Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez

1423 Words3 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. Throughout the presentations, I made a connection with Poncio Vicario at the wedding party. Page 44 in the work describes the old man at the party. “Really, the most intense image that I have always held of that unwelcome Sunday was that of old Poncio Vicario sitting alone of a stool in the center of the yard. They had placed him there thinking perhaps that it was the seat of honor.” When a daughter of a family gets married, the father feels happiness and joy. Contradictory to that, Poncio Vicario is described on the lines of being blind and powerless man, deprived of control and influence. The work continues to incorporate the deflating of authority by presenting Father Amador. Father Amador attended medical school for a few years and performs the autopsy on Santiago Nasar. Page 76 in the work describes the after effects of the autopsy. “They gave us back a ... ... middle of paper ... ...rcía Márquez concentrates on the idea that the animals incorporated into the work are portrayed to highlight the degradation of Santiago Nasar and the nature of his murder. Works Cited García, Márquez Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Gregory Rabassa New York: Knopf, 1983. Print. Gass, William H. "More Deaths Than One: 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold,'." in New York 16.15 (1983): 83-84. Rpt. in Works for Students. Ed. Michael L. LaBlanc and Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. Rendon, Mario. "The Latino and His Culture: Chronicle of a Death Foretold." American Journal of Psychoanalysis 54.4 (Dec. 1994): 345-358. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 162. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02741942?LI=true

Open Document