. However we do not understand the reasoning behind Angela’s lie, and we also do not know who actually took her virginity at this point.
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ReplyDeleteA huge chunk of chapter 2 is focused around characterising the Vicario family and Bayardo San Román, along with describing the events leading up to their marriage. A quote in particular which stood out to me was, “ It was Angela Vicario who didn't want to marry him. “He seemed too much of a man for me,” she told me. Besides Bayado San Román hadn't even tried to court her, but had bewitched the family with his charm” (2. pg 37).The narrator tells the audience that Angela wasn't interested in Román and was forced to marry him, which is justified because he hadn't even courted her. By saying that he had only bewitched the family, shows cultural values that during those times, arranged marriages were the norm and the family had more say than the person getting married. It didn't matter whether Angela liked him or not, it was the family which was to be wooed. The narrator then states that Román had bewitched the family with his charm, and it could be an exaggeration of Román’s suave personality or in the literal sense that he had actually put them in a state of trance. The casual tone of the narration and the genre of the book makes him bewitching the town seem like a plausible thought too. If the literal translation is used, it can be seen elsewhere in the chapter too, for example when he buys Xius’s house and when the narrator’s mother wrote to him saying, “The strange man is called Bayado San Román , and everybody says he’s enchanting, but I haven't seen him.” (2. pg 28)
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 3, the narration is set during the morning when Pedro and Pablo were informing the town of the crime they were about to commit. It was interesting when Clotilde Almenta says, “That’s not why,” said Clotilde Armenia. “It’s to spare those boys from the horrible duty that’s fallen on them.” and “Because she’d sensed it. She was certain that the Vicario brothers were not as eager to carry out the sentence as to find someone who would do them the favor of stopping them. But Coloner Aponte was at peace with his soul” (3. pg 65) The society in which they were raised, valued honour and dignity more than another person’s life and Clotilde along with the Vicario family were well aware of it. The only way they would win back their honour and not be looked down by others was if they served justice to the perpetrator. Many people said so themselves, for example when Pablo Vicario’s future wife, Prudencia Cortes was asked about the events she said, “I knew what they were up to,..and I didn't only agree, I never would have married him if he hadn't done what a man should do.”. (3. pg 72). She didn't care that he would be killing someone else, but rather that he had protected his family’s dignity. It says a lot about the community along with its priorities, and human nature.It shows the importance and value placed upon someone’s image and raises the question of whether keeping a reputable image is most important in society, despite its requirements?
ReplyDeleteThe brother did not want to carry out their duty either. The narrator says that Pablo later told him: “So he put the knife in his hand and dragged him off almost by force in search of their sister’s lost honor.” (3. pg 70) in regards to his brother, Pedro. They were desperately hoping someone would have stopped them. This is why they told the whole town this. After their first set of knives were taken, they had to go get new ones because it would seem like they didn't put too much effort. It had to seem as though they were trying their utmost best. They wanted to give the public the idea that they did all they could in their power to try kill Santiago, but the police just didn't allow it. This way, they would have won back their honour and the police were doing their job. The news was so widespread, that the people assumed someone would’ve gotten it under control but due to that assumption, no one did a thing.
Chapter 2 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold describes the events that lead up to the Vicario twins' motive for killing Santiago Nasar. The narrator opens the chapter with an introduction of a new character: a wealthy man named Bayardo San Román who came all the way to their small town to find a wife. The second Bayardo sees Angela Vicario, he wants to marry her, but Angela found Bayardo to be "'too much of a man,’” for her (García Márquez 34). Her mother dismissed her daughter’s lack of requited love by telling her, “‘Love can be learned too,’’” (García Márquez 35). In this culture and time period, arranged marriages were normal, and there was almost always no real love, at least not at first. Most arranged marriages were for political or social status gain, and in the Vicario’s case, it was financial gain, for Bayardo was rich. While Angela’s distaste for Bayardo is apparent, so is Bayardo’s love for her. After he learns what house she likes, he continues to beg the owner for it, offering him thousands of pesos for it. Though, his love is soon diminished after he figures out she is not a virgin, and throws her back to her family. When Angela’s brothers find out what happened, they ask who it was that stole her virginity, to which she replies, “‘Santiago Nasar’” (García Márquez 47). And from then on, the Vicario twins are set on killing the alleged man who stole their family’s honor.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 3 goes to show how people's preconceived view of people is very distinct and hardly changes. The Vicario brothers had always been good people, so when they started acting suspicious, no one really said anything because they did not think much of it. However, people should understand that everyone can change, especially for extreme measures. Clothlide seems to be the only one who suspects something but then when she tells her husband he does believe her. This can go back to gender roles and how women can easily be overviewed by men. Even though the knives were eventually taken away from the brothers, that still did not stop then. More extreme measures should have been taken to prevent the brothers from committing murder. Marquez does give the readers a little sense of confusion. It did not seem like the book was in chronological order since we knew that Santiago got murdered right away. However in this chapter we saw the clear order of all the things that took place leading up to his death. It is also confusing that we do not know who the narrator is. Sometimes he seems to be apart of the story and sometimes he seems to be telling the story from the view of a third person. The focus shifts to a different character every chapter which may also lead to confusion as well.
