A Chronicle Of A Death Foretold By Gabriel Garcia Márquez

“When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it’s tradition”- Letty Cottin Pogrebin. The book, A Chronicle of a Death Foretold, retells the story of Santiago Nasar’s death that happened years ago in a quaint town in Colombia. The plot follows the narrator, as he tries to piece together what had happened that day through different people’s perspectives. With each retelling of the story, the reader comes to understand the impacts people, especially women, have on the storyline. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, the author illustrates society’s disregard for women through the characters of Divina Flor, Angela Vicario, and Clotilde Armenta, in order to show how women are being oppressed by society

She places high expectations on Angela and her two older sisters, to help prepare them for the married life. Purísima teaches them how to do be the perfect wife material. The sisters know how to do a series of things, ranging from screen embroidery to cooking. In other words, Angela and her sisters are forced to grow up in a living condition where they are breed to become the perfect wife for their husbands. As Purísima said, “Any many will be happy with them because they’ve been raised to suffer” (Márquez 31). This demonstrates how women were raised to be in society at the time. Purísima had and raised her daughters to be perfect and Angela is the most prominent example. The narrator states, “…she had been born like a great queen of history, with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. But she had a helpless air and a poverty of spirit that augured an uncertain future for her.” (Márquez 32). This symbolizes Angela “suffocating” on the high standards placed on her since she was born. She has no freedom from society’s expectations and demands. Angela is forced into a lifestyle where if she is not “perfect” then she and her family do not have honor. Honor is a big aspect of society during that time-period. There is a direct correlation between honor and marriage. Therefore, if Angela, or any other women during that time, does not get married, then they have no other role in society and is considered an outcast. In addition, the narrator mentions that Purísima had “devoted herself with spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband and the rearing of her children that at times, one forgot she still existed” (Márquez 31). This further exemplifies women’s purpose in society, as an object whose only goal is to be married and provide children. In the same way, this demonstrates the lack of power these women have on their own lives. They