CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

FINAL DRAFT

OF

LAW AND LITERATURE

ON

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Gabriel García Márquez

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Dr. PRATYUSH KAUSHIK SHASHI BHUSHAN

SEMESTER-2nd
Roll No. 2158
BA.LLB.(HONS.)
SESSION- 2019-2024

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION .............................................................. 3

ACKNOWLWDGEMENT................................................ 4

INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 5

SUMMARY ................................................................... 8

MAGICAL REALISM ..................................................... 9

CHARACTER LIST ........................................................ 12

THEMES ...................................................................... 16

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 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I, hereby, declare that the work reported in the B.A. L.L.B (Hons.) Project Report titled
“Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Gabriel García Márquez ” submitted at
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA is an authentic record of my
work carried out under the supervision of Dr. Pratuysh Kaushik . I have not submitted
this work elsewhere for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for
the contents of my project.

(Signature of the Candidate)

SHASHI BHUSHAN
BA,LL.B.(HONS.)
ROLL NO.-2158
SEMESTER-2
SESSION- 2019-2024

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to show my gratitude towards my guide Dr. Pratuysh Kaushik, Faculty of Law
and Literature,under whose guidance ,I structured my project.
I owe my the present accomplishment of my project to our CNLU librarians,who helped me
immensely with materials throughout the project and without whom I could not have completed it
in the present way .
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my friends and all those unseen hand that helped me out
at every stage of my project.

THANK YOU

SHAHSI BHUSHAN

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 INTRODUCTION

Book Basics

AUTHOR
Gabriel García Márquez

YEAR PUBLISHED
1981

GENRE
Fiction

Various societies past and present day have been known to take strong interest in overall
moral values that engulf the community, but with various beliefs and expectations these groups of
people are often found living in a toxic environment of hostility. This exact idea was brilliantly
showcased in a Columbian society by Gabriel Marquez within the novel Chronicle of a Death
Foretold in which ideas of machismo and religious expectations rigorously contradicted each other.
The idea’s of expected masculinity of their men while also celebrating their beliefs as catholics and
the purity of others were extremely relevant and important aspects of their culture. Nonetheless,
when a specific man, Santiago Nasar, representing aspects of both was murdered, the community’s
belief system was tested after the group as a whole neglected to put a stop to it. This neglegation to
perform the honorable action versus a Christ-like action was only one way in which the society was
represented as corrupt overall. Marques utilizes the Vicario brothers and their honor along with
women’s sense of purity and religious figures of the novel to symbolize the contrasting aspects of
society leading to warped moral values and a sense of corruption in both principles. The character
Santiago Nasar is also used in showing this corruption through his strong symbolism of both
masculine and pure characteristics that led to a dishonorable chosen ignorance by the society after
his murder.
By illustrating the characters Pablo and Pedro Vicario as embodiments of machismo
qualities, the respect for said masculinity is proven to be corrupt in nature and put on a pedestal
within society.
Various attributes of the brothers represent this image such as, “a bullet wound…” that one
brother would often show off as a sort of “novel trick” to impress others (60). Symbols such as
these that prove nothing more than one’s masculinity were employed by many men in Colombian
society to portray themselves as the patriarchal dominator’s of the community and prove

