In the very beginning of “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, the reader instantly feels the confusion that surrounds Santiago Nasar’s death. The confusion begins with the weather. According to Santiago, it was a “very beautiful day” (Marquez 2), however, people were not sure if he was referring to the weather or his state of mind. Meanwhile, “many people coincided in recalling that it was a radiant morning with a sea breeze...but most agreed that the weather was funeral, with a cloudy, low sky and the thick smell of still waters, and that at the moment of the misfortune a thin drizzle was falling” (Marquez 2). The weather is brought up again in his conversation with Victoria Guzman, she says, “the sun warms things up earlier in the summer” (Marquez 7). The narrator repeatedly highlights this aspect, by bringing up the conflicting point of views of various people. The weather could symbolize the foreshadowing of lucky/unlucky events because rain represents sadness or mourning and according to many, it was raining the day of the murder, however the significance of the rain at the time of the murder is left unclear. From these quotes, the reader can see that the narrative is specific about irrelevant details, but vague about important events. The many conflicting versions of the story of Santiago’s murder, mirrors the conflicting views of the weather. This conflict, shows the reader that these neighbors might feel guilty, due to the excuses that they may have made surrounding Santiago’s death and thus, affects their memories.
I agree that the narrator is too specific about irrelevant details of the case, but vague about important events. However, I also think that the author adds this to make the story even more realistic. In real criminal cases, even major details of a crime can be reported many different ways by different witnesses. This can be caused by many things from false memory to just straight up lying and no one can really be sure of what each witnesses motives are to telling details wrong. The reader instantly feels confusion, like you said, and that is realistic because when you are first trying to piece together a criminal case, such as this one, you are given multiple different stories and from there you must weigh out your options and come to the conclusion of who you believe to be right and who you believe to be wrong about different details. I think the thin drizzle symbolizes the fact that, like a thin drizzle, Santiago's death did not really affect many people and to some it was even a good feeling.
In the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Márquez uses magical realism techniques to emphasize the power of beliefs in fate. Fate’s influence can be seen through the combination of several coincidences that allowed for Santiago to be killed. First of all, at theme of the bishop’s arrival, “There were a lot of people at the dock in addition to the authorities and the schoolchildren, and everywhere one could see the crates of well-fattened roosters they were bearing as a gift for the bishop” (Márquez 17). This is the first coincidence; on the day of Santiago’s death, everyone is preoccupied with the bishop’s visit and disregards the rumors that he will be killed. Furthermore, Santiago himself fails to notice a letter on his floor directly warning him, as “the message was on the floor when he left home, but he didn’t see it, nor did Divina Flor or anyone else until long after the crime” (15). The fact that so many arbitrary events lined up so that he could be murdered suggests the power of fate and that his death was inevitable. However, these coincidental events are still within realistic possibilities, so that the reader still believes this event could have taken place, which demonstrates the use of a common magical realism tactic– supernatural ideas occurring in a realistic setting. Márquez also enforces the reader’s acceptance of cultural beliefs by glossing over the reason for Santiago’s death, stating only, “Angela Vicario… had been returned to the house of her parents, because her husband had discovered that she wasn’t a virgin” (24). The reader later finds out that this relates to the Vicario brothers killing Nasar because he is the one who took her virginity, but the fact that this is so subtly mentioned prevents the reader from questioning the justification for his death. Instead, the reader focuses on the literal details of his murder and blindly accepts the brothers’ murder of him in defense of their liter’s honor.
I agree with your analysis of chapter one. I also noticed the major role of fate. Many events lead the reader to believe Santiago Nasar is destined to die. Marquez and the narrator avoid telling the reader the details of why he is murdered or if he actually committed a crime. The townspeople focus seem to also hint that he was fated to die and there was nothing they could do to stop it. They did not get involved because it was a matter of honor. They did not question whether Nasar’s death was left to fate or their failure to act. Similarly, the readers focus on Santiago’s murder because the narrator and the townspeople place the focus on this event. This shows that the justification for the crime, though important information to know later, is not essential knowledge for chapter one. Fate and the townspeople and the narrator’s focus cause the reader to believe that whether someone had stopped the crime or not, Santiago would have ended up dead because it was his fate. Marquez emphasizes the important power of fate in this chapter.
After reading the beginning chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one aspect of the author’s writing style easily comes to mind for me, which is Marquez’s attention to detail when describing the tropical setting in the novel. The combination of visual imagery, olfactory imagery, kinesthetic imagery, as well as local color gives the reader a real sense of being present on the Caribbean island, as Marquez is recalling the event. For example Marquez writes, “Many people coincided in recalling that it was a radiant morning with a sea breeze coming in through the banana groves, as was to be expected in a fine February of that period” (Marquez 4). This brings readers to being on that very island with the sun beating down on their head, a cold refreshing breeze passing across their face, and the very tropical sight of banana trees scattered all around. Marquez follows this by stating, “But most agreed that the weather was funereal, with a cloudy, low sky and the thick smell of still waters, and that at the moment of the misfortune a thin drizzle was falling like the one Santiago Nasar had seen in his dream grove” (Marquez 4). Compared to the previous description, this one has a more colder and darker feel. The sky is darker, and the atmosphere is a lot less joyful than the one previous to this. From these descriptions, you get a sense of what that fateful day might have felt and looked like for Santiago Nasar, as you slowly get feeded more and more information about the incident, as well as the background to it as well.
Reading the first chapter after reading the book as a whole again gave me a new insight on certain things that you commented on here. I first thought of the weather as another insignificant detail that concurred with the magical realism writing style, since it differed widely in description from one person to the next. This, however, I could now see as an indicator of characterization of Santiago Nasar through different viewpoints; with each person expressing their feelings about the death through the weather. Those that saw the day as sunny and bright could've been glad, grateful even, of the death of Santiago Nasar, while those that remembered the day as gray, gloomy, and rainy were in mourning of the man who was a victim to a grisly crime.
The first chapter of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, the reader is quickly thrown into a journalistic style account on the telling of the death of Santiago Nasar. The narrator’s complete identity at this point is seemingly kept away from the reader at this point in the novel and this adds to the story’s mysterious and captivating tone. Something I found really interesting is how Marquez attempts to write this novel in a classic mystery style. With the timeline randomly scrambled, some parts being after and some before Santiago’s death. This type of un-chronological pattern of telling an event’s story is used in many great stories such as “Pulp Fiction”, or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or very successful in captivating the audience by telling their story out of order, feeding the audience information bit by bit leaving the audience to put it in order begging for more information so they can make sense of the complete story. By giving information in small increments with random time points the reader of CDF is left wanting more information about the overall understanding of what is happening in the story opposed to the very small, yet detailed descriptions to intrigue the audience and allow them to dissect all the information the author will give them hoping it to be relevant to figuring out the completion story. By Marquez’s title calling this story a “chronicle” is rather ironic being that the book is not in any chronological order whatsoever. Marquez does this in order to possibly highlight his use of un-chronological storytelling to further emphasize the mystery tone of his novel.
Your analysis was very interesting Elliot, and I have to agree with it as well! Marquez does seem to keep a lot of the information kept away from readers in the early part of the novel. This is possibly his way of keeping the reader engaged with the story, as you are left wondering about the specific details. Even after reading through the entirety of the book, there are still many unanswered questions, such as who did take Angela’s virginity if it was not Santiago, and what was Bayardo San Roman’s reaction after discovering that Angela was in did not a virgin after marrying her. These are all questions that I still do not know how to answer, and keeps me wondering about it long after finishing the last chapter.
While reading chapter one of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I couldn’t help but find it interesting how, despite knowing of the impending murder, many did nothing to stop it or warn Santiago Nasar. I think that the colonel from the academy, Father Carmen Amador is a good example of this public indifference as he said “when I saw him safe and sound I thought it had all been a fib,” (page 22) and is followed by the narration saying that “no one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t. When reading that, I feel that it is simply an excuse used by those who knew in order to avoid getting involved as it would be awkward to do so and most people don’t want to go through the trouble of dealing with a problem such as this. It is, after all, easier to not get involved as it has nothing to do with you so there is definitely a certain disconnect between the general populace and Santiago Nasar that makes them more inclined to be bystanders as shown by their contrast with characters who care about him such as Margot and her mother, Luisa Santiaga, who rushes to him in order to warn him of his impending murder.
One of the literary devices I noticed to be used frequently was irony. The most apparent example of this is the fact that everyone seemed to know Santiago Nasar was going to die except he, himself. This was used in many instances, however. At the start of the chapter, as Santiago Nasar’s dream is told, there is irony that he was so happy, but it was quickly spattered by bird poop. Also in accordance with the dream, Santiago Nasar’s mother says “Any dream about birds means good health" (pg. 4). The readers know he will die soon, and yet he was foretold to have good health. Irony also appears when Marquez reveals the note left under the door Santiago never exits. Furthermore, he happens to use this door. This use of irony engages readers, and also sets the story as an example of magical realism.
