Profile

“Wearing a Sunday dress with blue flowers that she had put on in
case the bishop came by to pay us a call…” (22), “She put on...the
church shawl she only wore for visits of condolence” (22).

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

Alibi
- When was the last time you saw Santiago Nasar?
- The last time I saw Santiago was when he came over for breakfast, the week
before his murder. Everything felt normal.
- What were you doing the last time you saw Santiago Nasar?
- The last time I saw Santiago was when he came over for breakfast and I was
making my classic manioc fritters. It felt so warm and cozy to have him sit with us
at the table. I set him a place setting just like any of my children. He came in with
my children as I was just finishing setting the table. We ate and then I watched
them go out again. I didn’t think twice about it.
- Did you know the Vicario twins were planning to murder Santiago Nasar?
- Yes, though I only found out Santiago was going to be killed by the twins right
before it happened. I was going about my day as I would, when my daughter
came home and told me what was going to happen. I immediately put on some
more respectful clothes and ran out of the house to warn Placida. I can’t even
remember holding Jaime’s hand, but he remembers holding mine. I moved
quickly to let Placida know, but as I was in the street, someone running the
opposite direction let me know that the deed had already been done (22-24).
- Do you believe there was any way to prevent his death?
- I think there was no way to permanently prevent the murder of Santiago after he
was named by Angela. However, I think before her accusation he could’ve been
spared. Once the name was out, if the Vicario twins hadn’t taken the
responsibility, someone else would have. It was the culture of the time that we
lived in, and any man who didn’t rise to the occasion would have lost all his honor
(49). To this day, I don’t believe Santiago was the true culprit of taking Angela’s
virginity. I think Angela should have named the person that she had actually slept
with, like a true woman with dignity. Even though Angela combed her hair before
bed, she’s always seemed like the perfect wife to me (31). In addition, aside from
her lack of purity, her naming Santiago for it has made me think less of her. If she
hadn’t done this, maybe we wouldn’t be here now talking about Santiago in the
past tense.
- Describe your relationship with Santiago Nasar.
- I loved Santiago. He was a good boy, and I was his godmother. I cared for him. I
enjoyed having him over for breakfast and eating as a family (18). I’ve known

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

 Santiago all my life, some could even say I love him as my own. Many times I set
a place for him at the table, because he was a regular at our house. He always
appreciated my cooking, and that could always put a smile on my face. I miss
him.
- How do you feel about his death?
- I think Santiago’s death was plain awful. it was horrible that the whole town knew
about his death, except for his mother Placida (22). It’s such a small community
that we practically all know each other, people must have actively tried to not
spread the news to her. I mean yeah, they had to restore the family’s honour. But
at the expense of a man’s life? A man who never had the chance to explain his
side of the story? It might just have been the heat of the moment, but all I could
think that day was that the Vicario twins were just “shitty animals that [couldn’t]
do anything that [wasn’t] something awful” (23). Now, it’s so hard to think of what
I believe because I have ties to both sides. But whatever the case, I wish my
dear Santiago had the chance to defend himself and was still here with us.
- Did you try to warn Santiago Nasar? Why or why not?
- I did not try to warn Santiago Nasar. However, I did try my best to warn Placida. I
think the reason I didn’t try to warn Santiago himself was because it was as if he
was already dead. In my head, when my husband questioned me for warning
Placida, I knew “you always had to take the side of the dead” (23). However,
looking back on it, I should’ve been more focused on warning Santiago since he
wasn’t actually dead yet, even if I couldn’t have done anything about it.

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

Institutional Beliefs and Attitudes

Family
Family has a big influence on Luisa’s behavior, both in how she acts in her everyday life

and in how she reacts to the murder of Santiago. Luisa has her immediate family, is Santiago’s

godmother, and is “also a blood relative of Pura Vicario” (22). She’s a caring and thoughtful

mother who also deeply cares for those nearest to her, including Santiago and his mother

Placida. Margot encounters her mom in the dining room “singing the fado about invisible love as

she set the table… [with] one more place than usual” (22). Luisa is happy to accept Santiago at

the family meal after hearing that Margot invited him. Since Luisa has family connections on

both sides of the murder, her opinions on it present her with “a knotty problem.” (22) Yet, we see

her “take the side of the dead'' (23) when she goes to warn Placida. Family is not just immediate

to Luisa, but it’s also those who she loves like her own. This makes it an extremely valuable

institution to her that plays a central role in her life.