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themselves worthy of respect. However, these qualities were shown to corrupt the minds of men by
persuading most to believe in responsibilities that they were obligated to carry out as the leaders of
those weaker than them. The most intense action being the murder of Santiago Nasar committed by
the Vicario brothers who pleaded that they were innocent due to the felony being, “a matter of
honor”, as honor is a major aspect of machismo (49). Murder is not an honorable action as most
people would agree especially when sought after for revenge. Nonetheless, to uphold their manly
disposition the brothers felt forced to carry out this duty and protect their image in society. Along
with the pressure they exerted on themselves, others in community contributed as well such as
Pablo’s wife who stated, “I never would have married him if he hadn’t done what a man should do”
displaying her support in their manic decision (62). The clear point of corruption can be noticed by
one of the ten commandments that states “thou shalt not kill”, and yet for a society that raises
religion as an equally important virtue, those within the town continue to support these act’s of
secured manliness. With a sense of disproportionate values, the town’s beliefs were skewed and the
renowned ideal of machismo brought the Vicario brothers to commit a horrendous crime: the
murder of Santiago Nasar. Machismo and the qualities the reside with it clearly show the
corruption of a town that could not choose between what was right under the bible or a patriarchal
society.
Corruption is also found in the assumed equal principle of religious authorities and the
purity of women. Catholicism is the prominent religion of Colombian societies and therefore
women are expected to maintain a purity that is equivalent to the virgin Mary and stay wholesome
until marriage. Yet women in the novel are often found, “carrying… baskets of artificial flowers” to
mask their innocence (28). Flowers are a known symbol of purity and fragility of the mind and
body; artificial flowers mean quite the opposite. To hide their secret infidelity, women will use
these artificial flowers to falsely uphold their image of innocence and trick those around them.
When it is found out that Angela Vicario isn’t completely pure, it is stated that, “the fact that [she]
dared put on… orange blossoms without being a virgin would be interpreted afterward as a
profanation of the symbols of purity” and would cause disgrace on her and her family (41). For
years Angela was able to hide her tampered saintliness with fake flowers, but to be put through her
marriage with real flowers would be blasphemous. Religious authorities of the novel had also
displayed moments of unholiness but not quite to the extent of women. During Santiago Nasar’s
autopsy for instance, a priest took the dead man’s intestines, “gave them an angry blessing and
threw them into the garbage pail”(76). The irony in this example is that no priest would be found
probing a deceased man’s body and throwing his organs in the garbage with no thorough blessing.
People look to priest’s for their christ-like attitudes and for one to “angrily bless” and throw away a

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living souls body parts is a horrible representation of the church. All in all, the false and inhumane
practices that represent the town’s devotion to their religious beliefs is yet another corrupt section
of society that is no better than the encouragement of machismo and its contribution to the murder
of Nasar.
Marquez yet again finds a distinct way to represent this societal immorality within one
character, Santiago Nasar, and his representation of both machismo and religious ideals. Many of
his masculine characteristics had derived from his deceased father such as, “the mastery of high-
flying birds of prey” which is shown as an intimidating past time (7). By controlling a bird of prey,
Nasar represents himself as a man willing to “prey” on others and uses the fear of those around him
to demand respect. He also uses a similar tactic of wearing a, “.387 Magnum on his belt” but takes
out the bullets (5). With or without the bullets, a man holding a gun is instantly respected in society
due to having dominance of power. Both of these hobbies are symbols of machismo qualities that
intimidate others and gain the admiration of his town that sees these things as honorable.
Unfortunately, this respect is upheld even after Nasar defiled a woman and, “grabber [her] whole
pussy”(13). Sexual harassment at this time was obviously not as recognized and tolerated as being
a normal behavior. Men used it as yet another way to represent dominance, but the irony is that if
believed their wife were not a virgin before marriage they would completely disown them. Despite
each of these masculine symbols, Nasar was juxtaposed as a symbol of purity and at the end, Jesus
himself. In simple ways his name was derived from the word “saint” and he was found in his last
hours wearing, “a shirt and pants of white linen”(5). His name and physical appearance- all white
to represent purity- were direct symbols of his christ-like attributes. The most prominent symbol
however was his complete comparison to Jesus Christ with his murder scene paralleling Jesus’
crucifixion in its entirety. Similar to Jesus being nailed to the cross, “The knife went through the
palm of [Santiago’s] right hand” to portray him as a symbol of Christ in his last moments (117).
Even if his wounds were simply coincidental, the symbols alluding to his purity prove otherwise.
Yet another direct comparison of the crucifixion was that when stabbed, “there wasn’t a drop of
blood” that escaped Santiago (118). His purity had shown through at that moment and made those
within the town question whether or not he was truly an innocent man falsely accused of the
defilement of another woman. Regardless of these major symbols, no man who defiled other
women and raised predatory animals to assert dominance by fear can be seen as a completely pure
individual. By including reputable characteristics that contrast with the normal manly behavior
exerted from most Colombian men, corruption is not only found in societies warped definition of
each, but in their decision to respect one over the other that inevitably led to an unforgiving murder.

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 In all, by juxtaposing the Vicario brothers, women, and religious authority figures along
with conflicting values within the character Santiago Nasar himself, societies fraudulent ideas of
machismo and religion were clearly shown. The many “masculine” actions that took place plainly
contradicted the beliefs of the Catholic church while many supposed “pure” individuals took part in
just as many unholy affairs. Although it is unclear where the town’s priorities were given, Marquez
made a point to recognize the conflicting viewpoints in a society that eventually lead to strife and
highlight the dangers that could ensue.