In chapter two, the reader not only discovers the motive for the murder of Santiago Nasar, but also becomes aware of the gender roles surrounding women. The narrator first brings up this topic when talking about the Vicario family, he says, “the brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married” (Marquez 34). When reading these two sentences you’d expect them to be parallel, as in the other should say that girls had been reared to be women, however by saying that they were “reared to get married”, shows that in this society the point of a woman’s life is to get married. The narrator continues highlighting women’s roles by saying that, “they knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace,...make artificial flowers and fancy candy…. ” (Marquez 34). All these activities consist of making some sort of decorative item and because Angela’s mom believes that “they’re perfect”, implies that these skills are all women are good for. In this chapter, the narrator also introduces the brutality of social norms surrounding women and their virginity. He tells the reader that no one knew how Angela was not a virgin due to the fact that she’d been raised “under the rigor of a mother of iron” (Marquez 41). Angela became so distressed about people finding out that she told the narrator that, “the only thing I prayed to God for was to give me the courage to kill myself...but he didn’t give it to me” (Marquez 41). This quote, gives the reader insight to how this society valued virginity. Based on Angela’s reaction, we can see that the culture values the virginity of a woman more than her life. Meanwhile, Santiago, the narrator, Luis, and Cristo are all at Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s whorehouse without any remorse (Marquez 50). This shows the double standards of their society because it is culturally acceptable for men to have sex before marriage even if they are already engaged.
In chapter three, the narrator explores the concept of honor, which is taken very seriously in this society. All the characters in this novel are motivated by honor, which leads to the murder of Santiago. The Vicario brothers believe that they are restoring the honor of not only their sister, but their entire family. Because women were seen as helpless in society, damaging her honor was like damaging the men in her family. The chapter begins with Pablo and Pedro telling Father Armador that, “we killed him openly, but we’re innocent...Perhaps before God and before men...it was a matter of honor” (Marquez 56). In Latin American society, your family’s name and reputation was a way to establish the value of your family’s honor and if someone threatened that honor, it was acceptable and legal to murder them. However, they didn’t want to kill Santiago. Clotilde Armenta told the narrator that, “the Vicario brothers were not eager to carry out the sentence as to find someone who would do them a favor of stopping them” (Marquez 65), this is proven by the fact that the brothers went around town telling people that they were going to kill Santiago. The town is now divided into people who know about the murder and want to stop it and people who think that the brothers are joking. Yet somehow, no one stopped them because they are aware of the importance of protecting your honor. Towards the end of the chapter, Faustino Santos jokingly asks the brothers, “why they had to kill Santiago Nasar since there were so many other rich people who deserved dying first” (Marquez 60). This quote brings up the issue of class differences. Santiago’s family represents the upper class, which makes the poorer neighbors envy them. The idea of honor and the resentment of the upper class leads the reader to infer that those factors may have prevented people from interfering with Santiago's murder.
In the second chapter, Márquez portrays the theme that things are not always as they seem, or may seem different from different people’s perspectives. When Angela Vicario explains why she didn’t want to be married on the day of the bishop’s arrival, she claims, “I didn’t want to be blessed by a man who cut off only the combs for soup and threw the rest of the rooster into the trash” (Márquez 43). The bishop may be praised as a holy, righteous man, but truly he is an entitled rich one, according to Angela. This irony warns readers that they should not always read the bare surface of a person or believe what they hear about the person. It is also ironic that the bishop eats rooster, and that the village offered him a great many roosters as a symbol of good fortune, when in actuality there was no good fortune to be had; Angela would be rejected by her husband and a tragic murder was about to take place. The misleading appearance of people and facts is also conveyed through the many characters’ widely differing perspectives on matters. Concerning the background of Bayard San Román, the narrator states, “It came to be said that he had wiped out villages and sown terror in Casanre as a troop commander, that he had escaped from Devil’s Island, that he’d been seen in Pernambuco trying to make a living with trained bears, and that he’d salvaged the remains of a Spanish galleon” (36). Ibsen’s extensive use of imagery demonstrates just how varied and far-fetched the rumors spread about Bayardo were. Furthermore, this conveys how people and their assumptions can distort situations, as none of these were true about Bayardo. This parallels the mixed information the narrator receives regarding Santiago Nasar’s murder and how with open communication, it potentially could have been avoided.
As I finished reading the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, I can’t help but think about this mysterious character Bayardo San Roman. On a seemingly normal day he arrives on the island, dressed in a very fancy manner, and he quickly gets the local’s attention with his striking stature, and bold character. We are given no particular information about why he might have chosen to travel to this island, other than his own explanation of “I’ve been going from town to town looking for someone to marry” (Marquez 26). His determination to achieve the goals he sets for himself, is self-evident in multiple occasions in this chapter, including when he attempts to buy a widower’s house by the name of Xius. He is persistent throughout his conversations with Xius, confident that he will eventually make him crack. At one point Bayardo San Roman states, “‘what’s the price of the house?... Name any one you want’” (Marquez 36). Roman is willing to pay well over the worth of the house, just so he can have it for himself and his future wife. Money seems to be in abundance to him, as he is exchanging cash around like a man who just won the lottery ticket. It is obvious that he is attempting to build a happy life for himself with a beautiful wife, house, and car, but although money can easily get you inanimate objects, love cannot simply be bought as Angela Vicario’s feelings show.
In this chapter, Marquez shows the importance of wealth through his characterization of Bayardo San Roman. Marquez first describes him using his possessions, saying “He arrived on the weekly boat with some saddlebags decorated with silver that matched the buckle of his belt and the rings on his boots” (pg. 27). This focus around Roman’s possessions shows the importance of wealth to the people in the village. Wealth is not something that the people of this small coastal town are used to seeing. This wealth draws everyone’s attention showing how much power wealth can give to a person. The narrator also reveals the notion that “Bayardo San Roman not only was capable of doing everything, and doing it quite well, but also had access to endless resources.” (pg. 29). This idea of the wealthy having the power and resources to do whatever they want is shown multiple times in chapter 2. Though Angela Vicario did not want to marry Bayardo San Roman, her mother convinces her to marry him because he is rich, and she says that “love can be learned too” (pg. 28). Roman has his choice of anyone he would like to marry because of his wealth. The situation with the house also shows his power. The owner Xius does not want to give up his house. It is not something he is willing to bargain with until Bayardo San Roman proposes trading an exorbitant amount of money. Only then is Xius willing to give in. Marquez shows the power the wealthy has in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold.”
With three fifths of the book completed, more and more of the story is beginning to unravel itself. We now know who exactly killed Santiago Nasar, we they committed such an atrocity, and many details of the events that occurred surrounding Nasar’s death. One of which is the surprising openness Pedro and Pablo Vicario had in sharing their plan of murder, as they repeatedly told the townspeople who they were going to kill in a very blatant fashion. To me, it seems that they really were not lusting to spill Nasar’s blood as it may seem upfront, but rather crying for help so that someone can can put a stop to their plan before they have no other choice than to kill Santiago. It all goes down to the interesting honor system that they have. Each individual was expected to uphold their family’s honor all throughout their lives by making what is seemed to be the correct choice that society sees, as it affects their family members and themselves greatly. When Santiago Nasar dishonored Angela, it was expected of her brothers to get revenge if they themselves did not want to lose their honor as well. So what we see here is these two brothers doing everything they can to stop themselves from killing Santiago, without directly stopping themselves. And it is quite ironic that almost all of the townspeople don’t take their word seriously stating, “Who the fuck would ever think that the twins would kill anyone, much less with a pig knife!” (Marquez 69).
Marquez explores the genovese syndrome thoroughly in this chapter as the Vicario twins inform the entire town of their plan to kill Santiago Nasar. The townsfolk all have various reasons why they didn’t believe the brothers, didn’t do anything about it, and didn’t tell Santiago Nasar about it. This reflects the situation of Kitty Genovese when thirty-eight witnesses didn’t report to the police. Faustino Santos says “I thought they were so drunk,” (pg. 59). Clotilde Armenta was frightened of them, but was consoled by her husband. Colonel Lazaro Aponte told the investigators “I thought they were nothing but a pair of big bluffers” (pg. 65). Father Amador revealed “I didn’t know what to do … My first thought was that it wasn’t any business of mine but something for the civil authorities” (pg. 80). Each character has their reason for staying quiet: disbelief and fear. These reactions mimic those in the Genovese case as each witness didn’t want to get involved out of their own fear, disbelief, and fatigue. Marquez shows the Genovese syndrome through this chapter.
In the third chapter, the author illustrates the prevalence of the so-called Kitty Genovese Syndrome through the characters’ refusal to take action to prevent Santiago Nasar’s death. Whether the character believed it should happen because of the importance of honor, or that they simply didn’t believe something so extreme could take place, every character didn’t want to get involved. When the Vicario brothers had gone to the butchers’ stand to sharpen their knives, the butchers claim, “We thought it was just drunkards’ baloney” (60). Not only did they do nothing to stop the murder, but the butchers, among many others, failed to even believe it would happen. Using the casual phrase “drunkards’ baloney” suggests that many bystanders merely watched to see if the drama would actually carry out, as if the murder was an entertaining show rather than a tragedy of the community. Even if their thoughts were not to this extent, the butchers didn’t believe or take action on the news because they were in denial that something so horrific could ever happen in their very village. The tendency of people to not take action is also conveyed through Father Amador’s comment, “The truth is I didn’t know what to do… You have to understand that the bishop was coming on that unfortunate day” (80). This suggests that the Kitty Genovese Syndrome could also be explained by people’s lack of skill in handling high-pressure situations, as they simply “don’t know what to do,” like in the case of Father Amador. This was certainly the case with one of the witnesses of Kitty Genovese’s death, as the article stated he phoned a friend to ask for advice. In addition, Amador explains that he was preoccupied with the bishop’s visit, demonstrating that people are usually absorbed with their own life and don’t even consider the possibility of making sacrifices to help someone else in an emergency.