I found it interesting when you said that perhaps finding out about Angela’s impurity caused the Vicario brothers to change and therefore damage their reputation as good people. Another way the reader could look at this situation is that maybe the brothers had such a great reputation because they protected their families honor. Although the murder of Santiago would likely make people view the brothers differently, I don’t believe they needed to change in order to kill him. Since family honor is such a priority for them, I believe they would have been able to do this all along, if a crisis such as Angela's had come about.
DeleteChapter 3 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold shows more of the Vicario brothers’ side of the murder. Though Pedro and Pablo seem cocky enough to tell the whole town of their plan, one of the brothers show signs of cowardice. Pedro was the one who created the plan to kill Santiago, but once the day came to kill actually go through with the plan, he tried to get out of it. Pedro told Pablo to go on without him, for he cannot pee, but Pablo stayed and waited around then “…dragged him off almost by force in a search of their sister’s lost honor,” (García Márquez 61). Pablo was probably the most motivated out of the two of them because, even though they both had their family’s honor hanging over their head, Pablo’s future wife “‘would never have married him if hadn’t done what a man should do,’” (García Márquez 66). Honor and dignity were important to this culture at the time, and some people went as far as murder just to restore it.
ReplyDeleteGabriel Garcia Marquez uses the second chapter to introduce Bayardo San Roman’s story and explain the motive for killing Santiago Nasar. However, the reader learns that he is not guilty of taking Angela’s virginity. In addition, gender roles come into play. It is understandable for when Angela is abandoned by her new husband when he learns that she is not a virgin. It does not even seem like a huge deal when her mother beats her for having premarital sex. The disturbing part is that it is acceptable for men to do whatever they want. We see this when the narrator, Santiago, Luis Enrique, and Cristo are at a whorehouse. In addition, Angela has no control over the fate of her marriage. It is clear she does not want to marry Bayardo. In attempt to urge Angela’s family to approve him as her husband he demonstrates how much money he has. The reader becomes aware that Bayardo is a very wealthy man when he buys all of the raffle tickets Angela is selling and he pays extra to get the specific house she wants. So far it is hard to tell if he does this thing out of love for Angela or because he is using his wealth to force her to be his wife. Regardless of his intentions, Angela ends up marrying him. It is likely that the parents had a huge say in the fate of their daughter’s marriage. For this reason, it comes to our attention that arranged marriages were common in this time period.
ReplyDeleteIn the third chapter, we learn about Pablo and Pedro Vicario and the events they were involved with leading up to the murder of Santiago. I found it interesting that Gabriel Garcia Marquez chose this passage as the third passage because it is chronologically out of order. The book begins with the day of Santiago’s death and the third chapter is told from the point of view from the Vicario brothers, the day before Santiago is murdered. I think Marquez chose to tell the story out of order to create a tone of confusion which is present as well in the town while these events are taking place. One motif that come into play in this chapter is the idea of honor. The Vicario brothers make the decision to kill Santiago simply to defend their sister’s honor. It is obvious that honor is something very important in their family because upon hearing Santiago’s name from Angela’s lips, the brothers immediately grab knives. In fact, honor is so important to them, they are willing to kill a man to retain it. We know this is a difficult task for the brother’s becasue many of the townspeople did not believe the rumor because the brothers were such good kids. In addition, they need to intoxicate themselves in order to carry out the task.
ReplyDeleteChapter two explained the wedding in detail, but it also helped characterize the characters in the story. Firstly, we become very familiar with the narrator himself, seeing as how he mentions himself on occasion in this chapter. He is able to throw little facts about himself without the story being paused, yet the mood of the story changes. With Bayardo, there are several legends that follow him, mostly having to do with his innate talents. Bayardo comes across as mysterious, and we learn that several characters including the narrator really like Bayardo. However, the one person he cares about-Angela, doesn't seem to care for him at all. Looking into their marriage, its easy to see how it could be compared to an arranged marriage, as Angela had little to no say in what she wanted. Even her mother says to her, "Love can be learned too." (pg.38)
ReplyDeleteIn chapter three, we learn about the twin brothers, and the plans and measures they took the day they killed Santiago Nasar. Once their sister Angela let slip that Santiago was the one who had taken her virginity, the boys set out to kill him. What's interesting is that just a few hours earlier, they had been celebrating and talking with Santiago, so this shows that the three of them had to be at least closely acquainted with. However, they are willing the next day to kill this man. Why? The answer lies somewhere in the family honor ideal, and how family honor trumps everything else in the world. It also is so influential on the twins, that in court they admitted that they would carry out the act again. Therefore, it would be assumed that the twins were willing to carry out such a heinous act. This is not true, when looking at how the twins behaved later that morning. They openly stated that they would kill Santiago Nasar, and yet they needed alcohol to keep "motivated." Seen by others who were with them that day, the twins seemed relieved when Colonel Aponte took away their knives. Looking at this, it appears that the twins were not as motivated as it seemed. This was most likely carried out because there was a sense of duty to their family to restore their family's honor. The twins, according to witnesses, were sweet and good natured.