SUMMARY

Chronicle of a Death Foretold deals with the unfortunate and problematic murder of
Santiago Nasar by Vicario brothers and the lives chartered out in the small Colombian
community wherein the events takes place. The text is an exposition of many incidents
narrated from the viewpoint of memory to the unnamed protagonist. Divided into four
chapters, the text unravels the death of Santiago Nasar and the family story of Angela
Vicario. In the first chapter we come across a series of incidents connected with Placida
Linero’s attempts to memorise what happened on the day of the murder of Santiago Nasar.
Contrary opinions regarding Santiago Nasar are expressed by different people,particularly
by women to the protagonist which suggests the disjunctive break of memory and the
difficulty to agree with the incident that had happened.
The second chapter gives details of the character Angela Vicario and her family. Her
wedding with Bayardo San Roman ends in a tragedy as he soon finds out that Angela
Vicario has lost the code of honor. This chapter is particularly important since it gives us
detailed descriptions of the cultural history of the small Colombian community including
the trade and other business in which people are engaged.
In the third chapter, the details of the Vicario brothers facing the trial is provided. The
lawyer and other major bodies of justice rewarding are all projected as failures in the act of
doing justice to the murder of Santiago Nasar. The narrator’s own encounter with Santiago
Nasar and other members is described in detail. The shifting perspectives of the narrative is
an important turning point here because the difficulty to reach any particular conclusion is
again negated.
The fourth chapter shows how women characters and their divided consciousness is
organized in the text. Following a series of breaks in memories and incidents vaguely
recollected, the women characters in this chapter express their views about the nature of

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 the murder and the injustice. Santiago’s interaction with Maria Alejandrina Cervantes ,
particularly is a case in point since it is psychologically oriented. Though many women
agree that Santiago Nasar was innocent, the doubts lurking in their minds relating to the
code of honor violation need to be noted.
In the last chapter we see how Santiago is murdered by Vicario brothers. Narrated from the
viewpoint of many observers to the incident, this part of the narrative is more tending
towards cinematographic way of story telling. Garcia Marquez employs his skill of
reportageand moving frames technique to highlight the murder of Santiago Nasar. However,
it should be noted down that the murder becomes a public spectacle and the text, therefore,
opens up ideas of a close introspection to the public analysis. This is a strategy to make the
text open-ended and self referential.

MAGICAL REALISM

Magical realism is clearly present throughout Gabriel-Garcia Marquez's novel Chronicle of a

Death Foretold.  Magical realism is defined as the combination of realism, along with magical and
mythical elements such as dreams that come true, superstitions, humor, exaggerations, and the
coincidence of bizarre events. A main characteristic was the distinctive manner and opinion of
narrators toward the matter at hand. The narrators constantly accepted events that could not have
possibly happened in the real life world. They accepted these peculiarities without the slightest
amount of shock and astonishment, like it was an everyday thing. 

Placida Linero, who is Santiago Nasar’s mother is a prime example of superstition within the
novel. The quote, "She had a well earned reputation as an accurate interpreter of other people's
dream, provided they were told to her before eating, but she hadn't notice any ominous augury in
those two dream of her son's" conveys that Santiago's character also represents the element of
magical realism in the novel. The statement,  " Nor did Santiago Nasar recognize the omen" not
only reveals his superstition, but also the common faith put in superstition. There must have been
some evidence of foreshadowing or signs of his death that he could have foretold. It is funny how
these omens are more easily noticed after it is too late.

Marquez uses exaggeration in Chronicle of a Death Foretold more than any other elements of
magical realism in the book. When the narrator says, "The groom received a convertible with his

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name engraved in Gothic letters under the manufacturer's seal. The bride was given a chest with
table settings in pure gold for twenty-four guests. They also brought in a ballet company and two
waltz orchestras. " on page 44, this is clearly an exaggeration because there is no doubt that the tiny
impoverished town could not afford such extravagant gifts. When Pedro says that the pain in his
groin had reached his throat and how he could not sleep for eleven months is a straightforward sign
of magical realism. The narrator implies that he believed what was said when he says, "He was
carrying a suitcase with clothing in order to stay and another just like it with almost two thousand
letters that she has written him they were arranged by date in bundles tied with colored ribbons,
and they were all unopened."

