An Analysis of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold

1285 Words3 Pages

The novella “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is viewed largely as a scathing critique of societies bound to an unrefined code of honour. While that premise is relatively simple,fairly straightforward and easily justifiable, a case in stark contrast to the aforementioned idea could also be argued.The main idea for this new case being,that defending the very essence of honour was necessary for the survival of the community in order to prevent any form of moral decline and no one man should put to a stop,the actions of those who were morally obliged to undertake the restoration of honour,after all the affairs of honour were “sacred monopolies, giving access only to those who are part of the drama”(97). Indeed,as any reader who has an idea of human history would note,that there is a natural human desire for vengeance against those who desecrate their sacred ethos.Unfortunately, this essay will not dwell on this counter point, neither would a thesis be made out of it, it is only mentioned to highlight the negative implementing factor used in the restoration of honour and that factor is brutality. Brutality manifests itself in many forms throughout the novel, it is the sole element that transforms the story from a parody to a harrowing murder mystery ,It is used by the Vicario brothers to transform the concept of honour into a savage,ominous and less than benevolent caricature of it’s former self. In this story, the protagonist, an individual by the name of Santiago Nasar is murdered after he allegedly deflowered Angela Vicario, before she was handed over in marriage to Bayardo San Roman, the son of a famous military general. The narrator constantly alludes to the fact that there might have been a gross... ... middle of paper ... ...sents the society as not being entwined with the evils that plagued the other community, showing here that there can be different forms of judgement and due process that do not involve the brutish side of human nature. The nature of brutality is not something to be toyed with, the carnage it causes to individuals, families and institutions cannot be overestimated and Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows us that willfully ignoring it’s entry into our community is tantamount to destruction and when faced with the desecration of anything we place in high regard, we should always question the role of brutality and consider the alternative that emphasizes the importance of human life and due process. Works Cited Marquez, Gabriel Garcia.Chronicle of A Death Foretold.New York:Vintage International,1982. Print..

Show More
Related

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    When I first read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, I did not pay close attention to the deflating of authority with the characters Poncio Vicario, Colonel Aponte, and Father Amador. After listening to the presentations, everything made more sense. The true depth of the Vicario brothers’ threat to kill Santiago fails to be recognized by those in authority. The most respected official of the town, Colonel Aponte, does little to prevent the murder and fails to uphold the honor he has been charged with protecting. Instead of letting Santiago Nasar know about the murder plot against him, the Colonel goes back to his game of dominos at the social club. In addition “Colonel Lazaro Aponte, who had seen and caused so many repressive massacres, becomes a vegetarian as well as a spiritualist” (Garcia Márquez 6). The punishment for his neglect results in him eating liver for breakfast.

    Read More

  • Human Selfishness and Ignorance Portrayed in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...all want to believe that the crime was truly “foretold”, and that nothing could have been done to change that, each one of the characters share in a part of Santiago Nasar’s death. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the true selfishness and ignorance that people have today. Everyone waits for someone else to step in and take the lead so something dreadful can be prevented or stopped. What people still do not notice is that if everyone was to stand back and wait for others, who is going to be the one who decides to do something? People don’t care who gets hurt, as long as it’s not themselves, like Angela Vicario, while other try to reassure themselves by thinking that they did all that they could, like Colonel Lazaro Aponte and Clotilde Armenta. And finally, some people try to fight for something necessary, but lose track of what they set out for in the first place.

    Read More

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

    2128 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Violence, a great destructive force, or energy. Violence, a culture, or lifestyle. A natural trepidation of all man, something that can change the perspective of the world, and how one views their situation in it. The earth is no stranger to violence, no continent is immune to its destruction. No psyche is insusceptible to its effect. Violence is a subculture of religion, as well as a defense against differences that the human race shares. Love as well as solitude, can be results of violence, and aggression; exaggerated by human emotion and unclear expectations. Violence insidiously sneaks up on a nation, on a people, on a culture, and forever changes what is moral, and what is nefarious. One of the only ways for a memory of violence to be expressed comes from a narrative, a story (Arva 1). Gabriel Garcia Marquez is no stranger to violence, and expresses his opinion on the matter through his personal and magical narrative.

    Read More

  • Virginity In Chronicle Of A Death by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    “No one would have thought, nor did anyone say, that Angela Vicario wasn’t a virgin. She hadn’t known any previous fiancé and she’d grown up along with her sisters under the rigor of a mother of iron. Even when it was less than two months before she would be married, Pura Vicario wouldn’t let her go out alone with Bayardo San Roman to see the house where they were going to live, but she and the blind father accompanied her to watch over her honor.”

    Read More

  • Religion in The Chronicle of a Death Foretold

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biblical references throughout the Chronicle of a Death Foretold help identify the characters, Bayardo San Roman, Maria Cervantes, Divina Flor, and the Vicario children, and add depth to the death of Santiago. Without the many religious symbols such as, the Divine Face, the murder of Santiago, the cocks crowing, and the characters, there would be little weight placed on the reactions of the townspeople towards the knowledge of Santiago’s impending death. The religious symbols solidify the idea that Christ has come again in many different forms and ideas, yet dies to renew the people’s covenant with the Lord. “Give me prejudice and I will move the world” (Márquez 100).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Isabel Allende's Of Love And Shadows

    145 Words  | 1 Pages

    Major turning points in history such as the overthrow of a country’s government, political violence, guerrilla movements and civil wars, bloody revolutions, brutal dictatorships, domestic violence, criminal violence, physical and sexual abuse and psychological damage are all well known throughout history and they serve as a common theme in literary works of the time period. This is especially true of Isabel Allende, in which the true event of the overthrowing of the Chilean government by the military is an important aspect of the plot in her novels. The aim of the paper is to analyse Isabel Allende’s Of Love and Shadows as a story reading in between the shadows of violence and the gentleness of love by mixing politics and love and demonstrating

