Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Chapters 2 & 3: Analysis Questions

While reading the chapters, annotate for the common elements of craft and then answer each of
the following questions in at least 3-4 concise sentences.

DO NOT RESEARCH THESE ONLINE!

CHALLENGE YOUR INTELLECT AND DO THE WORK YOURSELF!

1. Discuss the physical characterization, motivations, and actions of Bayardo San Roman. Why
does he come to town? What do people really know about him? How does the narrator present
him? Etc. Then discuss how his characterization in the novel supports a main theme. Please use
at least two quotes to support your analysis.
Bayardo San Roman is said to be a big handsome man who is muscular and extremely charming.
Roman comes to town for the explicit purpose of “looking for someone to marry.” People truly
know very little about him besides his motivation and that he was a track engineer meaning that
he worked with railroads. The narrator presents him as an attractive man who has some
redeeming qualities but, “seemed [to the narrator] a very sad man.” This characterization
supports the main theme of the novel that men have to appear to be outgoing and boisterous even
if they are truly serious sad people.

2. Now, conversely, discuss the characterization of Angela Vicario and examine her feelings and
those of her family and surrounding community concerning arranged marriages. Also use a quote
to support your analysis.
Angela Vicario is characterized as a woman who “hates conceited men”, which is exactly what
San Roman is said to be. She is also said to seem incredibly destitute in the window of her house
where she bemoaned her singleness. While she is not attracted to San Roman, he introduces
himself to her family and uses his charm to make her parents and siblings love him and force her
to marry him. She hates the idea of forced marriage due to it encroaching on her freedom.

3. Examine the cultural representation of machismo and marianismo gender roles within the
chapter, providing multiple examples with supporting analysis. Also provide at least one quote
per each gender role.

1. San Roman represents machismo within this chapter due to his boisterous nature. He goes
as far as to challenge the village’s best swimmers to a race and wins as well as buying all
of the tickets available at a raffle just to obtain a gift for Angela. These flexes of sorts
show his dominance which of course relates to machismo. Angela herself even says that
she had “never seen one so stuck up” referencing another aspect of Romans machismo.

2. The Vicario sisters represent marianismo due to their training from their mother. The text
is so direct in this characterization that it explicitly states that “the girls had been reared
 to get married”, showing the sole purpose of the girl’s life was to get married, raise
children, and care for their husband. The girls were supposed to do this by being trained
on how to sew by machine, wash clothes and dishes, and cook.

4. Using your knowledge of the entire novel, discuss the double irony connected to Bayardo’s
purchase of the widower Xius’s house.
Bayardo himself does not get married to Angela which is ironic because the house is also where
Xius broken marriage happened. The second irony that is related to the purchase of the house is
that Xiu does not want to give up the house but Bayardo continues to offer more and more
money until the offer is unrefusable, which is funny because, despite his wealth, Bayardo cannot
buy back Angela’s purity.

5. Make THREE connections to main ideas or Global Issues between CDF and TGG in Chapter
2. For each, provide an example and support quote, and then brief analysis as to the correlation:

1. Gatsby and Bayardo both attempt to flex their wealth to get the women they desire.
Bayardo specifically “just to impress her, had bought all the tickets in the raffle.” This
connection is very similar to Gatsby who hosts insane parties and shows Daisy his shirt
collection in an attempt to impress her and get her away from the very machismo Tom.

2. The stories are also similar because they both eventually lose the women they desire,
although for different reasons. Bayardo is first identified as “the man who had given back
his bride” due to her missing her virginity. This is very different from Gatsby who knew
that Daisy had already had a child with Tom but still desired her deeply despite her
already having been owned by Tom.

3. The last connection between The Great Gatsby and Chronicles of a Death Foretold is
between Daisy and Angela, both are women whose marriages are arranged by their
family or their personal greed over their own values or choices. Angelas family takes the
opportunity to marry their daughter away with “great excitement”
Chapter 3 Questions:

6. Analyze the importance of the passage specifying that “there had never been a death more
foretold” and its relationship to the Bystander Effect throughout the chapter (50). Provide three
specific examples with quotes from the chapter and, last, explain how they support a main theme.

1. The narrators claim relates to the bystander effect due to the fact that a multitude
of people heard the twins claim but believed that “their reputation was so
well-founded that no one paid any attention to them” meaning that the Bystander
effect led nobody to act on the twins claims since none of their peers did.

2. The bystander effect is also related to the narrator’s claim that the death was foretold
because only one person feels that there is an actual threat to the twin’s claim. “Faustino Santos
was the only one who perceived a glimmer of truth” and as such told a police officer that latter
stopped by. Unfortunately, due to the bystander effect only he was convinced of the danger and
as such, the policeman took the threat with minimal seriousness.

3. The bystander effect is also related to this claim through Don Rogelio de la Flor lack of
consideration and lack of belief. He tells his wife to not be silly and that “those two arent
about to kill anybody” due to their known good nature. This absolute lack of
consideration of the larger picture and deeper picture supports the main theme of the
book that a sense of community can be both a good and a bad thing.

7. Find two examples of class prejudice within the chapter and discuss the Global Issue involved.
Please support your examples with direct quotes.

1. One example of class prejudice within the chapter is that Don Rogelio de la Flor does
not believe that the twins would be willing to kill Santiago Nazar due to him being
wealthy. Don tells his wife that “those two arent about to kill anybody, much less
someone rich” meaning that he believed that the rich were protected more so than the
poor and are better able to defend themselves despite being mortal like the poorer folk.

2.Another example of class prejudice is that the Vicario brothers were forced to “spend
three years awaiting trial because they couldn’t afford bail.” This shows the unfair
differences between the classes of the time and that simply because the twins were not
rich, they had to waste three years of their lives in prison waiting.

8. Make another connection to a main idea or Global Issue shared in both CDF and TTTC.
Provide the example, a quote, and supporting analysis. *There is definitely a specific passage
that you should be able to easily identify here…
The main idea shared between TTTC and CDF is the guilt felt when killing, even animals. This
idea is backed up in CDF by the other butchers claiming things such as “he wouldn’t be capable
of sacrificing a cow if he‘d known it before.” This of course relates to the incredible sense of
guilt felt by O’Brien and the other soldiers throughout TTTC.

9. Finally, examine the relationship dynamic between Santiago and Maria Alejandrina Cervantes.
Be sure to discuss the motif of falconry and further animal symbolism used to describe their
relationship. This should be a well developed response.
Santiago and Maria’s relationship is one not of true love but of passion and desire for each other.
This relates to the motif of falconry and animal symbolism because Santiago is instead described
as a falcon instead of the one controlling the falcon and Maria is described as a “warlike crane”
meaning that she is feminine but also intense and possibly violent. Their relationship started
when Santiago was 15 and they were caught having intercourse by Ibrahim Nazar who whipped
them out of bed. This and their passion for each other relates to Santiago’s burning desire for
Maria because he feels as if it is something that he should not have or is not able to contain
which he sees as a challenge and wants to have. Their relationship shows how women can have
aspects of machismo as well and that women being contained sexually was not universal for the
time.