Another thing that I noticed in the book was with the letters. No person writes someone two
thousand letters with reply let alone without one. This is bizarre but we accept it as truth because of
Marquez's mastery in the use of magical realism in the novel.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold has many humorous parts, mostly because they are ludicrous. 
These parts are titled as magical realism because they suspend belief through humor. This was
shown by the quote, "They were sitting down to breakfast when they saw Santiago Nasar enter,
soaked in blood and carrying the roots of his entrails in his hands. Poncho Lanoa told me: "What
I'll never forget was that terrible smell of sh*t" But Argenida Lanoa, the oldest daughter said that
Saintiago Nasar walked with his usual good bearing, measuring his steps well, and that his Saracen
face with its dashing ringlets was handsomer than ever. As he passed by the table he smiled at them
and continued through the bedrooms to the rear door of the house." This whole passage is
humorous because even though what is being described is the result of a brutal stabbing, it is still
very funny. It draws a thought in your head that a man walks through her house holding his
intestines in his hand and leaving a crimson trail on the floor, and his mother remembers the smell
of it. The fact that his handsome face is still noticeable even though he has been mortally stabbed
three times is an exaggeration, but very humorous. He doesn't stray from the habits of smiling as he
passes. This implies that they wouldn't mind him busting through the house while he was dying, as
long as he smiled and grinned at them.

When the narrator says, “He stumbled on the last step, but he got up at once. " He even took

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care to brush off the dirt that was stuck to his guts.”, I found this to be quite humorous, because not
only did he have the energy to stand up when he should have already died, but he also spent time
cleaning his insides. These passages clearly show the humorous aspects of magical realism in the
novel.

The novel is written as a bizarre co-occurrence of events. Before the murder is actually
described, however, the story moves to about a year earlier, when a strange and mysterious new
man, Bayardo San Román, enters the town, seemingly searching for a wife. The story follows the
romance of Bayard San Román and Angela Vicario. The wedding and after party are soon
described, since the events of the wedding night have a direct effect on the eventual murder of
Santiago Nasar. During the wedding night, Bayardo San Román discovers that Angela Vicario is
not a virgin, and this discovery causes Angela's new husband to take her back to her mother, Pura
Vicario, who brutally beats her. When Angela is forced by her brothers to expose the man
accountable for her “loss of honor", she replies Santiago. This basically sealed his fate. Angela's
two brothers, Pedro and Pablo Vicario, decide to take instant action to regain their sister's honor.
They stray through the town holding pig slaughtering knives, announcing to everyone that they
intend to take the life of Santiago Nasar. Colonel Aponte confiscates the weapons, but the brothers
are not arrested and soon sharpen a new pair of knives and continue searching the town, while
telling everyone who would listen to their plan.

About an hour later, Santiago Nasar wakes up. He leaves the house unaware, because the cook,
Victoria Guzman, and her daughter, Divina, dismisses a warning from a homeless woman about the
murder. He goes to the docks, where the bishop passes by but does not stop, and then goes to his
fiancé Flora Miguel's house for breakfast, where Flora Miguel and Santiago Nasar have a fight
about something unrelated to the impending murder. Then Santiago leaves her house after talking
to her father, Nahir Miguel, who informs him about the murder. This leaves Santiago confused as to
what was happening and why, and he leaves without his gun on the day that he is about to be killed.
I find this to be a very ironic bizarre event. On the street, he is met by shouts from all angles. A
warning by Clotilde's causes him to run fifty yards to the front door, which he initially left open.
This is also very ironic because the day that he is going to be murdered, they closed the door and
locked it because his mother assumed that he was inside and in safe hands. This was the last bizarre
event that sealed his fate. Everything within this "chronicle" of events seems to be essential for the
murder to take place. Everyone knew about the murder, but did nothing to prevent it. If any of the

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warnings were heeded the killing could have been stopped. Even though the Vicario brothers asked
the people of the town to, no one took their threats to murder Santiago Nasar seriously.  All of this
would seem difficult to believe but it is magical realism in the novel that distorts our belief.

The genuine aspects of magical realism are all present in Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and it
is the foundation of the novel that makes us believe the magical realism inside it. There is a real life
setting in a small Columbian village that could have been anywhere else in the world.  Gabriel-
Garcia Marquez presents the story as a narrative in order to insure that the matter at hand was fully
understood. He also noted real events such as the revolution. The dialogue throughout the book
remains realistic, even though the events were unordinary and ludicrous. The characters of the book
made it seem as if the events at hand were quite normal. It is this reality-based foundation with real
people and places, a recognizable setting, and believable conversations that enables Marquez to
tamper with the reader’s belief on real life situations that are exaggerated, humorous, bizarre, and
superstitious – an element known as magical realism.