ReplyDeleteChapter 2 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold strays from the story of Santiago Nasar’s death and focuses more on Angela Vicario, the sister of the two men who murdered him. In this chapter, Márquez describes Angela’s relationship with Bayardo San Román, a wealthy man in search of a bride, in order to emphasize gender roles during the time period. Márquez writes, “The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married. They knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace, wash and iron, make artificial flowers and fancy candy, and write engagement announcements” (34). There appears to be an explicit difference between the roles of men and women in society at the time. While men were expected to be strong and powerful and commanding, women were brought up learning things that would make them a “good” wife someday, such as sewing and cleaning. Within the confines of their own home, women had little say and were expected to devote themselves to their families and husbands. Women were also expected to remain pure and abstinent before marriage. After Bayardo leaves Angela and her mother finds out about her premarital sex, she beats her own daughter ruthlessly. Angela recalled, “‘The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me” (52). Angela is punished severely for having premarital sex; her mother sees it as her having ruined her changes of ever marrying well and dishonoring her family. However, Bayardo dumping Angela back off at her house after finding out that she isn’t a virgin is apparently completely acceptable. This shows how men courted women at the time not because of love, but to demonstrate their wealth and power and exert dominance over them. By “returning” his bride for not being pure, Bayardo is enforcing the idea that men and women were considered extremely unequal and treated very differently during the time period.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like during the time period, men and women only married out of convenience and not true love. However, in chapter 2 there is a glimpse of a relationship that may not have been like this at all. Xius, the widower who owned the farmhouse that Bayardo bought from him, seemed to have a relationship with his wife that made both of them happy. Xius told Bayardo, “‘You young people don’t understand the motives of the heart” (40). Xius’s story of his wife is an exception to the “normal” relationship at the time; In essence, marriage only occurred for utilitarian purposes and each gender existed only to benefit the other.
In the second chapter of his novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez tells of how Bayardo San Román purchased a house from a widower. García Márquez writes that San Román offers the widower so much money that the widower cannot logically refuse it, yet dies of a broken heart because the sale is so forced(40-41). García Márquez writes, “He was healthier than the rest of us, but when you listened with the stethoscope you could hear the tears bubbling inside his heart”(41). García Márquez uses powerful imagery to cast a negative connotation on San Román for being so forceful and not accepting “no” for an answer. The imagery is a great and obvious example of the maxim “it's never just heart disease and rarely just illness”. It is interesting that San Román bought the house simply on Angela's offhand statement that it is the prettiest in town. It seems that he was going to great lengths to maintain an appearance of all capable and perfect, as if San Román had something to hide.
ReplyDeleteIn the third chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez writes of how the narrator's siblings reacted to the idea that Santiago Nasar was going to be killed. The author writes, “… doesn't remember it. 'But even if I did remember, I wouldn't have believed it,' he told me many times. 'Who the fuck would ever think that the twins would kill anyone, much less with a pig knife!'”(79-80). The narrator's brother is incredulous when he looks back and considers if he would have believed it. It is not often that a person is told of an impending murder, and there is no automatic, practiced reaction to this. Sometimes, a mother might say that she would like to kill her one year old for getting up in the middle of the night and awakening her as well, but that is not a serious thing. Thus, it is shown that the Vicario brothers were not known for anything unusual as the narrator's brother still seems a bit shocked.
I really liked your breakdown of chapter 2, and how this part of the story portrayed Bayardo negatively. Firstly, although he appears initially to be a nice man, he also appears to be negligent in terms of a woman's right and opinion. He stated that when he first saw her, he was going to marry her. He then continues to impress Angela's parents, instead of impressing Angela herself. Because of this, and the culture at the time, Angela is pressured to marry this man, who she even said had scary golden eyes. He doesn't seem to take into account her feelings, even when he buys the house that she said she liked. To me, Bayardo seemed more like he was trying to maintain his own appearance of power and money. He persuaded the widower to take the money in exchange for this house, and it was evident that the widower's feelings were not taken into account because he continually pressured the old man to give him the house with an immense of money. The widower knows he needs the money, but his heart lies with the house. Bayardo created enormous stress on the widower, which further implies how he seems to only be looking out for himself.
DeleteChapter 3 of the book describes the wedding night before Santiago’s death. This chapter should come before chapter 1 chronologically, but mixing up the order of the chapters reflects the complexity and mystery of the whole situation. It adds confusion as the first chapter talks about the morning of Santiago’s death, while the third chapter goes back to the night before. One concept that Marquez explores in this chapter is the idea of honor. When the Vicario brothers kill Santiago, it is justified by the fact that they are protecting their sister. In their eyes, they are serving justice and protecting their family; they blame Santiago for what happened to Angela. By choosing something as severe as murder, their actions reflect the severity of the oppression of women at the time as well. They justify their crime with the fact that they are covering up for Angela’s scandal, but in reality the scandal ends up forcing them to leave town anyways.