While reading the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there seemed to be a sense of entitlement to Bayardo San Roman’s actions in the small river village. In the chapter, the narrator’s own mother says that “he reminded me of the devil” in a comparison to the biblical incarnation of sin and evil. Throughout the chapter there are examples of his lavish use of his wealth such as when he buys all the raffle tickets to win a music box or when he shoves his massive wealth in the widower Xius’s face so hard that he died. According to Dr. Dionisio Iguaran, “when you listened with the stethoscope you could hear the tears bubbling inside his heart” due to how saddened he was about not being able to accept Bayard San Roman’s money because of his own sentimentality. Bayardo was also able to charm Angela Vicario’s family into coercing her into a marriage that caused her to wish for her own suicide and would cause her shame and humiliation when she was said to have not been a virgin. This societal custom of placing the virginity of a woman on a pedestal is an outdated one that in itself is an offensive invasion of privacy and breach of their rights. Also it is impossible to confirm from the way that the book is implying in saying that there was no “stain of honor” which I assume is blood from a broken hymen, something that is not necessarily broken through sexual intercourse and this stems from a fundamental inequality between men and women in society.
In chapter two and three of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” the reader is given a significant further insight into the novel’s focus and major plot points. More of the mystery is unraveled with the crime being revealed as Santiago being killed for apparently taking the virginity of Angela Vicario. When Angela’s new husband learns of this news he quickly “returns” his wife like a product he had just purchased that was damaged or used. I believe this idea is very significant to the ideas the book is conveying. This act demonstrates the lack of equality for both men and women seeing so many numerous times before in the writings we have read this year. Her one day husband Bayardo San Roman quickly decided he did not want his wife who he apparently was “in love” with after learning she was not a virgin. In this time of the 1920’s 30’s Columbia, the idea of Roman being married to someone who slept around would possibly being seen as shameful or disgraceful to him. By returning Angela to her parents, Roman demonstrates the property or possession like treatment that would be commonly seen towards women at this time. However in chapter 3 Santiago and Luis and Christo all go to a whorehouse, this implies that men have the free will and choice to do as they please and act as they wish romantically with anyone before marriage, while if a woman does they are looked down upon by society and have dishonored both their family and loved ones. In these two chapters we are given a greater insight into piecing together this mystery and Marquez does an intriguing way of revealing only what the audience needs to know at a time in order to tell a more captivating story.
In the third chapter of Chronicle of a Death Fore told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the story is told from the point of view of the twins as they plot their revenge on the friend who they were drinking with just the night before. When they heard Santiago Nasar’s name from their sister, they didn’t hesitate to grab their knives to go kill him for the sake of their machismo and their pride. In the previous chapter, the twins were brought up to be men while the women were brought up to be given away and that manly pride is a contributing factor in their indignant murder of Santiago Nasar and their lack of remorse afterwards. If I had to describe the twins during their preparations then I would describe them as nonchalant as they casually went to the butcher’s to sharpen their knives until “they sang.” The way that they off-handedly mentioned to their friends that they were plotting to end Nasar’s life was said so casually that I can see how nobody would give any heed to their words as their attitude coupled with their reputation would make it difficult to believe that they could kill so relentlessly. It is also shown in the way that they killed Santiago how eager they were as they tore into him with butchering knives, viciously gutting with an inappropriate enthusiasm at avenging the wrong done to them and their family honor. Even when they admitted to purposely killing him, they said that it was for the sake of their honor which seemed to convince others that their actions were justified.
The content in chapter four talks about the end result of Santiago Nasar’s death. The narrator informs the reader of each character's lives as a result of the drama. Every character seems to be falling apart, except for Angela Vicario. After her family left town, she moved into her own house and became a seamstress, but instead of becoming a drunken mess like her ex-fiancee, she “was so mature and witty that it was difficult to believe that she was the same person” (Marquez 103). The most surprising part of this chapter was that the reader learns that Angela actually fell in love with Bayardo San Roman. Angel tells the narrator that, “ Bayardo San Roman had been in her life forever from the moment he’d brought her back home. It was a coup de grace. ‘Suddenly, when Mama began to hit me, I began to remember him’...she went on thinking about him with a certain surprise at herself…’I wasn’t crying because of the blows or anything that had happened...I was crying because of him’” (Marquez 106). In this quote, the narrator explains that when Bayardo brought Angela back home it was a “coup de grace”, this phrase means the final blow or shot given to a wounded person or animal. The narrator uses this phrase to show that by bringing Angela home, caused her to become infatuated with Bayardo because he was no longer there. Angela soon becomes obsessed with writing him letters in order to show her love for him. The narrator describes her as being a “mistress of her fate for the first time, Angela Vicario then discovered that hate and love are reciprocal passions” (Marquez 108). In this quote, the term “passion”, describes these ideas and emotions as very powerful. Angela experiences these polar opposites with her “lost” husband because she loves him for who he is, but hates that he left her. “Mistress of fate”, means that she is incapable of avoiding this. She is bound to her fate like a lover is bound to those they love, the “mistress”. In the end of the chapter, Angela explains her letters, “sometimes I couldn’t think of what to say...but it was enough for me to know that he was getting them” (Marquez 109). This is significant because it was also enough for Bayardo to receive the letters without knowing what was written in them. This disinterest in the content seems contrary to the purpose of writing letters. Similarly, the overall novel’s disinterest in the truth surrounding the murder contradicts the journalistic style of writing. It also shows us that the concepts of love in Colombia stems from the actions between two lovers, rather than the understanding between them.
“The more letters [Angela Vicario] sent the more the coals of her fervor burned, but the happy rancor she felt for her mother also heated up. ‘Just seeing her would turn my stomach,’ she told me, ‘but I couldn’t see her without remembering him.’ Her life as a rejected wife continued on, simple as that of an old maid, still doing machine embroidery with her friends just as before she had made cloth tulips and paper birds, but when her mother went to bed she would stay in the room until dawn writing letters with no future. She became lucid, overbearing, mistress of her own free will, and she became a virgin again just for him, and she recognized no other authority than her own nor any other service than that of her obsession” (Márquez 109).
In this passage, I was intrigued by how Angela has undergone dynamic characterization but yet simultaneously seems to conform to gender standards more than she ever has. Now that she has lost her husband, she is destined to live the life of an “old maid,” and contains doing feminine jobs like embroidery and making “cloth tulips and paper birds”, both of which are delicate objects associated with women and marianismo. However, through her submission, she is in despair that she no further hopes for her life. This makes her desperately wish for her husband Bayardo San Roman so that she will feel worthy and have something else to do besides feminine day-to-day tasks for the rest of her life, and thus she writes “letters with no future.” Angela’s desire of a better future but her lack thereof reflects how in conventional Catholic tradition, women without husbands had unproductive lives, as they were supposed to devote their lives to their husband. Her longing for Bayardo also prompted her to “become a virgin again just for him,” suggesting she conformed to her role and devoted herself to no one but him in order to purify herself in a sense and to gain his love. The fact that Angela desires a man whom she initially had no love for is major characterization within itself, but she has also changed to become more independent and self-aware, or “the mistress of her own free will.” Now that her secret has been revealed and she has no prospects of marriage, she has nothing to fear, including her mother’s beatings, and thus she lives life the way she wants to, as expressed by the phrase, “she recognized no other authority than her own.” The fact that she wrote letters in secret confessing her love to her ex-husband demonstrates her acts of free will, which were her way of rebelling against the restricted roles of her gender.
In the fifth and final chapter of the novella, the theme of the Kitty Genovese syndrome is continued and one can see the effects of the town’s failure to act in the aftermath. Unlike the previous chapters, the last chapter doesn’t reveal much new information, leaving the reader and the characters with a lot of unanswered questions about the details of the crime. However, the biggest question is how Santiago was murdered when so many people had the ability to stop the crime. As the narrator states in the beginning of the chapter about his and the magistrate’s struggle to make sense of things, “we weren’t doing it from an urge to clear up mysteries but because none of us could go on living without an exact knowledge of the place and mission assigned to us by fate” (113). Long after the event, characters obsess over what they could have done, Not only was the community traumatized by the death, but also by the knowing that they themselves could have prevented it. The author describes how many characters were overwhelmed by guilt when they found out that he was actually killed: “Hortensia Baute… felt so affected by the hallucination that she fell into a penitential crisis, and… Aura Villeros, the midwife who had helped bring three generations into the world, suffered a spasm of the bladder” (114). Márquez’s detailed descriptions illustrate the extent of the effects of the Kitty Genovese Syndrome in how their inaction led to not only a tragic murder, but their profound guilt in realizing it. In addition, the bodily diction in describing Aura Villeros’ bladder parallels the previous descriptions of Santiago’s corpse, reflecting the corruption of all the townspeople’s assumptions about fate and honor. Indeed, some characters try to evade guilt by blaming the tragedy on the inevitability of fate, given the many coincidences that led to the death, although these were preventable. For example, the narrator’s sister Margot claimed “he already had the face of a dead man” (130), suggesting that his death was inevitable, when in fact no one took action to stop it. Márquez also states that “most of those who could have done something to prevent the crime and did not consoled themselves with the pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies” (114). Instead of admitting that they were paralyzed by fear or were too self absorbed to help Nasar, they avoided blame by claiming that it was a matter of honor that was not to be reckoned with by outside people. Whether the town failed to act due to fear, the belief in fate, or the respect of honor, in the end the infamous Kitty Genovese Syndrome led to the murder and the burden of guilt forever engraved on the town’s honor.
