Santiago Nasar Innocence Quotes

What symbols and motifs does Gabriel Garcia Marquez utilize in order to hint towards Santiago Nasar’s innocence to the reader in the novel Chronicles of a Death Foretold?

In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, Chronicles of A Death Foretold, Santiago Nasar, the protagonist, was brutally murdered for a crime he may or may not have committed. At several instances, Marquez subtly directs the reader to see the other side of the situation in which Santiago may have been a victim instead of the culprit, despite having a very “shit” (Marquez 9) character. Throughout the novel, Marquez continuously shows Santiago with the colour white, indicating towards his innocence and purity. Marquez also directly equates Santiago’s death and Jesus Christ’s death in the way both of them are killed, which shows how Santiago may have died for someone else’s crime, similar to Christ. In order to propose that Santiago was innocent, Marquez never proves to the reader that Santiago was guilty of deflowering Angela Vicario. Gabriel Garcia Márquez uses several different ways to hint that Santiago was innocent of the act he was accused of, but the town allowed him to be murdered simply in the name of honor.

It is no

coincidence that Santiago Nasar is always associated with the color white. White is often used to signify purity and innocence and naturally induces a feeling of innocence, which is a large part of the predicament involved in identifying whether or not Santiago was the one who besmirched Angela Vicario. Marquez specifically links the colour white with Santiago to hint that he was guiltless. He provides a multitude of hints to indicate Santiago’s innocence amidst the whole conflict. It was shown that Santiago’s white linen had to be washed with plain water because of his delicacy for starch. This indicates Santiago’s soft personality and unwillingness to commit the crimes he was accused of. His innocence is further reinforced as it is seen that Victoria Guzman, the cook, is always addressing Santiago as the “white man” (Marquez 9). Another example that indicated Santiago’s innocence is the description of his shirt on the day of his killing: “Santiago Nasar put on a shirt and pants of white linen, both items unstarched, just like the ones he’d put on the day before the wedding.” (5) This is a clear indication of the symbolism used with the color white to show Santiago’s innocence for the crime he is accused of. This is also a strong allusion to the day that Jesus was crucified, and was said to have put on a tunic of white linen.

At numerous occurrences throughout the novel, instances were seen that equated Santiago and Jesus Christ, first being the fact that Santiago wore linen, the same material that Jesus was said to wear before his crucifixion. Furthermore, Santiago was nailed to his front door and ‘the knife went through the palm of his right hand” (117). This was a clear allusion to Jesus Christ as the nails were first driven into Jesus’ body at the palms of his hands. Another clear reference is made through the imagery created before Santiago’s death: “Actually, Santiago Nasar wasn’t falling because [the twins] themselves were holding him up with stabs against the door.” Santiago was pinned up to his mother’s door with stab wounds similar to Jesus on the cross. While the autopsy was being performed, Marquez made another blatant reference to Jesus and connected Santiago with Christ. The scene was described as if it “looked like a stigma of the crucified Christ” (75). Earlier in the novel, the Narrator’s sister had also described Santiago as a potential husband and “felt the angels pass by” (18). The numerous allusions and imagery with the character of Santiago and Christ inevitably serve one principal purpose, to convey Santiago’s innocence. Marquez also made use of magical realism to show God’s provision in Santiago’s innocence. Pedro Vicario had stated that “the strange thing is that the knife kept coming out clean,” (119) as he was talking about the time when his brother Pablo and him were stabbing Santiago with their knives. It was also stated that no matter how many times they stabbed Santiago, not a drop of blood was observed. This was an illustration of Santiago’s innocence as this was a sign from God that Santiago was an innocent man and shouldn’t have been brutally murdered. In order to indicate Santiago’s innocence amidst the turmoil, Marquez repeatedly made use of surreal and bizarre details to highlight otherwise ordinary events.

The way Marquez wrote the novel played a great role in indicating Santiago’s innocence to the reader. He never proved that Santiago was really guilty of the crime he was accused of; that is, the deflowering of Angela Vicario. As none of the townspeople ever see Angela and Santiago together, and they seemed to be from two different worlds, Marquez suggests that Santiago was innocent of the crime for which he was killed. Santiago looked down on Angela, calling her a “ninny.” Nothing in his behavior on the night of the wedding suggested to his friends that he held any secrets about Angela Vicario either. The way in which Angela named Santiago to her brothers mainly seemed to hint that she simply gave the first name that came to mind:

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." She only took the time necessary to say the name. She looked for it in the shadows, she found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names from this world and the other, and she nailed it to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written.
"Santiago Nasar," she said. (53)

This quote portrays how Angela may have taken the very first name that came to mind.

In the fear of being beaten again, she said the first name she could think of that wouldn’t put as big of a blemish on their family’s honour. The biggest indicator of Santiago’s innocence in the mind of the narrator was that Santiago seemed so confused on the morning of his murder as his reaction to the news that he was being pursued to be murdered was of utter bafflement rather than panic as he genuinely had no idea why the Vicario brothers would want to kill him. His murder may have been found just had Santiago been responsible for taking Angela Vicario’s virginity, however, the knowledge that he may be innocent of this deed makes his death shocking and seem highly reprehensible to the

readers.

In the novel, ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Santiago never really learns motive behind his murder. We are given a very biased view of the reason behind his murder as the only evidence provided against him throughout the novel is Angela Vicario’s word and there is no real proof that Santiago was the one who had taken Angela’s virginity. Throughout the novel, there were several instances and numerous details that were incorporated to suggest Santiago Nasar’s innocence in the crime he is being penalized for, such as the continuous use of the colour white associated with him, the clear allusions to Jesus Christ, the diction of the novel and much more. The way Marquez continuously portrayed Santiago with the colour white hinted towards his innocence. There was a direct allusion to Jesus Christ during Santiago’s death which may show how Santiago was dying for someone else’s crime. Marquez also sets the play in a way that never really proves that Santiago was guilty of deflowering Angela Vicario. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses several differents events and details in order to imply that Santiago Nasar was not responsible for besmirching Angela Vicario and has died an unjust death.