ReplyDeleteThe town seems like it is divided among people with varying levels of awareness about Santiago’s death. Either people already know about his death and believe it is going to happen (and do nothing to stop it), or they just think the brothers are joking and don’t take it seriously. The narrator appears to believe that the Vicario brothers are good people, referring to them as so several times. The murder took time, planning, and detail, instead of just an impulsive kill, which seems to make the murder more acceptable. In fact, a lot of people just accept his death, and this might have to do with social class. Santiago is part of the upper class, while people around him live in poverty. This might be why people condone the murder and accept it willingly; he most likely was a target of suspicion already.
In the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez uses irony to highlight the situation with Angela’s actions causing her family to have a mark of shame on it because of her having physical relations with a man before she is married. The irony in the situation is that when Angela, a woman, is discovered to not be a virgin after she is married, her husband leaves her and she is beaten severely by her mother in addition to her divorce. However, when Santiago, Luis Enrique, Cristo, and the narrator are at the brothel, engaged in trysts with various women despite being engaged to other women, nobody says anything against this because they are all men, and therefore their conduct is not as scrutinized, although this is also because the women they are involved with are prostitutes, therefore nobody really cares about them. Marquez writes this hypocrisy to highlight the double standards and unjust ways of the community, where a woman’s conduct is scrutinized more than a man’s, and where if a man engages himself with prostitutes, nobody really cares, but if he has relations with a woman of higher societal ranking, that’s the only time people really begin to care, and even in that situation, revenge is only done for the avengers’ family honour, not to get justice for doing wrong unto one’s family. The repetition of honour emphasizes that this is what the community is based on, and that people will go the most extreme lengths in order to be positively perceived by their community.
ReplyDeleteReally great analysis! I find the character of Maria Cervantes very interesting because she doesn't fit the ideal woman, and in that regards might even be considered more masculine. She works at a brothel which implies that she too has engaged in activity with several men or women. The narrator says, “It was she who did away with my generation’s virginity” (74). She’s almost like a figure the males look up to and admire, which is ironic because they treat her with more respect than Bayardo does after finding out about Angela’s virginity. It is as though rather than scrutinising women in general, her position in society is judged and then scrutinised or accepted accordingly. It definitely illustrates the double standards, in not only society but the way the males are brought up to think about such matters.
DeleteThe third chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold emphasizes the concept of honour in the characters’ society. This is revealed because, after Angela’s secret is discovered and her husband divorces her on the night of their wedding, Angela’s brothers decide that they must kill Santiago in order to preserve the honour of their family in order to get back at Santiago because he ruined their sister’s chances of finding a suitable husband for her, therefore they feel that they must take action, even though the three of them were seemingly well-acquainted before the discovery of Angela’s discovery is made. This intense act of vengeance shows how the terrible treatment of women in that time period because everything a woman did related back to her family. However, although Santiago is successfully killed, Angela’s family is still forced to leave the village because the simple act that Angela did led to a series of scandalous events that totally tarnished her family name, therefore forcing them to have to leave and begin a new life somewhere far away. In this way, Marquez shows how society expected honour to be upheld.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the reader gets a gruesome explanation on Santiago’s rotting body and autopsy, and also updates on Angela and Bayardo after their breakup. The priest tells the narrator how he found Bayardo passed out drunk in his home. They got him conscious, only for him to get passed out drunk another time. I believe he was so heartbroken about Angela that he turned to alcohol to drown out the pain. The narrator then explains how Angela actually was in love with Bayardo, and kept writing him letters for years, but never getting any response. In the end, Bayardo finds Angela and brings the hundreds of letters with him, and they’re all unopened. The author never explains why Bayardo never opened them; maybe he was too grief-stricken to read them.
ReplyDeleteOne of the quotes that stood out to me the most in this chapter was, “For the immense majority of people there was only one victim: Bayardo San Román,” (García Márquez 83). I do agree that Bayardo was a victim, but not the only victim of this chronicle. There was Bayardo: a victim of heartbreak, Santiago: a victim of honor, and Angela: a victim of sexist societal norms. Out of all the victims, I believe Angela’s was the most pitiful. Her society’s faith casted her out to be the bad guy—even some online sources like Sparknotes (not the best source, FYI) call Angela an antagonist. We never truly learn if Santiago was the man who stole Angela’s virginity, so some would argue that she was lying, but I don’t think lying makes you out to be an antagonist. Angela was simply a victim of her faith’s beliefs and societal norms.
In Chapter 5 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, we’re finally given the last piece of the book: Santiago’s murder in action. We’re also clued in on other parts leading up to the gruesome murder, such as Cristo, Santiago’s best friend, trying to stop the Vicario brothers by telling them Santiago has a gun. Another key part was that Santiago went to his fiancée’s house just before his murder, and the father warned Santiago of his fate—finally, someone warned him! Santiago then fled to his house as he was being chased by the brothers, only to find the door locked. Earlier, Divina Flor lied to Santiago’s mother, Plácida, and told her Santiago had come in and went upstairs, so when Plácida saw the brothers running towards the house, she shut the door and locked it. At the angle Santiago was running, Plácida didn’t see him, and assumed he was upstairs like Divina said. All this assuming is what lead to the death of Santiago. People assumed the Vicario brothers were lying, other people assumed Santiago was already told, and his own mother assumed Santiago was shouting upstairs, when really he was shouting at the front door as he was being stabbed to death. All in all, I believe the meaning of this story is not assume everything, because it makes an a$$ out of u and me.