I agree with your analysis, and I also agree that the Kitty Genovese syndrome was more dominant in the last chapter of the book. So many people knew the plot against Santiago, but they take action to stop it. As mentioned above, the whole community is to blame for death of Santiago Nasar.
In chapter five, the moments that led up to Santiago’s murder is revealed. The reader is also introduced to the investigating magistrate, who wrote the brief for Santiago’s murder. In the brief, the narrator noticed that the marginal notes “seemed to be written in blood” (Marquez 116). The color red has many symbolic meanings, some of which are concerned with the chapter including; death, anger, and passion, but it is also associated with a strong will and want to survive. This could be seen after Santiago was stabbed multiple times, yet he tries to hold onto his life by walking “more than a hundred yards” (Marquez 142), all the while his intestines are falling out. Also because the investigator chose to write in red ink, he could’ve been trying to preserve Santiago's memory because it seemed that the investigator was very passionate about this case as they were looking for witnesses “with as much persistence as I (the narrator)” (Marquez 133), which shows that he isn’t even related to Santiago but still cares so much about shining a light on his death. Another interesting part of the marginal notes, was the poetic quotes. The first marginal note reads: “give me a prejudice and I will move the world” (Marquez 117). In this quote, the “prejudice” that the investigator is referring too is the fact that Santiago Nasar is a descendent of Arab people who immigrated to Colombia, which makes him an outsider in a tight-knit community. Once the murder is in action, the towns prejudices being to show because even though many people seem to try and stop the death, others show no remorse that an Arab person is about to be killed. The last marginal note that is mentioned, reads: “fatality makes us invisible” (Marquez 113). I thought that the narrator could be referring to the fact that when people die, specific moments and memories associated with that person begin to fade. In this way, Santiago is thought to supposedly become invisible, due to people forgetting who he is. However, the narrator comes back years later and ironically, Santiago is not forgotten. This quote could also be referring to the fact that death, especially in Santiago’s case, is extremely morbid and that scares people. The fact that Santiago went through the front door of his house, which was visible to everyone, and yet no one saw him was because people were scared to intervene in matters of fate/honor, making the townspeople invisible during the crime.
Chapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, began to quickly give us information about the events that occurred after Santiago Nasar’s death. Pedro and Pablo Vicario were imprisoned, awaiting to be extradited from the local jail cell to a large prison father away from the town. After committing a murder, the brothers were surprisingly “...comforted by the honor of having done their duty, and the only thing that worried them was the persistence of the smell” (Marquez 79). They are so desensitized, one would only think it was from the constant butchering of pigs that was their livelihood. But this was different though, this was a human being, a life. Yet they still fail to realize the severity of their actions, using the excuse of protecting their and their sister’s honor to stop any feeling of guilt or remorse from emerging. By committing this murder, they have not only affected Santiago’s family, but the entire town as well, as everyone knew Santiago. In some way their lives are different now because of Nasar’s absence. This might lead as to why the Vicario family chose to leave their house and their old lives behind, as no one would bare to look at them the same way after the marriage and murder ordeal. Angela Vicario’s obsession with her ex husband Bayardo San Roman, was rather odd considering that she did not want to become married to him in the first place. Perhaps that although the idea of marrying Bayardo was unappealing to her, she did come to feel regret for having put him through spending so much money and energy into making sure their marriage would please both of them, then to only have the truth come out only after the fact.
I completely agree with your analysis. However, I think that the smell that lingered in the brother's jail cell symbolizes their guilt. Pedro Vicario tells the narrator that, "no matter how much I scrubbed with soap and rags, I couldn't get rid of the smell" (Marquez 90). This shows that even though they killed Santiago in the name of honor, they are still haunted by the guilt of having done so. I also agree with you that Angela Vicario felt a little regretful, but I think that she truly loved Bayardo in the end because she "had written six letters with no reply, but she comforted herself with the certainty that he was getting them" (Marquez 108). This shows her love for him due to her dedication to proving it even if she never gets those feeling reciprocated.
In Chapter 4, Marquez implies this idea of guilt. The chapter takes place after Santiago's murder, and the chapter includes a recurring state of the characters. In light of the Vicario brothers' act of murder, the chapter states that they did this act of murder as a sense of honor, however the sense of guilt lingers with the air "smelling of Santiago Nasar" (78). The chapter also includes the sense of guilt, saying that the smell of the death cannot be washed off. Therefore explaining why the Vicario brothers act a certain way. In the novella, soon after the murder, the brothers would starve themselves and not sleep, almost as if the acts were put on them by the spirit of Santiago as an act of revenge.
"'It was as if we killed him all over again after he was dead,'"(72)
I also observed the idea of life vs death in the characters; specifically the Vicario Brothers and Santiago Nasar. With the passage above, one can examine this in relation to the novella and conclude that Santiago's death was predetermined. Also in the light of the events happening in the plot during the reference to the passage, the biopsy was similar in the sense of the murder that the Vicario brothers performed. According to imagery in which Marquez included of the biopsy, the stabbing and murder of Santiago Nasar was definitely high up in light of brutality. Now looping back to the theme of life vs death, the Vicario brothers' state "...was like being awake twice over" (78-79) Meaning that with Santiago's payback of starvation and sleep deprivation, the Vicario brothers are to experience what they did in a large, and lucid/vivid event. These two experiences for both Santiago Nasar and the Vicario brothers are a sense of magical realism because they are two events in which contradict one another, and do not match up completely with their innocence/loss of innocence. Whereas the brutal murder was given to one who did not necessarily deserve it, while being alive was given to ones who also didn't deserve it. However the state of being alive is not in favor, as the events in which happen to them portray a deeper understanding of their terrible actions.
I completley agree with your interpretation. I too was getting a sense of guilt from the behavior of the Vicario brothers. However, I didnt look too much into the idea of life VS death and you make a very good argument as to how that is supported throughout the book. To add onto your post I would consider examining the symbol of the smell since you discuss it a bit in the beginning. Smell seems to play a pretty big role in showing the guilt of the characters and explaining how whats done cannot be taken back
In chapter 5 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the moments leading up to Santiago Nasar's death and the murder itself is recounted to the readers. We get to observe Santiago’s very last actions just before getting stabbed multiple times in front of his own home. This is most definitely the most gipping chapter of the entire novel, as all 4 previous chapters have been leading up to these last couple of minutes, countlessly retelling intricate details of why Santiago was going to get murdered, and what had lead up to such an action to be committed. As Nasar’s last actions are told, dramatic irony plays a key role in the anticipation. As the narrator states, “My personal impression is that he died without understanding his death” (Marquez 101). Readers are very aware as to what is roughly going to happen to poor Santiago very soon. Yet he fails to have the slightest clue as to what has been going on for several hours now, despite the fact that almost all the people of the townsfolk know of Nasar’s impending death. Perhaps they failed to warn him because he had already looked dead to them, as it states, “‘Also, Sara Noriega was opening her shoe store at the moment they passed and she was frightened at Santiago Nasar’s paleness’” (Marquez 102). This could signify that his sole has already departed from his body, and that “‘No matter what, he’s good as dead already’” (Marquez 102).
Chapter four of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was about the events that occurred after the murder of Santiago Nasar and contained information about the other characters. One particularly memorable part was the description of the “massacre” of Santiago Nasar’s body during the autopsy. This act of barbarism is similar to the murder of Santiago Nasar and might even surpass it in sheer horror and represents how they all had a part to play in his death even if they did not wield the knife personally. Their desecration of Santiago Nasar’s body serves as a reminder of the true horror that they allowed to happen and emphasizes the point that they allowed him to die. The smell left by his blood and his body symbolize the guilt that blankets the town, especially the Vicario brothers who killed him. I believe that it was only after the mutilation of his body during the autopsy that they realized the true horror of what occurred with the knowledge of the majority of the village and they were intensely affected by his body in the quote “the last onlookers ranged about the schoolhouse windows lost their curiosity, the helper fainted, and Colonel Lazaro Aponte, who had seen and caused so many repressive massacres, became a vegetarian as well as a spiritualist.”
"Well," he said, "here I am." He was carrying a suitcase with clothing in order to stay and another just like it with almost two thousand letters that she had written him. They were arranged by date in bundles tied with coloured ribbons, and they were all unopened.” This quote shows the change in Angela and Bayardo’s relationship. This is an interesting change because of the previous lack of love between the two of them, and the dishonor that was brought on Angela and her family. When the two first met, Bayardo married Angela for her beauty and she, him, for his money. But when Bayardo finds out Angela is not a virgin, he dumps her. Normally, that would be the end of it, especially after it caused Santiago Nasar to be killed. However, chapter four reveals that Angela loves Bayardo,and he, in turn,loves her back. The unopened letters show Bayardo only cares about the implied meaning, not the formalities inside, which reveal that he no longer cares that she is not a virgin.This goes against the typical relationship for this setting, which I find very interesting.