CHARACTER LIST

Santiago Nasar

the protagonist of the story who is killed the day after the wedding between Angela Vicario and
Bayardo San Roman. The story is centered around his death and the events leading up to it. He is
accused by Angela Vicario of taking her virinity, but no evidence backs this up.

Angela Vicario

the bride of Bayardo San Roman, who accuses Santiago Nasar of taking her virginity. After being
returned home on her wedding night, she discovers that she's in love with Bayardo, and, later on,
begins sending him one letter a week for 17 years.

Pedro Vicario

one of Angela's twin brothers. He was in the army before the time the novel is set, and after prison
he reenlisted and eventually disappeared in enemy territory. Pedro originally came up with the plan
to kill Santiago Nasar, but after the mayor, Colonel Aponte, disarmed them and sent them home, he
was ready to give up on the plan.

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 Pablo Vicario

the older twin by six minutes, he developed a sort of younger-brother complex after Pedro returned
form the army. Pablo was the one who took command after Pedro wanted to stop the murder plot.
He marries Prudencia Cotes after he is acquitted of the murder and released from prison.

Bayardo San Roman

the mysterious man who marries Angela Vicario and then returns her when he discovers that she
wasn't a virgin. Bayardo is the son of General Petronio San Roman, a famous civil war general, and
Alberta Simonds, who many considered the most beautiful woman in the Antilles. The family is
extremely wealthy, and Bayardo came to town with the sole purpose of finding a bride.

Placida Linero

Santiago Nasar's mother. She is well-known in the town for being adept at interpreting people's
dreams, but failed to notice the bad omen of birds in Santiago Nasar's in the days before his death.

Purisma del Carmen

more often referred to as Pura Vicario, she is Angela's mother. She beats Angela for two hours
when Bayardo returns her to the family house. She is a blood relative of the narrator's.

Poncio Vicario

Angela Vicario's father. He is blind, a result of his working as a goldsmith.

Maria Alejandrina Cervantes

A local and well-respected prostitute, she is a good friend of both the narrator's and Santiago Nasar.

Ibrahim Nasar

Santiago's father who came over with the other Arab immigrants and died before the story began.
Santiago is said to be a lot like his father.

Victoria Guzman
a servant in the Nasar household. She was seduced at a young age by Ibrahim Nasar, and is worried
that her daughter, Divina Flor, will fall into the same problem with Santiago.

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Clotilde Armenta
the proprietress of the milk shop that Pedro and Pablo Vicario wait in before killing Santiago. She
tries to warn Santiago of the danger, by telling a number of different people to warn him, his
mother, the local priest, and the mayor, but all of her attempts fail.

Don Rogelio de la Flor

Clotilde Armenta's husband who doesn't believe her that the Vicario brothers are actually planning
on killing Santiago. He dies of shock (probably a heart attack) after watching the murder.

Divina Flor
the daughter of Victoria Guzman. Santiago grabs her "whole pussy" as he leaves; her mother is
afraid that she'll fall under his trap like she did with his father.

Cristo Bedoya
one of Santiago's best friends. He spent all night and morning with Santiago, and then tried to warn
him once he found out about the murder plot, but couldn't find him. He's also a good friend of the
narrator.

Luis Enrique
the narrator's brother, who partied at Maria Cervantes's brothel and then serenaded with the
narrator, Santiago Nasar, and Cristo Bedoya. Supposedly, Pedro and Pablo Vicario told them their
plan to kill Santiago, but he was too drunk to remember.

Margot
the narrator's sister, who invites Santiago to breakfast the morning of his murder. She seems to have
a crush on Santiago, and thinks that Flora Miguel is a very lucky woman.

Father Amador

the local priest, who is warned about the murder plot by Clothilde Armenta, but then forgets in the
panic of the bishop's visit. He also performs the autopsy while the doctor is out of town.

Dr. Dionisio Iguaran

the local doctor, who would have performed the autopsy had he been in town. He was present when
Xius sold Bayardo San Roman his old house, and thinks that Xius died of a broken heart from
selling it.