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ReplyDeleteThe failure to have dominant figures in the town becomes apparent once again in chapter four. Since the one doctor is gone, Father Amador has to perform the autopsy. They do not perform the autopsy somewhere professional, they only do it at a public school. They also get the help of a first year medical student and a druggist. Neither of these people seem to know very much about the procedure. Hence, they got very broad results, concluding that it was from a very large hemorrhage from one of the fatal wounds. We also see the aftermath that Santiago has left in the town. The narrator will not be slept with just because he supposedly smells like Santiago. The brothers are also disgusted because they think that they smell like him as well. This goes to show how big of a tragedy taking a girl’s virginity is, in a town like this and in this era. The last thing that I found interesting in this chapter, was how Angela was portrayed. It seemed that women were to always be fragile and delicate so that their husbands could take care of them. However, in this chapter, Angela covers her face when leaving town so that no one can see her beatings. She also wore red so that no one would think she was still upset about her past incident. These actions seem to make her independent, which contradicts past conceptions of gender roles where women are only dependent on their husband.
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DeleteI like how you talked about how nobody could get rid of Santiago's smell and how it was repulsive to anyone in contact with it, because I also noticed it as a symbol. I think his smell represents the remorse that the townspeople, as well as the Vicario brothers, felt after his death. It is evident in the brothers' hesitation to kill Santiago that the act didn't sit well with them and left them feeling at least some degree of regret. As far as the rest of the town, although everyone knew about the murder, nobody apparently cared enough to warn Santiago, and in effect they are haunted by the smell of his death as well. I also like how you mentioned Angela and how she is portrayed. However, I disagree with the statement that wearing red makes her seem independent and contradicts gender roles. I think it is actually the opposite; by forcing Angela to wear red, it is almost as if her family is hiding the shame that she has brought upon them. It seems like they are ashamed of her actions and are trying to maintain appearances by acting as though nothing happened and Angela isn't upset at all. In this way, this actually represents societal norms at the time because even in the face of something tragic, a family still tries to maintain a positive front.
DeleteIn chapter 4, the plot discusses the aftermath of Nasar’s death. A line which I found interesting was, “Pura Vicario wrapped the face of the rejected daughter in a cloth so that no one would see the bruises, and she dressed her in bright red so nobody might think she was mourning for her lover.” (4.pg 95). The use of colour imagery and its meaning is juxtaposed in this line.The colour of bruises can range from blue, to purple to red, which arise from ruptured blood vessels. The red is hidden from her face while she wears a bright red dress. It shows the many connotations varied shades of red can have. It is generally used to signify love or pain, but irony arises because in this situation it is to show that she isn't mourning the death of her supposed lover. It depicts how colour symbolism can differ according to cultures.
ReplyDeleteAnother use of colour is when the narrator uses them to describe Angela Vicario’s appearance, “…with steel-rimmed glasses and yellowish-gray hair, and hanging above her head was a cage with a canary that didn't stop singing” (4,pg 102). The use of colours characterise Angela to appear more mature along with being tired and worn down. There is also a caged canary above her, which can symbolise Angela herself after the incident and how she was shunned by society. The canary didn't stop singing, similar to how Angela wouldn't stop writing letters to Bayardo.
Chapter five is the final chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In this chapter, it is clearly finally identified that Santiago Nasar is not the man who took Angela Vicario’s brother. We see this through the narrator’s personal insight. Santiago Nasar truly died without a purpose. This book is yet again not in chronological order since we see the detailed events of Santiago’s death with in this chapter. It seems that many people did try to inform Santiago of the planned murder, however they did not do it quick nor efficiently enough. We learn that Santiago was engaged before he passed away. His wife was very upset with him and he was very confused as to why. This shows that Santiago was very innocent and confused throughout this entire incident. He died a long a painful death as he was stabbed so much that his insides fell out and he was even able to walk several yards after trying to get help before he finally collapsed in a painful matter. This chapter does not depict the entire truth of how the death occurred but more so a scenario in which the death may have occurred. This book pertains events that occurred prior to the death and after the death, but never clearly shows how and why the death occurred.
ReplyDeleteIn the last chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the final few hours of Santiago Nasar’s death are described. A question which came up was who’s actions were the most harmful for Nasar?
ReplyDeleteSantiago’s mother closed the door shut, right when he was about to reach home safely, if she hadn't closed the door he might have survived. However, his mother bolted the door shut because Divina Flor had a “vision” of Santiago coming home and going into his bedroom. She could be lying or it can be an apparition of his death because he was dressed in all white and holding red flowers. In the earlier chapters, Santiago said how he didn't like flowers being cut because it reminded him of death. In the end, Santiago enters his house and dies there so maybe Divina Flor’s vision acted as foreshadowing. If Divina Flor hadn't seen the apparition would Nasar have survived?