As the last chapter in the book, readers would expect to find a resolution, but “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” gives none.This reflects the journalistic approach in that people in the town might never know what truly happened. The details of the murder are clear, but the motives are still unknown. Was Santiago really the one who stole Angela's virginity? The narrator gives his opinion that he probably wasn't because they never spent time together, but that was just his guess. The journalistic approach to this story gives it a lot of mystery,and makes it a lot more realistic as in a truecrime case, the truth about it may never be realised.
In the final chapter of “Chronicle of a Death” the novel ends, with no feeling of closure, or fulfillment to the end of this story. This story does not end with any form of conclusion or answer any other question besides that of what the book initiated to originally, being the story of how Santiago Nasar was murdered. I believe this method was implemented by the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez because it demonstrates the truth to actual mystery. With the book ending not revealing what the read intended or hoped would be revealed, such as questions like is Santiago truly innocent, who took Angela’s virginity, the reader is left with open ended questions and more of the story is not defined. Just like in a real mystery all someone could really believe without first hand experience is the word of someone else, so in order to maintain that same authenticity to the mystery, the Marquez avoids ever revealing the truth the certain questions, leaving it open to reader interpretation. Even the author being a mysterious character just connected to the story adds to the story’s mystery authenticity, and relies on the character taking a word for it, opposed to a third person narrator telling the readers finite informations saying explicitly ‘this is what happened’ not leaving room for alternate truths to the same story. Marquez successfully wrote an authentic mystery story, while maintaining to keep the most important thing throughout the entirety of the book, the mystery.
I find your analysis to be very interesting, and I agree on that it was successful as a stylistic choice to leave the book with the same question which was posed in the beginning. I might add however, that there is a certain amount of closure within the "ending" that leads me to believe the story is less about the murder of Santiago Nasar and more about the effect that it has within the village, and more specifically, Angela. Marquez chooses to let the reader know where all of the characters find themselves in the aftermath of Santiago's death, and most of them are leading relatively normal lives; with nothing significant changing. This then prompts me to think that perhaps Santiago's death is something which will become cyclical with the same crime occurring as nothing changes. Until there is a positive, impactful change within the community to affect and involve everyone, nothing will ever become more than stagnant. I think Marquez leaves the reader with the open ending to imply that change is possible, but until then, traditions and habits will stay the same
In chapter five of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia writes about the narrators’ search for more information about the circumstances surrounding the case of Santiago Nasar’s murder, as well as some perspective of Cristo Bedoya, Santiago’s friend. It also gives some of the character’s reflection which just emphasizes the feeling of inevitability and the feeling that it was through fate that Santiago Nasar would die as the coincidences continue to pile up. From Cristo Bedoya not staying with his parents, who would have warned him, like he had planned to how Santiago Nasar’s fortune-telling mother overlooked an ominous augury in Nasar’s dream. This creates a tone of futility in the story that no matter what the characters did, Santiago Nasar would die and that feeling only increased as the story progressed all the way to chapter five. Santiago Nasar’s death was not only caused by the inaction of the village people, but also an unknowable series of coincidences that eventually culminated in giving the Vicario brothers a chance to mercilessly slaughter Santiago right in front of his own home. I do believe, however, that the series of events could have been obstructed had one of the bystanders taken action to ensure the prevention of the murder as well as the continued survival of Santiago Nasar.
I agree with your analysis very much so Chris, and I also had the same feeling as well. As we are reading the novel, it is as if Santiago Nasar might have a chance at survival if the Vicario brothers were arrested rather than just having their knives taken away, or his mother didn’t lock the door on him by mistake, or any of the townspeople actually put effort in to stop the murder from occurring. At that very same time though, we know he will die, we know no matter what might happen in between the beginning and the end of the book, the ending will have poor Santiago perish at the hands of Pedro and Pablo Vicario. This is the first time I have read such a book that establishes such an enormous plot spoiler in the very beginning sentence, but it does provide it with such a uniqueness that makes the book such an interesting one to read.
I really liked your analysis of the story, and have to agree with your inferences of the events that took place. This psychological effect called the "bystander effect" was very evident in the plot, as many of the characters suprisingly did not do anything to try to stop the murder. They all had some lame excuse or some wanted him to die. I like how you mention that Nasar dreamed of his death before it even took place, which could help give evidence that the townspeople would not help him. Also, this allows the Vicario brothers an opening to commit it without interference. Overall, I agree completely with your analysis as I read the book.
In chapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the following quote found in the abandoned house “What we discovered inside seemed to be a woman's natural items for hygiene and beauty, and I only learned their real use when Angela Vicario told me many years later which things were the old wives' artifices she had been instructed in so as to deceive her husband.” Has a great deal of symbolism in that the description of these “natural items for hygiene and beauty” turned out to be something they were not. This could allude to a common theme of the loss of innocence throughout the novel. This could be illuding to for one; Angela’s loss of innocence in her virginity being taken before marriage. Angela who lied about her innocence before being married, could also being lying again when blaming Santiago for taking it. She obviously isn't innocent enough not to lie about her virginity, so it isn't crazy to assume she could be lying about who she lost it with. Another theme of loss of innocence is within the town itself. Assuming Santiago is innocent, the seeming innocent town would have just let an innocent man be murdered without the hesitation of the entire town, in which many people were aware of the murderous plan. The guilt the entire town has to deal with after his death is similar to the guilt and loss of innocence within Angela. This quote can also show how nothing is what it seems necessarily, and how innocence can be hidden and disguised behind ignorance. As the husbands choose not to believe or look into the women’s beauty items, the town chooses to ignore and not be involved in the rumors of the planning of Santiago’s death.
In the very beginning of “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, the reader instantly feels the confusion that surrounds Santiago Nasar’s death. The confusion begins with the weather. According to Santiago, it was a “very beautiful day” (Marquez 2), however, people were not sure if he was referring to the weather or his state of mind. Meanwhile, “many people coincided in recalling that it was a radiant morning with a sea breeze...but most agreed that the weather was funeral, with a cloudy, low sky and the thick smell of still waters, and that at the moment of the misfortune a thin drizzle was falling” (Marquez 2). The weather is brought up again in his conversation with Victoria Guzman, she says, “the sun warms things up earlier in the summer” (Marquez 7). The narrator repeatedly highlights this aspect, by bringing up the conflicting point of views of various people. The weather could symbolize the foreshadowing of lucky/unlucky events because rain represents sadness or mourning and according to many, it was raining the day of the murder, however the significance of the rain at the time of the murder is left unclear. From these quotes, the reader can see that the narrative is specific about irrelevant details, but vague about important events. The many conflicting versions of the story of Santiago’s murder, mirrors the conflicting views of the weather. This conflict, shows the reader that these neighbors might feel guilty, due to the excuses that they may have made surrounding Santiago’s death and thus, affects their memories.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the narrator is too specific about irrelevant details of the case, but vague about important events. However, I also think that the author adds this to make the story even more realistic. In real criminal cases, even major details of a crime can be reported many different ways by different witnesses. This can be caused by many things from false memory to just straight up lying and no one can really be sure of what each witnesses motives are to telling details wrong. The reader instantly feels confusion, like you said, and that is realistic because when you are first trying to piece together a criminal case, such as this one, you are given multiple different stories and from there you must weigh out your options and come to the conclusion of who you believe to be right and who you believe to be wrong about different details. I think the thin drizzle symbolizes the fact that, like a thin drizzle, Santiago's death did not really affect many people and to some it was even a good feeling.
DeleteIn the first chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Márquez uses magical realism techniques to emphasize the power of beliefs in fate. Fate’s influence can be seen through the combination of several coincidences that allowed for Santiago to be killed. First of all, at theme of the bishop’s arrival, “There were a lot of people at the dock in addition to the authorities and the schoolchildren, and everywhere one could see the crates of well-fattened roosters they were bearing as a gift for the bishop” (Márquez 17). This is the first coincidence; on the day of Santiago’s death, everyone is preoccupied with the bishop’s visit and disregards the rumors that he will be killed. Furthermore, Santiago himself fails to notice a letter on his floor directly warning him, as “the message was on the floor when he left home, but he didn’t see it, nor did Divina Flor or anyone else until long after the crime” (15). The fact that so many arbitrary events lined up so that he could be murdered suggests the power of fate and that his death was inevitable. However, these coincidental events are still within realistic possibilities, so that the reader still believes this event could have taken place, which demonstrates the use of a common magical realism tactic– supernatural ideas occurring in a realistic setting. Márquez also enforces the reader’s acceptance of cultural beliefs by glossing over the reason for Santiago’s death, stating only, “Angela Vicario… had been returned to the house of her parents, because her husband had discovered that she wasn’t a virgin” (24). The reader later finds out that this relates to the Vicario brothers killing Nasar because he is the one who took her virginity, but the fact that this is so subtly mentioned prevents the reader from questioning the justification for his death. Instead, the reader focuses on the literal details of his murder and blindly accepts the brothers’ murder of him in defense of their liter’s honor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis of chapter one. I also noticed the major role of fate. Many events lead the reader to believe Santiago Nasar is destined to die. Marquez and the narrator avoid telling the reader the details of why he is murdered or if he actually committed a crime. The townspeople focus seem to also hint that he was fated to die and there was nothing they could do to stop it. They did not get involved because it was a matter of honor. They did not question whether Nasar’s death was left to fate or their failure to act. Similarly, the readers focus on Santiago’s murder because the narrator and the townspeople place the focus on this event. This shows that the justification for the crime, though important information to know later, is not essential knowledge for chapter one. Fate and the townspeople and the narrator’s focus cause the reader to believe that whether someone had stopped the crime or not, Santiago would have ended up dead because it was his fate. Marquez emphasizes the important power of fate in this chapter.
