Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the ineffectiveness of Colombian social institutions in _Chronicles of a Death Foretold_

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novel reconstructing events of one man's unfortunate murder by two men seeking to kill in order to restore honor to their family. Gabriel Garcia Marquez explores various aspects of society in Colombia in this work, including gender roles, machismo, honor killing, and civil and religious institutions. Through the author's portrayals of distinctive religious and civil authorities, Marquez suggests that Colombian society is obsessed with Catholicism to the extent that it dictates all aspects of people's lives, and bashes the ineffectiveness and negligence of the Colombian government in dealing with societal issues. In the novel Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marquez uses the civil and religious authority characters of the Bishop, Colonel Aponte, and Father Amador to represent various institutions within society and criticize the ineffectiveness of the institutions they represent in Colombian society.

First, Marquez accentuates the ineffectiveness, negligence, and irresponsibility of Father Amador, a Catholic Priest of the village and uses him to represent Catholic authorities and demonstrate their evil and insignificance. Father Amador performed the autopsy of Santiago Nasar's murder because the main doctor was absent from the town at that time, and also because he was the only one capable of doing so; however, it is highly ironic that a religious authority figure who is supposedly deeply devoted to Catholicism performed the autopsy as per Catholic tradition, the execution of an autopsy is strongly discouraged. By having Father Amador conduct the autopsy, Marquez emphasizes how Father Amador does not highly regard traditional Catholic values; consequently, he demonstrate...

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...on from Santiago's looming murder, Marquez perhaps bashes how Catholicism in Colombia is in a way an illusion that diverts focus away from real-world problems that plague Colombia, such as its decades of Civil War. Marquez uses the civil authority figure of the mayor, Colonel Aponte, and his ineffectiveness to deal with matters within the town to represent and criticize the ineffectiveness of the Colombian government with respect to real-world problems in Colombia. Finally, Marquez uses Father Amador to represent and bash the insignificance, irresponsibility, and negligence of Catholic authorities in Colombia. Through the characterization and portrayal of these three authority characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Garcia Gabriel Marquez is calling for reform of the Colombian government and a decrease in power and influence of the Catholic Church in Colombia.