The Church
Because Luisa follows the church-based ideals of Marianismo, she has authority and

gets respect in her household. Despite her submissiveness in the home, when push comes to

shove, she assumes her authority and goes against her husband’s wishes by warning Placida.

The narrator tells us that in this moment, “for once in her life she didn’t even pay attention to her

husband” (23). This goes against her ideals of family, but because of her morality, she knows

what to do. Fueled by her notion of “it isn’t right” (22) that Placida is the only one who doesn’t

know of her son’s death, Luisa charges off to warn her dear friend. Unfortunately, she’s too late.

Luisa’s respect in her household is shown as Margot speaks about her mother’s special powers

of foresight. Margot explains, “‘you begin telling her something and before the story is half over

she already knows how it came out’” (22). Luisa’s decision in this moment gained my respect,

since it was the right and courageous thing to do.

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

All notes on Luisa
- Knew everything before others did, but at the same time hadn’t left her house in years.
Not even to attend mass...implying she’s religious
- Mom of narrator and Margot
- Made a classic breakfast of manioc fritters
- “Pale and stealthy, sweeping the courtyard with a homemade broom in the ashen glow
of dawn, and between sips of coffee she would proceed to tell me what had happened in
the world while we’d been asleep. She seemed to have secret threads of communication
with the other people in town, especially those her age, and sometimes she would
surprise us with news so ahead of its time that she could only have known it through
powers of divination.” She didn’t feel it that morning though. (20)
- Has a saying of “cocks could be heard”
- “Wearing a Sunday dress with blue flowers that she had put on in case the bishop came
by to pay us a call, and she was singing the fado about invisible love as she set the
table.” (22)
- Right when she heard Santiago was going to be killed, “she put on her high-heeled
shoes and the church shawl she only wore for visits of condolence” (22).
- Bedoya ran into Luisa when she was running to warn Lucida, while dragging her
youngest son. Asked her where Santiago was, but she had just been told by the person
running the other way that he has been killed (110-111)
- Dear friends with Placida. Thinks it wasn't right that everyone knew he was going to be
killed, except his mother
- Godmother of Santiago
- Related to the Vicarios
- Believes you always have to stay on the side of the dead
- A family woman. Always paid attention to her kids and husband. “For once in her life she
didn’t even pay any attention to her husband.” (23)
- When running to tell Placida, she was holding the hand of Jaime (her son) without
knowing, talking to herself (“Lowlifes,... shitty animals that can’t do anything that isn’t
something awful” (23)), all she remembered was that in the distance you could hear the
noise of a lot of people as if the wedding party had started up again, and everybody was
running toward the square. She quickened her step, with the determination she was
capable of when there was a life at stake, until somebody who was running in the
opposite direction told her he had already been killed.
- Writes to her son (narrator) through letters about what’s going on about the town
- Analyze: “at the end [of the letter] she made a comment that was very much like her: ‘It
also seems that he’s swimming in gold’” (27).
- Bayardo reminded her of the devil. His golden eyes had caused the shudder of a fear in
her.
- “...my mother is accustomed to noting that kind of superfluous detail when she wants to
get to the heart of the matter” (27).
- Thought the only flaw of the Vicario girls was that they comb their hair before bed and
she says that’s bad because it will slow down the sailors. Thinks other than that, that the