DeleteAfter reading the beginning chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one aspect of the author’s writing style easily comes to mind for me, which is Marquez’s attention to detail when describing the tropical setting in the novel. The combination of visual imagery, olfactory imagery, kinesthetic imagery, as well as local color gives the reader a real sense of being present on the Caribbean island, as Marquez is recalling the event. For example Marquez writes, “Many people coincided in recalling that it was a radiant morning with a sea breeze coming in through the banana groves, as was to be expected in a fine February of that period” (Marquez 4). This brings readers to being on that very island with the sun beating down on their head, a cold refreshing breeze passing across their face, and the very tropical sight of banana trees scattered all around. Marquez follows this by stating, “But most agreed that the weather was funereal, with a cloudy, low sky and the thick smell of still waters, and that at the moment of the misfortune a thin drizzle was falling like the one Santiago Nasar had seen in his dream grove” (Marquez 4). Compared to the previous description, this one has a more colder and darker feel. The sky is darker, and the atmosphere is a lot less joyful than the one previous to this. From these descriptions, you get a sense of what that fateful day might have felt and looked like for Santiago Nasar, as you slowly get feeded more and more information about the incident, as well as the background to it as well.
ReplyDeleteReading the first chapter after reading the book as a whole again gave me a new insight on certain things that you commented on here. I first thought of the weather as another insignificant detail that concurred with the magical realism writing style, since it differed widely in description from one person to the next. This, however, I could now see as an indicator of characterization of Santiago Nasar through different viewpoints; with each person expressing their feelings about the death through the weather. Those that saw the day as sunny and bright could've been glad, grateful even, of the death of Santiago Nasar, while those that remembered the day as gray, gloomy, and rainy were in mourning of the man who was a victim to a grisly crime.
DeleteThe first chapter of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, the reader is quickly thrown into a journalistic style account on the telling of the death of Santiago Nasar. The narrator’s complete identity at this point is seemingly kept away from the reader at this point in the novel and this adds to the story’s mysterious and captivating tone. Something I found really interesting is how Marquez attempts to write this novel in a classic mystery style. With the timeline randomly scrambled, some parts being after and some before Santiago’s death. This type of un-chronological pattern of telling an event’s story is used in many great stories such as “Pulp Fiction”, or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or very successful in captivating the audience by telling their story out of order, feeding the audience information bit by bit leaving the audience to put it in order begging for more information so they can make sense of the complete story. By giving information in small increments with random time points the reader of CDF is left wanting more information about the overall understanding of what is happening in the story opposed to the very small, yet detailed descriptions to intrigue the audience and allow them to dissect all the information the author will give them hoping it to be relevant to figuring out the completion story. By Marquez’s title calling this story a “chronicle” is rather ironic being that the book is not in any chronological order whatsoever. Marquez does this in order to possibly highlight his use of un-chronological storytelling to further emphasize the mystery tone of his novel.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis was very interesting Elliot, and I have to agree with it as well! Marquez does seem to keep a lot of the information kept away from readers in the early part of the novel. This is possibly his way of keeping the reader engaged with the story, as you are left wondering about the specific details. Even after reading through the entirety of the book, there are still many unanswered questions, such as who did take Angela’s virginity if it was not Santiago, and what was Bayardo San Roman’s reaction after discovering that Angela was in did not a virgin after marrying her. These are all questions that I still do not know how to answer, and keeps me wondering about it long after finishing the last chapter.
DeleteWhile reading chapter one of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I couldn’t help but find it interesting how, despite knowing of the impending murder, many did nothing to stop it or warn Santiago Nasar. I think that the colonel from the academy, Father Carmen Amador is a good example of this public indifference as he said “when I saw him safe and sound I thought it had all been a fib,” (page 22) and is followed by the narration saying that “no one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadn’t. When reading that, I feel that it is simply an excuse used by those who knew in order to avoid getting involved as it would be awkward to do so and most people don’t want to go through the trouble of dealing with a problem such as this. It is, after all, easier to not get involved as it has nothing to do with you so there is definitely a certain disconnect between the general populace and Santiago Nasar that makes them more inclined to be bystanders as shown by their contrast with characters who care about him such as Margot and her mother, Luisa Santiaga, who rushes to him in order to warn him of his impending murder.
ReplyDeleteChapter 1
ReplyDeleteOne of the literary devices I noticed to be used frequently was irony. The most apparent example of this is the fact that everyone seemed to know Santiago Nasar was going to die except he, himself. This was used in many instances, however. At the start of the chapter, as Santiago Nasar’s dream is told, there is irony that he was so happy, but it was quickly spattered by bird poop. Also in accordance with the dream, Santiago Nasar’s mother says “Any dream about birds means good health" (pg. 4). The readers know he will die soon, and yet he was foretold to have good health. Irony also appears when Marquez reveals the note left under the door Santiago never exits. Furthermore, he happens to use this door. This use of irony engages readers, and also sets the story as an example of magical realism.
In chapter two, the reader not only discovers the motive for the murder of Santiago Nasar, but also becomes aware of the gender roles surrounding women. The narrator first brings up this topic when talking about the Vicario family, he says, “the brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married” (Marquez 34). When reading these two sentences you’d expect them to be parallel, as in the other should say that girls had been reared to be women, however by saying that they were “reared to get married”, shows that in this society the point of a woman’s life is to get married. The narrator continues highlighting women’s roles by saying that, “they knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace,...make artificial flowers and fancy candy…. ” (Marquez 34). All these activities consist of making some sort of decorative item and because Angela’s mom believes that “they’re perfect”, implies that these skills are all women are good for. In this chapter, the narrator also introduces the brutality of social norms surrounding women and their virginity. He tells the reader that no one knew how Angela was not a virgin due to the fact that she’d been raised “under the rigor of a mother of iron” (Marquez 41). Angela became so distressed about people finding out that she told the narrator that, “the only thing I prayed to God for was to give me the courage to kill myself...but he didn’t give it to me” (Marquez 41). This quote, gives the reader insight to how this society valued virginity. Based on Angela’s reaction, we can see that the culture values the virginity of a woman more than her life. Meanwhile, Santiago, the narrator, Luis, and Cristo are all at Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s whorehouse without any remorse (Marquez 50). This shows the double standards of their society because it is culturally acceptable for men to have sex before marriage even if they are already engaged.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter three, the narrator explores the concept of honor, which is taken very seriously in this society. All the characters in this novel are motivated by honor, which leads to the murder of Santiago. The Vicario brothers believe that they are restoring the honor of not only their sister, but their entire family. Because women were seen as helpless in society, damaging her honor was like damaging the men in her family. The chapter begins with Pablo and Pedro telling Father Armador that, “we killed him openly, but we’re innocent...Perhaps before God and before men...it was a matter of honor” (Marquez 56). In Latin American society, your family’s name and reputation was a way to establish the value of your family’s honor and if someone threatened that honor, it was acceptable and legal to murder them. However, they didn’t want to kill Santiago. Clotilde Armenta told the narrator that, “the Vicario brothers were not eager to carry out the sentence as to find someone who would do them a favor of stopping them” (Marquez 65), this is proven by the fact that the brothers went around town telling people that they were going to kill Santiago. The town is now divided into people who know about the murder and want to stop it and people who think that the brothers are joking. Yet somehow, no one stopped them because they are aware of the importance of protecting your honor. Towards the end of the chapter, Faustino Santos jokingly asks the brothers, “why they had to kill Santiago Nasar since there were so many other rich people who deserved dying first” (Marquez 60). This quote brings up the issue of class differences. Santiago’s family represents the upper class, which makes the poorer neighbors envy them. The idea of honor and the resentment of the upper class leads the reader to infer that those factors may have prevented people from interfering with Santiago's murder.
ReplyDeleteIn the second chapter, Márquez portrays the theme that things are not always as they seem, or may seem different from different people’s perspectives. When Angela Vicario explains why she didn’t want to be married on the day of the bishop’s arrival, she claims, “I didn’t want to be blessed by a man who cut off only the combs for soup and threw the rest of the rooster into the trash” (Márquez 43). The bishop may be praised as a holy, righteous man, but truly he is an entitled rich one, according to Angela. This irony warns readers that they should not always read the bare surface of a person or believe what they hear about the person. It is also ironic that the bishop eats rooster, and that the village offered him a great many roosters as a symbol of good fortune, when in actuality there was no good fortune to be had; Angela would be rejected by her husband and a tragic murder was about to take place. The misleading appearance of people and facts is also conveyed through the many characters’ widely differing perspectives on matters. Concerning the background of Bayard San Román, the narrator states, “It came to be said that he had wiped out villages and sown terror in Casanre as a troop commander, that he had escaped from Devil’s Island, that he’d been seen in Pernambuco trying to make a living with trained bears, and that he’d salvaged the remains of a Spanish galleon” (36). Ibsen’s extensive use of imagery demonstrates just how varied and far-fetched the rumors spread about Bayardo were. Furthermore, this conveys how people and their assumptions can distort situations, as none of these were true about Bayardo. This parallels the mixed information the narrator receives regarding Santiago Nasar’s murder and how with open communication, it potentially could have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I just realized I said Ibsen instead of Marquez. How terribly amusing.