Even though Pedro and Pablo committed the crime, are they blameable? If it weren't for the society pressuring them to win back their honour, the situation wouldn't have occurred.
If the authoritative figures, such as the policeman upheld his duty and monitored the brothers instead of letting them go, a man who may or may not have been innocent wouldn't have been killed. Oftentimes, humans feel the need to have one specific cause or reason to blame someone but in this story, everyones at fault. It can also be viewed as fate and there was no helping it. Everyone behaved a specific way because it was bound to happen, alluding to the title “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. This would imply that nobody was at blame but it was Santiago Nasar’s fate.
I like how you consider the various possibilities with Divina Flor and Santiago's mother. It seems ironic looking back that Divina Flor has a vision of Santiago coming home and he ends up doing that, and it is certainly an aspect of Magical Realism. It connects with the "Irony trumps everything. Irony doesn't work for everyone." maxim pretty well. What kind of message does the author send with this? It seems that everything came together in the most unexpected way, as if via fate it would happen somehow, but it could have been a happier ending with Santiago coming home alive.
DeleteIn chapter four, the focus is on the aftermath of Santiago Nasar's murder. The Vicario brothers are in jail, yet they seem to be treated fairly nicely, considering their crime. However, while in jail, both brothers experience horrible bowel movements, of which they believe can be traced to poison; they believed the Arab population in the town was avenging Nasar's death. Their struggles to sleep and eat could be symbolic of how the karma for killing a possibly innocent man was coming back to haunt them. Pedro Vicario even told the narrator, "I was awake for eleven months." (pg. 92) Next the focus turns to Nasar, and the unprofessional way of handling his body. Everything about the days following his murder seemed messy, random, and unplanned, which is exactly the description of the murder on Nasar. First, they didn't have anywhere to momentarily preserve the body, so it lay in an open room, where it was subject to the heat, flies, and the attempted attack by dogs. His body, therefore, began to decompose, and they were forced to do a quick autopsy, where the main doctor was not present. The tools they used weren't meant for this line of work, and the body was ripped and torn. The result, was unnecessary, as the innards and body of Nasar was already ripped on numerous occasions. Also, Nasar's face took on a hostile expression, which could be symbolic of how in the afterlife, Nasar is aware of how people in his town refused to help him in a time of need. Lastly, the focus turns to Angela Vicario, and Bayardo, and their relationship following the murder. Angela was moved away, where she remained an old maid, perfectly content with her hobbies. She continued to state that Nasar was the one who took her virginity, even though many people believed this to be false. Throughout her years, she continued to write to Bayardo, pleading for him back and that she loved him. All of these letters remained unanswered, until one day he appeared at her house. Both had aged not necessarily well, but it appears as if they might get their happy ending. This means, the only one who really suffered for no reason was Nasar.
ReplyDeleteThe last chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, focuses more on the present occurrence of the murder, and Santiago's reaction. It turns out that the family's counselor asked Nasar if he knew that he was going to be killed by the Vicario brothers. Santiago seemed shocked, and left right at once to go home. The thing that I found surprising was that no one tried to stop him and keep him safe. This coincides with how restoring the family honor, even to someone close to Nasar, seems justified. Santiago was even warned by the brothers that they were going to kill him, yet he still seemed very confused and lost. My guess is that he had no idea why he was being targeted at all, considering how he was close with the Vicario brothers, and no one had previously mentioned to him why he was going ot be killed. The chapter then goes into detail about the stabs that Nasar encountered as he tried to make it back into his house; ironically the door was shut off. Nasar received multiple stab wounds, but somehow managed to make it inside before collapsing and dying. Throughout this chapter, there is a sense of dramatic irony, but not in any sense of good humor. It is one of impending doom, as we ourselves as the audience want to help Nasar and tell him what is going on, so that he may hopefully survive, or at least be able to defend himself.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 opens with the priest performing Santiago’s autopsy because the doctor is out of town. It almost goes worse than the actual killing of Santiago by the Vicario brothers. The dogs in the yard start barking and trying to eat the guts of Santiago that have been spilled, but the narrator and Placida Linero lock them up. This is ironic because although his body is saved from the dogs, it suffers almost a worse fate at the hands of the people. Marquez writes, “It was a massacre, performed at the public school with the help of a druggist…” (86). Comparing Santiago’s autopsy to a massacre shows just how brutal it really was. He is presented almost as a sacrifice and reminds the audience of how animals used to be sacrificed to the Gods. This reference symbolizes how the community seemed to have sacrificed Santiago in order to rid themselves of their sins. Why else would everyone know about his death and do nothing to stop it? Another symbol following the death of Santiago is the smell that lingers throughout the town long after he is gone. The smell symbolizes guilt and remorse that start to show not only in the Vicario brothers, but within all the townspeople who partook in the killing, however indirect. The twins are unable to get rid of the smell and are forced to endure diarrhea almost as a punishment for taking an innocent man’s life. The smell seems to stick in the entire town, showing how everyone is guilty of the killing, not just the brothers.