    Read More

  • Gabriel García Márquez and Chronicle of a Death Foretold

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although prostitution may be one of the world’s oldest professions to this day it is seen as a degrading and disrespectful career especially when regarding female prostitutes. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the town is very critical and strict about chastity and premarital sex. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes is the town madam which by society’s standards makes her to most marginalized, but ironically she is not brought down by her society’s rules. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses characterization and irony to demonstrate Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s contradictory role and to develop the theme of going against society in Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

    Read More

  • Honor in Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... Garca Márquez never lets the reader know for certain that it was indeed Santiago Nasar who took Angela Vicario's virginity, but it never really matters because when Angela “looked for it, [a name], in the shadows” (53), and said, “Santiago Nasar” (53), he was already dead. Angela Vicario’s actions tested everyone’s honor in Gabriel Garca Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Once shame was brought onto the Vicario family, it was Pedro and Pablo’s obligation to restore their good name.

    Read More

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    If a man cries out in a forest, and no one around him cares, does he

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques In Gabriel Garcia Márquez's Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this Novel there are many themes such as: Honor, Authority figures failing, Unchangeable fates and Society lacking morale, Revenge, the supernatural and religion. For example, all the towns’ people and everyone know the Santiago is going to be murdered, yet no one really knows for what reason. Later we find Pablo and Pedro the twin brothers are back home with their mom. The whole family fundamentally puts Angela on trial asking her if she is a virgin or not because she confessed she did not bleed on the wedding night when with San Ramon. Angela said she lost her virginity to Santiago right after the family specifically the twins knew they had to “Defend her honor” by killing him which they did. “THE LAWYER STOOD BY THE THESIS OF homicide in legitimate defense of honour, which was upheld by the court in good faith, and the twins declared at the end of the trial that they would have done it again a thousand times over for the same reason. It was they who gave a hint of the direction the defense would take as soon as they surrendered to their church a few minutes after the crime. They burst panting into the parish house, closely pursued by a group of roused-up Arabs, and they laid the knives, with clean blades, on Father Amador 's desk. Both were exhausted from the barbarous work of death, and their clothes and arms were soaked and their faces smeared with sweat and still living blood,

    Read More

  • Influence Of Columbian Culture In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, Columbians are known to be the most devoted to Catholicism of all of the Latin American Nations, which informs the reader about the importance of religion in their culture. The Catholic religion is all about the honor and has a belief that women’s virginity should be kept preserved until marriage. Unfortunately, Angela wasn’t faithful in following her religion and in turn brought shame on the entire Vicario family. Since the whole town was very religious, the Vicario brothers were pressured by society to take up the responsibility to kill the man who had dishonored their sister and the family. It was stated by the Vicario brothers, “‘We killed him openly,’ Pedro Vicario said, ‘but we’re innocent.’ ‘Perhaps before God,’ said Father Amador. ‘Before God and before men,’ Pablo said. ‘It was a matter of honor’’’ (Marquez 49). This quote connects to their religious beliefs, because they’ve “killed” someone in the public, yet they are still claiming that they are “innocent”, which tells the reader that the Vicario brothers were very religious, as stated that it was a “matter of honor”, they were confident that they’ve done the right move both “before God and before men”. Furthermore, the Vicario brothers were later put jail, and even during that time they felt no shame in killing someone in public as stated “At

    Read More

  • Summary Of Santiago Nasar's Death, By Santiago Márquez

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    The entire town gathers around Santiago to watch as the affair comes to a head; as he stumbles home, the narrator says, “The people had stationed themselves on the square the way they did on parade days. They all saw him come out, and they all understood that now he knew they were going to kill him … They began to shout at him from every side, and Santiago Nasar went backward and forward several times, baffled by hearing so many voices at the same time” (Márquez 115). This scene conjures imagery almost of mockery; the way the people all line up to watch Santiago, knowing he will soon die, evokes the atmosphere of Roman coliseums and citizens watching gladiators and lions fight to the death, as if the event is nearly entertaining to the people. Every single person in that crowd has the ability to step forward and offer shelter to Santiago or inform him of what is coming, yet no one steps out of line, preferring to yell unintelligible advice from the sidelines, lost in a roar of voices. Some leeway can be given to them, considering that “[n]o one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t” (Márquez

    Read More

  • Summary Of Robert Frost's Mending Wall

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human contact is considered to be one of the worst elements of life to be deprived of. In nearly all prison systems, isolation is the punishment given to inmates who commit the worst offenses. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that such reclusiveness is the theme of many literary works and essays. In one, a man insists a wall be kept up between himself and his neighbor, all because of his father’s mantra. In another, there 's a young woman, murdered brutally in the street, while all of her neighbors watch in horror, but make no move to help. There 's also a young family that, after moving to Spain, discovers just how welcoming and friendly and inclusive the Spaniards are compared to their home country. All three

    Read More

  • Honor Killing Essay

    2300 Words  | 5 Pages

    The ideas of honour and disgrace and their utilization as legitimization for brutality and murdering are not remarkable to any one society or religion. Surely, respect and honour-based roughness are reflected in recorded occasions in numerous nations, and in numerous works of writing. For example, dueling was a key practice through which claims of manly respect were made, administered and saw in Western social orders. In France, Le Cid recounted the story of a man offended by a slap over the face, which asked his child to safeguard his honour in a duel. In Canada, dueling proceeded into the l...

    Read More

More about An Analysis of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Open Document