DeleteAs I finished reading the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, I can’t help but think about this mysterious character Bayardo San Roman. On a seemingly normal day he arrives on the island, dressed in a very fancy manner, and he quickly gets the local’s attention with his striking stature, and bold character. We are given no particular information about why he might have chosen to travel to this island, other than his own explanation of “I’ve been going from town to town looking for someone to marry” (Marquez 26). His determination to achieve the goals he sets for himself, is self-evident in multiple occasions in this chapter, including when he attempts to buy a widower’s house by the name of Xius. He is persistent throughout his conversations with Xius, confident that he will eventually make him crack. At one point Bayardo San Roman states, “‘what’s the price of the house?... Name any one you want’” (Marquez 36). Roman is willing to pay well over the worth of the house, just so he can have it for himself and his future wife. Money seems to be in abundance to him, as he is exchanging cash around like a man who just won the lottery ticket. It is obvious that he is attempting to build a happy life for himself with a beautiful wife, house, and car, but although money can easily get you inanimate objects, love cannot simply be bought as Angela Vicario’s feelings show.
ReplyDeleteChapter 2
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Marquez shows the importance of wealth through his characterization of Bayardo San Roman. Marquez first describes him using his possessions, saying “He arrived on the weekly boat with some saddlebags decorated with silver that matched the buckle of his belt and the rings on his boots” (pg. 27). This focus around Roman’s possessions shows the importance of wealth to the people in the village. Wealth is not something that the people of this small coastal town are used to seeing. This wealth draws everyone’s attention showing how much power wealth can give to a person. The narrator also reveals the notion that “Bayardo San Roman not only was capable of doing everything, and doing it quite well, but also had access to endless resources.” (pg. 29). This idea of the wealthy having the power and resources to do whatever they want is shown multiple times in chapter 2. Though Angela Vicario did not want to marry Bayardo San Roman, her mother convinces her to marry him because he is rich, and she says that “love can be learned too” (pg. 28). Roman has his choice of anyone he would like to marry because of his wealth. The situation with the house also shows his power. The owner Xius does not want to give up his house. It is not something he is willing to bargain with until Bayardo San Roman proposes trading an exorbitant amount of money. Only then is Xius willing to give in. Marquez shows the power the wealthy has in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold.”
With three fifths of the book completed, more and more of the story is beginning to unravel itself. We now know who exactly killed Santiago Nasar, we they committed such an atrocity, and many details of the events that occurred surrounding Nasar’s death. One of which is the surprising openness Pedro and Pablo Vicario had in sharing their plan of murder, as they repeatedly told the townspeople who they were going to kill in a very blatant fashion. To me, it seems that they really were not lusting to spill Nasar’s blood as it may seem upfront, but rather crying for help so that someone can can put a stop to their plan before they have no other choice than to kill Santiago. It all goes down to the interesting honor system that they have. Each individual was expected to uphold their family’s honor all throughout their lives by making what is seemed to be the correct choice that society sees, as it affects their family members and themselves greatly. When Santiago Nasar dishonored Angela, it was expected of her brothers to get revenge if they themselves did not want to lose their honor as well. So what we see here is these two brothers doing everything they can to stop themselves from killing Santiago, without directly stopping themselves. And it is quite ironic that almost all of the townspeople don’t take their word seriously stating, “Who the fuck would ever think that the twins would kill anyone, much less with a pig knife!” (Marquez 69).
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ReplyDeleteChapter 3
ReplyDeleteMarquez explores the genovese syndrome thoroughly in this chapter as the Vicario twins inform the entire town of their plan to kill Santiago Nasar. The townsfolk all have various reasons why they didn’t believe the brothers, didn’t do anything about it, and didn’t tell Santiago Nasar about it. This reflects the situation of Kitty Genovese when thirty-eight witnesses didn’t report to the police. Faustino Santos says “I thought they were so drunk,” (pg. 59). Clotilde Armenta was frightened of them, but was consoled by her husband. Colonel Lazaro Aponte told the investigators “I thought they were nothing but a pair of big bluffers” (pg. 65). Father Amador revealed “I didn’t know what to do … My first thought was that it wasn’t any business of mine but something for the civil authorities” (pg. 80). Each character has their reason for staying quiet: disbelief and fear. These reactions mimic those in the Genovese case as each witness didn’t want to get involved out of their own fear, disbelief, and fatigue. Marquez shows the Genovese syndrome through this chapter.
In the third chapter, the author illustrates the prevalence of the so-called Kitty Genovese Syndrome through the characters’ refusal to take action to prevent Santiago Nasar’s death. Whether the character believed it should happen because of the importance of honor, or that they simply didn’t believe something so extreme could take place, every character didn’t want to get involved. When the Vicario brothers had gone to the butchers’ stand to sharpen their knives, the butchers claim, “We thought it was just drunkards’ baloney” (60). Not only did they do nothing to stop the murder, but the butchers, among many others, failed to even believe it would happen. Using the casual phrase “drunkards’ baloney” suggests that many bystanders merely watched to see if the drama would actually carry out, as if the murder was an entertaining show rather than a tragedy of the community. Even if their thoughts were not to this extent, the butchers didn’t believe or take action on the news because they were in denial that something so horrific could ever happen in their very village. The tendency of people to not take action is also conveyed through Father Amador’s comment, “The truth is I didn’t know what to do… You have to understand that the bishop was coming on that unfortunate day” (80). This suggests that the Kitty Genovese Syndrome could also be explained by people’s lack of skill in handling high-pressure situations, as they simply “don’t know what to do,” like in the case of Father Amador. This was certainly the case with one of the witnesses of Kitty Genovese’s death, as the article stated he phoned a friend to ask for advice. In addition, Amador explains that he was preoccupied with the bishop’s visit, demonstrating that people are usually absorbed with their own life and don’t even consider the possibility of making sacrifices to help someone else in an emergency.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the second chapter of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there seemed to be a sense of entitlement to Bayardo San Roman’s actions in the small river village. In the chapter, the narrator’s own mother says that “he reminded me of the devil” in a comparison to the biblical incarnation of sin and evil. Throughout the chapter there are examples of his lavish use of his wealth such as when he buys all the raffle tickets to win a music box or when he shoves his massive wealth in the widower Xius’s face so hard that he died. According to Dr. Dionisio Iguaran, “when you listened with the stethoscope you could hear the tears bubbling inside his heart” due to how saddened he was about not being able to accept Bayard San Roman’s money because of his own sentimentality. Bayardo was also able to charm Angela Vicario’s family into coercing her into a marriage that caused her to wish for her own suicide and would cause her shame and humiliation when she was said to have not been a virgin. This societal custom of placing the virginity of a woman on a pedestal is an outdated one that in itself is an offensive invasion of privacy and breach of their rights. Also it is impossible to confirm from the way that the book is implying in saying that there was no “stain of honor” which I assume is blood from a broken hymen, something that is not necessarily broken through sexual intercourse and this stems from a fundamental inequality between men and women in society.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter two and three of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” the reader is given a significant further insight into the novel’s focus and major plot points. More of the mystery is unraveled with the crime being revealed as Santiago being killed for apparently taking the virginity of Angela Vicario. When Angela’s new husband learns of this news he quickly “returns” his wife like a product he had just purchased that was damaged or used. I believe this idea is very significant to the ideas the book is conveying. This act demonstrates the lack of equality for both men and women seeing so many numerous times before in the writings we have read this year. Her one day husband Bayardo San Roman quickly decided he did not want his wife who he apparently was “in love” with after learning she was not a virgin. In this time of the 1920’s 30’s Columbia, the idea of Roman being married to someone who slept around would possibly being seen as shameful or disgraceful to him. By returning Angela to her parents, Roman demonstrates the property or possession like treatment that would be commonly seen towards women at this time. However in chapter 3 Santiago and Luis and Christo all go to a whorehouse, this implies that men have the free will and choice to do as they please and act as they wish romantically with anyone before marriage, while if a woman does they are looked down upon by society and have dishonored both their family and loved ones. In these two chapters we are given a greater insight into piecing together this mystery and Marquez does an intriguing way of revealing only what the audience needs to know at a time in order to tell a more captivating story.
ReplyDeleteI made this blog about both chapters 2 and 3
DeleteIn the third chapter of Chronicle of a Death Fore told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the story is told from the point of view of the twins as they plot their revenge on the friend who they were drinking with just the night before. When they heard Santiago Nasar’s name from their sister, they didn’t hesitate to grab their knives to go kill him for the sake of their machismo and their pride. In the previous chapter, the twins were brought up to be men while the women were brought up to be given away and that manly pride is a contributing factor in their indignant murder of Santiago Nasar and their lack of remorse afterwards. If I had to describe the twins during their preparations then I would describe them as nonchalant as they casually went to the butcher’s to sharpen their knives until “they sang.” The way that they off-handedly mentioned to their friends that they were plotting to end Nasar’s life was said so casually that I can see how nobody would give any heed to their words as their attitude coupled with their reputation would make it difficult to believe that they could kill so relentlessly. It is also shown in the way that they killed Santiago how eager they were as they tore into him with butchering knives, viciously gutting with an inappropriate enthusiasm at avenging the wrong done to them and their family honor. Even when they admitted to purposely killing him, they said that it was for the sake of their honor which seemed to convince others that their actions were justified.