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

 Vicario girls are perfect and “‘Any man will be happy with them because they’ve been
raised to suffer’” (31).
- She left the kitchen door of their (family) house unlocked so their father wouldn’t hear
them (the narrator + brother) come in
- Said “honor is love” when the author was talking about everyone reflecting on the
murder (97)
- Possible quotes (from the list above) for the profile that I didn’t use
- Made a classic breakfast of manioc fritters
- “Pale and stealthy, sweeping the courtyard with a homemade broom in the ashen
glow of dawn, and between sips of coffee she would proceed to tell me what had
happened in the world while we’d been asleep. She seemed to have secret
threads of communication with the other people in town, especially those her
age, and sometimes she would surprise us with news so ahead of its time that
she could only have known it through powers of divination.” She didn’t feel it that
morning though. (20)
- When running to tell Placida, she was holding the hand of Jaime (her son)
without knowing, talking to herself (“Lowlifes,... shitty animals that can’t do
anything that isn’t something awful” (23)), all she remembered was that in the
distance you could hear the noise of a lot of people as if the wedding party had
started up again, and everybody was running toward the square. She quickened
her step, with the determination she was capable of when there was a life at
stake, until somebody who was running in the opposite direction told her he had
already been killed.
- She left the kitchen door of their (family) house unlocked so their father wouldn’t
hear them (the narrator + brother) come in
-

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

Official Assignment
Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Character Profile Project

As you read Chronicle of a Death Foretold you will meet the many distinct characters
who inhabit Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s unnamed town. Marquez uses rich details to explore the
lives of these characters. While reading you will notice the many similarities and differences
between these characters. They all have their own experiences, beliefs, and attitudes - some
shared, some not. Over the course of the novel one event binds them all together: the death of
Santiago Nasar. All of them were implicated in the death in some way or another. Now we need
to figure out what part each individual character played. For this project you will be assigned to
do a profile on one of the characters to become an expert on them. Your profile will consist of
three parts: a portrait, an alibi, and an in depth look at their institutional beliefs and attitudes.
After we finish the novel, we will use the information we gathered from these profiles to hold a
mock hearing of the town. Mr. Stubblefield and Mr. Barney will take on the role of investigators,
and you will play the role of your character(s), and we will finally try to answer the question: why
did Santiago Nasar die?

Portrait: 30 points
Marquez uses vivid imagery to describe the various characters who inhabit his unnamed town.
For this portion of the assignment you will create a portrait of your character using the text
as inspiration. Granted, Marquez goes into greater detail describing some characters than
others. If you cannot find direct passages that describe how they look then think about the rest
of their characterization: their occupation, their beliefs, their background etc. Please provide
passages from the text that you used as inspiration for your portrait. For your portrait you can
use whatever artistic method you fancy (you can draw, paint, create a digital illustration, dress
up as your character and take a photograph of yourself, etc.)

Alibi: 30 points
For this part of the assignment you will develop an alibi to use during the trial. You will answer a
series of questions that will help provide a clear picture of your character’s culpability in the
death of Santiago Nasar. When possible use evidence from the text to support your
answers. For this section you should answer as if you are the character.

- When was the last time you saw Santiago Nasar?

- What were you doing the last time you saw Santiago Nasar?
- Did you know the Vicario twins were planning to murder Santiago Nasar?
- Do you believe there was any way to prevent his death?
- Describe your relationship with Santiago Nasar.

Try to go more in depth with these questions

- How do you feel about his death?
- Did you try to warn Santiago Nasar? Why or why not?

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*

Institutional Beliefs and Attitudes: 20 points each response
Institutions are stable, valued, recurring patterns of behavior. As structures or mechanisms of
social order, they govern the behavior of people within a given community. Institutions are
identified with a social purpose, transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules
that govern behavior. The term “institution” commonly applies to a custom or behavior important
to a society (family, marriage, and religion, for example) and to particular formal organizations of
the government and public services (law and order, mass media, banks, schools, prisons, and
government, for example). In Chronicle of a Death Foretold institutions play an influential role in
the events that transpire in Marquez’s unnamed town.
For this part of the assignment you will be asked to take a closer look at the different
beliefs and attitudes your character has toward institutions relevant in their life. Specifically you
will look into how your character’s relationships with cultural institutions such as Family,
Marriage, and The Church. Choose two of these institutions. Discuss how your character is
aligned with each of the institutions, how their behavior is impacted by their relationship with
each of the institutions, and if their relationship with each institution influences the part they
played in the death of Santiago Nasar. Use textual evidence to support your answers when
possible.
100-150 words per response

*All page numbers refer to the blue book*