Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Gender Analysis

"Angela Vicario was the prettiest of the four, and my mother said that she had been born like the great queens of history, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. But she had a helpless air and a poverty of spirit that augured an uncertain future for her" (Marquez 32). This quote from Chronicle of a Death Foretold, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, highlights the theme of masculinity which appears throughout the book. Girls are born already deprived and suffocated of life, knowing their sole purpose is to grow up and become a wife. Chronicle of a Death Foretold takes place in a small Colombian village and tells the story of Angela Vicario's stolen virginity and the murder of the suspect, Santiago Nasar. The narrator, decades after the events, is trying to uncover the truth in all of the

tales. Throughout the book, the reader sees how machismo has had such a tremendous impact on the society by making women feel useless and inferior, while simultaneously forcing men to live up to the macho man expectation. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author illustrates the society as being toxically centered around machismo because of their idolizing views of masculinity, in order to emphasize how both men and women are restricted by the pressures in their society to live up to a gender role.
One illustration of how 19th century Colombian society uses machismo to confine citizens is by oppressing women. Just like Angela, women are born knowing they have absolutely no control over who they are and what they will become. As children, women are prepared for a melancholic life as the majority of women are forced into a marriage of convenience without the slightest hint of love. The author conveys this by discussing how the Vicario girls were raised. Pura Vicario, the female head of the household, says about her daughters "The girls had been reared to get married... Any man will be happy with them because they've been raised to suffer" (Màrquez 31). This concept of women having to suffer in order to succeed in marriage takes root in the culture's views on machismo. Women are told the only way to be successful is to become a strong and macho man who provides for his family. In turn, this causes women to feel they can never account to anything since they are not men. They never have the opportunity to live out their personal dreams and ambitions. Since women are told so many times they can become wives and nothing more, they eventually believe it. After generations of this lie, it slowly evolves to become the truth, restricting women from becoming anything more than a mother. Modern societies allow women to have careers other than a stay-at-home mom, but the stigma men deserve power and authority, preventing women from becoming equivalent to men. Women are still taught, maybe more subtly now, that they are and will forever be inferior to men. Not only are women robbed of potential pride and stripped of hopes and dreams, but men are also detrimentally impacted by machismo.
In the same way machismo restricts women, it does the same for men. As young boys they are taught that becoming a macho man is an expectation they must live up to. If they do not meet this, they are frowned upon by the entire society. One example is how Pablo and Pedro are forced to murder Santiago to avenge their sister, Angela's stolen virginity. It is very evident the twins do not want to follow through with the slaughter as they tell nearly everyone in the villages their plans, in hopes that someone will stop them. Regardless of their desire to follow through, they have been taught this is their responsibility. The men of the family are required to step up and provide for the family, in this case by regaining honor. Clotilde Armenta, who tries to stop the murder, says of the Vicario twins "It's to spare those poor boys from the horrible duty that's fallen on them" (Marquez 57). Clotilde recognizes that their decision to take Santiago's life is not by choice, but by unspoken law. The rules of machismo place the responsibility of honor on the men of the house, in this case Pablo and Pedro. Regardless of their opinion, they must carry through with the murder or else they lose all status and bring shame upon the family. It is an expectation for them to murder Santiago and almost the entire village believes the boys need to man up and follow through with it. One example is how Prudenica Cotes, Pablo's fiancé, views the scenario. She tells the narrator, "I didn't only agree, I never would have married him [Pablo] if he hadn't done what a man should do" (Marquez 62). This conveys how men are held to this requirement of machismo, they have no choice but to do "what a man should do." While it might appear machismo elevates and strengthens men at the expense of women, this clearly is not the case. Machismo restricts men, forcing them to do whatever it takes, even murder, to live up to the expectation of strength and power.
Furthermore, standards of machismo directly impact why no one stops Santiago's murder. The women in the society see an issue of family honor as a situation they cannot touch. None of the men want to intervene either as they are afraid to get involved in such serious matters. After the murder takes place and the villagers are full of remorse, the narrator states, "Most of those who could have done something to prevent the crime and did not consoled themselves with the pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies" (Marquez 97). This quote emphasizes how all the men are afraid to overstep their boundaries and intervene in a dispute between the Vicarios and Nasars. The only person who is not afraid to get in the middle of the family feud is Cristo Bedoya. Clotilde Armenta says of Cristo, "In our faggot town only a man like him could prevent the tragedy" (Marquez 109). Clotilde is highlighting how the irony of how the town is so obsessed with manliness, yet full of cowards who stand by and watch as their friend is murdered. Only a man who meets and surpasses their standards is able to rise above the others to do the right thing. Marquez uses this analogy to convey how gender roles put limitations on all genders. The women are raised to distinguish the difference between men's and women's affairs. Family honor is sacrosanct and the female villagers fear their involvement will only make matters worse and bring shame upon their family. In addition, the men in the town face a similar dilemma. They know their participation will lower their status and cause their family to be looked down on by all the others. The issue with gender roles is they force both genders to live their life a certain way and that way alone.
Colombian society in Chronicle of a Death Foretold is portrayed as dangerously fixated on masculinity, causing the reader to see how gender roles are still prevalent today and prevent men and women alike from achieving their goals.

The only way to overcome the restrictions of gender roles is to be the person who stands up and breaks the pattern. Clotilde Armenta and Cristo Bedoya both work indefatigably to do this and save Santiago. Unfortunately, both make fatal mistakes in their execution. Clotilde, believing she cannot do anything personally since she is a woman, goes to the mayor for help, but he ends up only making matters worse. Cristo, on the other-hand, believes it is his male duty to help everyone he runs into along the way. This causes him to run out of time and he misses his opportunity to stop the twins. Both were fully capable of putting an end to Santiago's massacre, they let their societal gender roles stand in the way, ultimately killing Santiago. Hence, machismo impacts people around the world and can only be escaped if one steps outside the gender boundaries of their society in order to allow everyone the freewill to live their life the way they

choose.