Santiago Nasar Guilty

A Guilty Town of Murderous Forces Some people may say that it is true that Pablo and Pedro Vicario are guilty of murdering Santiago Nasar because he is believed to have “deflowered” their sister, Angela. However, this is wrong because the entire Colombian town was focused on honor and machismo, and this resulted in the entire town being guilty. The author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, of the novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, suggests through the main character, Santiago Nasar, that honor and machismo are dangerous qualities to cherish in a town. Also, it is proven that although there is usually one or two murderers, many people, even a whole town, can be involved in one way or another. It is what the people choose to do about the situation,

Machismo is the strong or aggressive pride, as well as the dominance men have over women. Divina Flor, the daughter of the Nasar family’s cook, was proof that Santiago was capable of taking Angela Vicario’s virginity. Divina says, “’It was what he always did when he caught me alone in some corner of the house, but that day I didn’t feel the usual surprise but an awful urge to cry’” (13). Santiago had pride over Divina, and he felt that he had complete and utter control over her, or at least enough to assault in her such ways without her permission. Another example of machismo is when Pedro Vicario confronted Angela about who “deflowered” her. Marquez describes, “Pedro Vicario, the more forceful of the brothers, picked her up by the waist and sat her on the dining room table. ‘All right, girl,’ he said to her, trembling with rage, ‘tell us who it was’” (47). In this moment, Pedro is using his gender status to physically and verbally demand the answer of who took his little sister’s virginity. This is the beginning of the brothers’ rage to kill Santiago Nasar. A final example from the novel of the effect machismo has on Santiago’s murder is that Purisima del Carmen raised her children in different ways. Angela and her sister had been “reared to get married,” while Pedro and Pablo were “brought up to be men” (31). The Vicario brothers have been told

Marquez describes a scene, saying, “Both [Pablo and Pedro Vicario] followed Santiago Nasar with their eyes as he began to cross the square. ‘They looked at him more with pity,’ Clotilde Armenta said” (16). This scenario proves that even the plotters of Santiago’s death felt guilty for their plan of the soon-to-be murder before they had even gone proceeded with it. The twins also described how they couldn’t “rid of the smell” of Santiago, or how they were unable to sleep for three days because they would “commit the crime all over again” (78). A second example of how guilt was overcoming the town was when they said that there was only one person that was innocent. The novel states, “For the immense majority of people there was only one victim: Bayardo San Roman” (83). The whole town concludes that Bayardo was a victim because he had to put his pride before his love, and the majority of the people were aware of the murder plot, but did not warn Santiago. Marquez described, “Many of those who were on the docks knew that they were going to kill Santiago Nasar” (19). This quote proves that all citizens of the town had the capability of stopping this murder, but not a single person warned Santiago or stopped the brothers. The people of the small town all contributed to the death of Santiago in one way or another, and this results in the widespread feeling of