ReplyDeleteThere were many examples of magical realism in Chapter 4 as well. Santiago’s lingering smell in the jail cell with the Vicario brothers, as well as the idea that the ghost of his wife is raiding Xius’s house, are just two examples of Marquez adding strange aspects to his writing. The narrator’s dream about the child eating the corn also contributes to the magical realism of the story, since dreams and reality tend to intertwine with one another.
really like your post and how you discussed the brutality of Santiago’s death. You bring up a very interesting point, when saying that his death is a sacrifice. I never thought of it that way but it definitely could make sense. Although it was a sacrifice, everyone is still guilty because they did nothing to stop it from occurring. Magical realism is very evident especially in this chapter. To what extent do you think magical realism has an affect on the readers in chapter 4, and to what extent does it change the perspective of the story?
DeleteIn the fourth chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez uses the reaction after Santiago Nasar's death to show the issues within the community.
ReplyDeleteWith Santiago Nasar's body in her house, Plácida Linero's dogs were howling. At one point, they are put in a different room, and then in the stables, but the smell of Santiago Nasar's body drives them to escape. Eventually, García Márquez writes, “'Those shitty dogs!' she shouted. 'Kill them!'”(85). The community where Santiago Nasar lived only failed to protect once, when Santiago Nasar died, just as Plácida Linero only lost her patience with her dogs once. García Márquez wrote that, “no one knew how, they escaped from where they were”(85), much like how no one knew quite how Santiago Nasar died.
Later, when Santiago's body is being examined, García Márquez writes that, “It was a massacre, performed at the public school with the help of the druggist, who took notes, and a first-year medical student who was here on vacation. They had only a few instruments for minor surgery available and the rest were craftsmen's tools”(86). The autopsy of Santiago Nasar was indicant of the entire community, as many were angered at Santiago's death but were ill equipped to deal with the result. It is interesting that there was a medical student on vacation, as if the closest thing to authority is still only temporary, much like the bishop who merely sails past.
DeleteThis is a really interesting analysis! I like how you related the killing of the dogs to be symbolic of the community. Another aspect I found intriguing was when the narrator says, “ They’d brought in fans from the bedrooms and some neighbouring houses, but there were so many people anxious to see it that they had to push back the furniture..” (84). Even after his death, instead of the community feeling remorse for their lack of action, they continue to treat it as a public spectacle. They seem too detached to realise that Santiago Nasar was a part of the community and treat him as an object or a surreal experience. The community almost finds it hard to empathise with their family, maybe because they're rich. It can relate to modern culture, in relation to celebrities where there is a lack of privacy and rather than treating them as humans who are doing their job, their lives because a public spectacle.
One thing I noticed in the fourth chapter is the continuation of gender roles. We see the sexism of this era develope as many people feel sorry for Bayardo after he had to leave his fiance. However, not one person bats an eye at Angela after her mother beats her, leaving her face bruised and scarred, and she is dishonored for having premarital sex. In addition, no one thinks the narrator is in the wrong when he is turned down for sex because he “smells like Santiago” Another thing I found interesting in this chapter was the scene where Santiago’s body is examined. Considering this is a true story, this passage speaks a lot about this time period. The autopsy is performed carelessly by inexperienced doctors. Without coming to a conclusion, the body is buried. The carelessness we see here is very similar to the way everyone in the town ignores the fact that Santiago is going to be murdered. These two scenes brought me me to the conclusion that the people in this time period were big believers in fate. If this were true, it would make a little sense that no one would do anything about the rumor of Santiago being killed because they would believe that it was bound to happen. In addition, the autopsy of the body would be unimportant because whatever happened already happened and can not be changed.
ReplyDeleteIn each chapter of “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” the same story of the death of Santiago Nassar is told, but each time with different and more information about it. Chapter 5 reveals the events that occurred just before his death to show just how preventable the murder actually was. Just before Santiago is killed, the author writes about large crowds gathering in the square, showing that the townspeople almost consider themselves bystanders or observers on the murder and don’t have the power to stop the Vicario brothers. The audience also gets a closer look into the narrator’s role in the murder. Because he is part of the community, he must have been a bystander as well, but the reader knows little about him, and he remains very mysterious throughout the entire book. Even twenty years later, the narrator still is unable to shed any light on the murder. And the story entirely lacks a conclusion—the reader gets the idea that the narrator is finally going to reveal who really took Angela’s virginity or the full details of what happened that day. However, it is never actually is revealed. Santiago’s innocence is never confirmed, although it is merely hinted at.
ReplyDeleteThe smell is brought back as a symbol again on the second to last page. It would have been the first reference to the smell symbolizing remorse and regret if put in chronological order. Argenida Lanao said, “‘What I’ll never forget was the terrible smell…” (142), showing how even before he had died, his smell of death was starting to spread regret and remorse throughout the town.