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Colonel Lazaro Aponte
the mayor of the town. He takes away the first two knives that the twins have, and sends them
home, but refuses to arrest them, so they come back. He also goes into the social club to check on
dominoes night instead of finding Santiago and warning him about the murder plot.

Faustino Santos
a butcher friend of the Vicario brothers, who warns a local policeman of their plan.

Officer Leandro Pornoy

the officer that Faustino warned of the plan. He passes along the information to Colonel Aponte,
the mayor.

General Petronio San Roman

Bayardo's father, who was a hero of the civil wars of the past century.

Alberta Simonds
Bayardo's mother. She's considered to be one of the prettiest women in the Antilles.

Prudencia Cotes
Pablo Vicario's fiancee and later, wife. She told the narrator that she wouldn't have married him if
he hadn't acted like a man and killed Santiago.

Yamil Shaium
a friend of Ibrahim Nasar, who immigrated to the town with him. He tried to protect Santiago by
warning Cristo Bedoya, but it was too late. He then led the group of Arabs that chased the Vicario
twins into the church.

Flora Miguel
Santiago's fiancee who gives him back all of his letters that he wrote her when she hears about the
murder plot. She believes that the Vicario brothers won't kill Santiago, but make him marry Angela
to give back her honor.

Nahir Miguel
the wise-man of the village, and Flora's father. He offered Santiago refuge after realizing that
Santiago had no idea why the twins wanted to kill him. He also offered Santiago the use of his rifle,
but Santiago refused both.

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the widower Xius
the man who Bayardo San Roman bought their house from. Angela called his house the prettiest in
the town, so Bayardo paid him way more money than it was worth. However, Xius died two
months later, out of "tears bubbling in his heart" from having to sell his wife's old house.

Investigating Magistrate
the judge the investigated the murder. His name isn't known, just that he had a passion for
literature, and that what bothered him most about the murder was the absolute lack of evidence that
Santiago had, in fact, taken Angela's virginity.

Mercedes Barcha
the narrator's fiancee and, eventually, wife. He proposed to her at Bayardo and Angela's wedding
festivities.

Indalecio Pardo
a friend of Santiago Nasar's. The Vicario twins essentially challenged him to warn Santiago, but he
was too afraid when it came down to it.

THEMES

Shared Victimization

No one in Chronicle of a Death Foretold is purely guilty; Marquez makes every character in the
story a partial victim. Angela Vicario, though she names Santiago as her lover and thus condemns
him, is a victim of the double standard between the genders in her society; she is persecuted for
having premarital sex, returned to her family and beaten, whereas men are expected to go to
brothels and have as much premarital sex as they want. She is required to name a lover, and name
she could have given would have been a death sentence for that man. Bayardo San Roman is also a
victim of deceit, as he married Angela under the pretext that she was a virgin. While we may think
that Angela's virginity or lack thereof shouldn't concern him, Bayardo, as a product of his culture,
cannot help but return her. Santiago Nasar is obviously a victim as well; he is killed for taking
Angela's virginity, an act that he likely did not commit. Finally, the Vicario twins are also victims
of societal expectations: they are bound by honor to try to kill the man whom Angela cites as her
lover. If they hadn't made this attempt, they would have been seen as weak and unmanly. Prudencia
Cotes, for instance, told the narrator that she wouldn't have married Pablo Vicario if he hadn't been
a man and killed Santiago.

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 Shared Guilt

Just as Marquez gives all of his characters a measure of innocence in Santiago's death, so too he
gives them a measure of guilt for the murder. Angela, clearly, tells Santiago was her lover, which
likely is not true. Bayardo and the Vicario twins are also clearly guilty-the one for returning the
bride, which set vengeance in motion, the others for actually committing the murder. But other less
likely characters share guilt in the story as well. Santiago Nasar himself, for instance, sexually
abuses his servant, Divina Flor, and in turn Divina-who admits that in the bottom of her heart she
wants Santiago dead-likely allows the twins to kill him.
This causal chain of guilt touches less central characters as well-the mayor, for instance, who is too
busy worrying about his dominoes game to prevent the murder, and the priest, who is too busy
worrying about the bishop's visit. Garcia Marquez suggests that the members of the town-almost all
of whom could have stopped the murder-abet it both through their actions and their inactions.