In the fifth chapter of his novel, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, Gabriel García Márquez writes, “'It's serious,' Cristo Bedoya told her. 'They're looking for him to kill him.' Victoria Guzman forgot her innocence. 'Those poor boys won't kill anybody,' she said. 'They've been drinking since Saturday,' Cristo Bedoya said. 'That's just it,' she replied. 'There's no drunk in the world who'll eat his own crap'”(124). Victoria Guzman refuses to believe that the Vicario twins are going to kill Santiago, which is in line with how one might say to kill another but in reality it is a hyperbole. Being told someone is about to die is almost like the idea of someone calling and saying they are being eaten by a bear. The idea is so far from the norm that it is difficult to entertain it seriously at first. Looking back, the Vicario brothers gave everyone so much opportunity to stop them and drank so much beforehand that perhaps they drank to forget the woes they were to commit rather than the woe they had experienced at that point in time.
ReplyDeleteSource on bear reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026914/Mum-bear-eating--Final-phone-calls-woman-19-eaten-alive-brown-bear-cubs.html
I agree with your point that the Vicar brothers had given everybody enough notice to stop them from carrying out the murder, even drinking enough to try forgetting their woes. Do you think that this is evidence that the brothers did not actually want to murder Santiago, and that they were only doing it because they felt the need to win back the honour of their family? Considering that this book takes place in the '50's, where men were expected to fulfill the stereotypical gender roles that were given to them, do you think that the Vicario brothers murdering Santiago was a way of showing the community that they weren't weak, especially with their excessive drinking the previous night before?
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ReplyDeleteOne thing that is discussed in the final chapter is that there are no clues that Santiago Nasar took Angela’s virginity and it is probable that he died without knowing why he was being killed. After reading about this it helped me better understand the passiveness of the people in the town when the rumor of the murder was passed around. Since, Santiago and Angela were never seen together, it seemed unlikely that he would have taken her virginity. The people must have trusted that the Vicario brothers would understand this logic as well. Another thing we learn in the fifth chapter is that Yamil Shaium was planning on warning Santiago of the rumor of his murder. This contributes to the theory of fate. Much like the letter that Santiago did not come across before he was murdered, there were a few people trying to warn him. The fact that he just missed both of these warning suggests that maybe he was bound to die. In addition, the fact that his mother had closed the front door, trapping him in front of his house to be stabbed by the brothers repeatedly, suggests the same idea.
DeleteI really like how you connected this chapter back to fate. Do you think that the idea of Machismo can take away from the concept of fate in this book? I think that the men were so caught up in protecting their honor, that they forgot to let fate take care of things sometimes. This leads to irony because the town seems to be very religious, yet they partake in major sins. The murder of Santiago Nasar was a prime example how the need to protect one’s honor can lead to destructable decision making that contradicts religious beliefs.
In the fourth chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez writes about the events that follow up the murder of Santiago Nasar. One thing that I found interesting about this chapter was the encounter between the narrator and Maria. The narrator describes that he felt himself, “…[S]inking into the delights of the quicksand of her tenderness. But suddenly she stopped, cough from far off, and slipped out of my life. “I can’t,” she said. “You smell of him.” Not just I. Everything continued smelling of Santiago Nasar that day…” (Marquez, 90). The part about this encounter that interested me was that Maria tells the narrator that she cannot “behave physically” with him because he has the scent of Santiago Nasar on him. This follows with a description of how everything that day smells of Santiago, including how the Vicario brothers still have his scent on their clothes after killing him. The olfactory imagery in this chapter hints that Santiago’s murder has left a profound effect on the town, even if they seemed like they didn’t care. This is probably due to the fact that, although everybody in the town knew that he was going to be murdered, everyone was surprised that it actually happened because they assumed that word would reach him, somehow. Therefore, his scent lingering around the town is symbolic of the guilt that they might feel, because even though Santiago himself is gone, is essence remains in the town, reminding the villagers of their wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteIn the final chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez describes the profound effect that Santiago’s murder had on the town. To highlight the effect of what happened, Marquez uses irony to describe the attitude that the townspeople had about the murder. The narrator describes in the opening lines of the chapter, “For years we couldn’t talk about anything else. Our daily conduct, dominated then by so many linear habits, had suddenly began to spin around a single common anxiety” (Marquez, 113). The irony in the narrator’s description is that he describes how nobody can talk about anything else but the murder for the years that followed, and that it caused lots of guilt amongst the townspeople, despite the fact that everybody remained silent before Santiago was murdered, even though they all knew that it was going to happen, and nobody seemed to really care. The irony continues throughout the chapter because the narrator describes that many people died of guilt and that everybody had something to say and begged to testify in court about the murder, even though when word had reached all of them about what was to happen, nobody was willing to openly discuss what was about to happen. This goes to show that people do not think about the consequences of their actions, until something terrible has happened. This is emphasized with the events of this book, and the murder of Kitty Genovese, whose murder is the basis for this story. Therefore, Marquez writes this book to express that if you know something bad is about to happen, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make sure that something is done about it as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how ironic it was for the townspeople to feel so much grief afterwards, but didn't do anything during the crime. I feel like the grieving people went through was more of a selfish grieving; they were more disappointed in themselves for being indirectly to blame for the murder than the actual murder.
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