Honor

The importance of honor to the culture portrayed in Chronicle of a Death Foretold is evident
throughout the novel. The murder itself is committed in order to gain back the honor that Angela
lost when she had premarital sex, and the honor that was lost to the family with her sex and then
failed marriage. Most people in the society tend to think that disputes over honor are better left to
those involved; even the jury in the Vicario twins' case find them innocent, because they killed
Santiago to win back Angela's honor.

Familial Duty

This is another important theme linked to the novel's depiction of Latin American culture. When
Angela has premarital sex, and married as a non-virgin, she not only dishonors her family but also
fails in her duty to them. According to the society portrayed in Chronicle of a Death Foretold,
Angela has an obligation to stay a virgin and marry to as high a station as she can (even though she
doesn't love the man she marries); if she hadn't had premarital sex, she would have married a very
wealthy man. Other characters also have a duty to their family. Among the Vicario's, Pedro goes off
to war to earn money for the family, while Pablo stays home to take care of his parents.

Gossip

The first sentence in chapter five reads "For years we couldn't talk about anything else." Garcia
Marquez depicts a society in which everyone in the town knows about the murder that is going to
happen except for the man who is going to be murdered-until it's too late. This is one of the central
ironies of the book: that everyone is so eager to talk about the murder, but no one is willing to talk

17
about it to the murderer. The natural human tendency to "talk behind someone's back" thus
becomes responsible, in part, for a killing.
Also, Garcia Marquez shows us that human memory, as represented by gossip, is fragmented and
inconsistent. Like a "big fish" story, the tale of Santiago's death has undergone a gradual
transformation in the town's memory up until the time, twenty-seven years after, when the narrator
records it. In fact, no one can even agree what the weather was like, let alone the details of the
murder.

Human Routine

Human beings live by pattern and routine-that is how we're most comfortable-and the denizens of
Santiago's town are no different. Garcia Marquez writes, "Our daily conduct, dominated then by so
many linear habits, had suddenly began to spin around a single common anxiety." The murder of
Santiago Nasar throws off the whole town and disrupts the peaceful balance of life, thus changing
the lives of many people forever. This unusual event, in turn, is patterned into a new way of life for
the townspeople, who for years and years after the event discuss it regularly. What had been new
becomes routine again.
Another example of the cathartic effect of routine and ritual in human live is the habit of writing to
Bayardo that Angela develops. She sends him a letter every week for seventeen years, filled with
her deepest feelings. Even though he never reads them, the mere act helps Angela to develop and
strengthen as a person. Indeed, her display of tenacity and love is so overwhelming that it
eventually convinces Bayardo to come back to her. He doesn't need to know what the letters say;
the fact that she has written them so dutifully is enough to convince him of her constancy.

Fate as an Evasion of Guilt

The townsfolk in the novel obsess over Santiago's death "...because none of us could go on living
without an exact knowledge of the place and mission assigned to us by fate." The narrator of the
novel spends much of his ink in convincing us, or convincing himself, that Santiago Nasar was
fated to die under the knives of the Vicario brothers at the specific time and place that the event
happens. He fills his narrative with forebodings and omens, all of which clearly point to his death
before it happens, though no one is able to interpret them and deter the act.
However, the book also invites consideration that the role of fate is not so strong as the
townspeople come to believe. They all share a part in Santiago's murder-whether because they
endorse the sense of "honor" that insisted upon a death or because they actually neglected to warn
Santiago of the danger he was in. So the emphasis on fate, in this light, acts as a collective
alleviation of guilt. The townsfolk desperately want to believe that the death was truly "foretold,"
that it couldn't have been stopped, thus disburdening them of the moral weight of having killed an
innocent member of their society.

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 Machismo

Machismo-an important part of Chronicle of a Death Foretold-can be seen in the emphasis on male
pride in the novel and on the sexual behavior of the male characters. The men take pride in visiting
Maria Cervantes's brothel, where they use women for sex. They are not ashamed of their actions,
because their society endorses such desires and deeds. When Bayardo San Roman returns Angela
Vicario, he demonstrates machismo-a woman is only worth marrying, he suggests, when she is a
virgin; after that she is soiled. The Vicario brothers' murder of Santiago Nasar is also a machismo
act-an attempt to take back Angela's honor by killing the man who deflowered her. As the string of
events in the novel shows, the severe emphasis on masculine and feminine behavior leads to
injustice. One man's machismo commits another man's-Bayardo's refusal to accept Angela leads the
Vicarios to kill Santiago without trial or evidence.

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