ReplyDeleteThe content in chapter four talks about the end result of Santiago Nasar’s death. The narrator informs the reader of each character's lives as a result of the drama. Every character seems to be falling apart, except for Angela Vicario. After her family left town, she moved into her own house and became a seamstress, but instead of becoming a drunken mess like her ex-fiancee, she “was so mature and witty that it was difficult to believe that she was the same person” (Marquez 103). The most surprising part of this chapter was that the reader learns that Angela actually fell in love with Bayardo San Roman. Angel tells the narrator that, “ Bayardo San Roman had been in her life forever from the moment he’d brought her back home. It was a coup de grace. ‘Suddenly, when Mama began to hit me, I began to remember him’...she went on thinking about him with a certain surprise at herself…’I wasn’t crying because of the blows or anything that had happened...I was crying because of him’” (Marquez 106). In this quote, the narrator explains that when Bayardo brought Angela back home it was a “coup de grace”, this phrase means the final blow or shot given to a wounded person or animal. The narrator uses this phrase to show that by bringing Angela home, caused her to become infatuated with Bayardo because he was no longer there. Angela soon becomes obsessed with writing him letters in order to show her love for him. The narrator describes her as being a “mistress of her fate for the first time, Angela Vicario then discovered that hate and love are reciprocal passions” (Marquez 108). In this quote, the term “passion”, describes these ideas and emotions as very powerful. Angela experiences these polar opposites with her “lost” husband because she loves him for who he is, but hates that he left her. “Mistress of fate”, means that she is incapable of avoiding this. She is bound to her fate like a lover is bound to those they love, the “mistress”. In the end of the chapter, Angela explains her letters, “sometimes I couldn’t think of what to say...but it was enough for me to know that he was getting them” (Marquez 109). This is significant because it was also enough for Bayardo to receive the letters without knowing what was written in them. This disinterest in the content seems contrary to the purpose of writing letters. Similarly, the overall novel’s disinterest in the truth surrounding the murder contradicts the journalistic style of writing. It also shows us that the concepts of love in Colombia stems from the actions between two lovers, rather than the understanding between them.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4
ReplyDelete“The more letters [Angela Vicario] sent the more the coals of her fervor burned, but the happy rancor she felt for her mother also heated up. ‘Just seeing her would turn my stomach,’ she told me, ‘but I couldn’t see her without remembering him.’ Her life as a rejected wife continued on, simple as that of an old maid, still doing machine embroidery with her friends just as before she had made cloth tulips and paper birds, but when her mother went to bed she would stay in the room until dawn writing letters with no future. She became lucid, overbearing, mistress of her own free will, and she became a virgin again just for him, and she recognized no other authority than her own nor any other service than that of her obsession” (Márquez 109).
In this passage, I was intrigued by how Angela has undergone dynamic characterization but yet simultaneously seems to conform to gender standards more than she ever has. Now that she has lost her husband, she is destined to live the life of an “old maid,” and contains doing feminine jobs like embroidery and making “cloth tulips and paper birds”, both of which are delicate objects associated with women and marianismo. However, through her submission, she is in despair that she no further hopes for her life. This makes her desperately wish for her husband Bayardo San Roman so that she will feel worthy and have something else to do besides feminine day-to-day tasks for the rest of her life, and thus she writes “letters with no future.” Angela’s desire of a better future but her lack thereof reflects how in conventional Catholic tradition, women without husbands had unproductive lives, as they were supposed to devote their lives to their husband. Her longing for Bayardo also prompted her to “become a virgin again just for him,” suggesting she conformed to her role and devoted herself to no one but him in order to purify herself in a sense and to gain his love. The fact that Angela desires a man whom she initially had no love for is major characterization within itself, but she has also changed to become more independent and self-aware, or “the mistress of her own free will.” Now that her secret has been revealed and she has no prospects of marriage, she has nothing to fear, including her mother’s beatings, and thus she lives life the way she wants to, as expressed by the phrase, “she recognized no other authority than her own.” The fact that she wrote letters in secret confessing her love to her ex-husband demonstrates her acts of free will, which were her way of rebelling against the restricted roles of her gender.
In the fifth and final chapter of the novella, the theme of the Kitty Genovese syndrome is continued and one can see the effects of the town’s failure to act in the aftermath. Unlike the previous chapters, the last chapter doesn’t reveal much new information, leaving the reader and the characters with a lot of unanswered questions about the details of the crime. However, the biggest question is how Santiago was murdered when so many people had the ability to stop the crime. As the narrator states in the beginning of the chapter about his and the magistrate’s struggle to make sense of things, “we weren’t doing it from an urge to clear up mysteries but because none of us could go on living without an exact knowledge of the place and mission assigned to us by fate” (113). Long after the event, characters obsess over what they could have done, Not only was the community traumatized by the death, but also by the knowing that they themselves could have prevented it. The author describes how many characters were overwhelmed by guilt when they found out that he was actually killed: “Hortensia Baute… felt so affected by the hallucination that she fell into a penitential crisis, and… Aura Villeros, the midwife who had helped bring three generations into the world, suffered a spasm of the bladder” (114). Márquez’s detailed descriptions illustrate the extent of the effects of the Kitty Genovese Syndrome in how their inaction led to not only a tragic murder, but their profound guilt in realizing it. In addition, the bodily diction in describing Aura Villeros’ bladder parallels the previous descriptions of Santiago’s corpse, reflecting the corruption of all the townspeople’s assumptions about fate and honor. Indeed, some characters try to evade guilt by blaming the tragedy on the inevitability of fate, given the many coincidences that led to the death, although these were preventable. For example, the narrator’s sister Margot claimed “he already had the face of a dead man” (130), suggesting that his death was inevitable, when in fact no one took action to stop it. Márquez also states that “most of those who could have done something to prevent the crime and did not consoled themselves with the pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies” (114). Instead of admitting that they were paralyzed by fear or were too self absorbed to help Nasar, they avoided blame by claiming that it was a matter of honor that was not to be reckoned with by outside people. Whether the town failed to act due to fear, the belief in fate, or the respect of honor, in the end the infamous Kitty Genovese Syndrome led to the murder and the burden of guilt forever engraved on the town’s honor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis, and I also agree that the Kitty Genovese syndrome was more dominant in the last chapter of the book. So many people knew the plot against Santiago, but they take action to stop it. As mentioned above, the whole community is to blame for death of Santiago Nasar.
DeleteIn chapter five, the moments that led up to Santiago’s murder is revealed. The reader is also introduced to the investigating magistrate, who wrote the brief for Santiago’s murder. In the brief, the narrator noticed that the marginal notes “seemed to be written in blood” (Marquez 116). The color red has many symbolic meanings, some of which are concerned with the chapter including; death, anger, and passion, but it is also associated with a strong will and want to survive. This could be seen after Santiago was stabbed multiple times, yet he tries to hold onto his life by walking “more than a hundred yards” (Marquez 142), all the while his intestines are falling out. Also because the investigator chose to write in red ink, he could’ve been trying to preserve Santiago's memory because it seemed that the investigator was very passionate about this case as they were looking for witnesses “with as much persistence as I (the narrator)” (Marquez 133), which shows that he isn’t even related to Santiago but still cares so much about shining a light on his death. Another interesting part of the marginal notes, was the poetic quotes. The first marginal note reads: “give me a prejudice and I will move the world” (Marquez 117). In this quote, the “prejudice” that the investigator is referring too is the fact that Santiago Nasar is a descendent of Arab people who immigrated to Colombia, which makes him an outsider in a tight-knit community. Once the murder is in action, the towns prejudices being to show because even though many people seem to try and stop the death, others show no remorse that an Arab person is about to be killed. The last marginal note that is mentioned, reads: “fatality makes us invisible” (Marquez 113). I thought that the narrator could be referring to the fact that when people die, specific moments and memories associated with that person begin to fade. In this way, Santiago is thought to supposedly become invisible, due to people forgetting who he is. However, the narrator comes back years later and ironically, Santiago is not forgotten. This quote could also be referring to the fact that death, especially in Santiago’s case, is extremely morbid and that scares people. The fact that Santiago went through the front door of his house, which was visible to everyone, and yet no one saw him was because people were scared to intervene in matters of fate/honor, making the townspeople invisible during the crime.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, began to quickly give us information about the events that occurred after Santiago Nasar’s death. Pedro and Pablo Vicario were imprisoned, awaiting to be extradited from the local jail cell to a large prison father away from the town. After committing a murder, the brothers were surprisingly “...comforted by the honor of having done their duty, and the only thing that worried them was the persistence of the smell” (Marquez 79). They are so desensitized, one would only think it was from the constant butchering of pigs that was their livelihood. But this was different though, this was a human being, a life. Yet they still fail to realize the severity of their actions, using the excuse of protecting their and their sister’s honor to stop any feeling of guilt or remorse from emerging. By committing this murder, they have not only affected Santiago’s family, but the entire town as well, as everyone knew Santiago. In some way their lives are different now because of Nasar’s absence. This might lead as to why the Vicario family chose to leave their house and their old lives behind, as no one would bare to look at them the same way after the marriage and murder ordeal. Angela Vicario’s obsession with her ex husband Bayardo San Roman, was rather odd considering that she did not want to become married to him in the first place. Perhaps that although the idea of marrying Bayardo was unappealing to her, she did come to feel regret for having put him through spending so much money and energy into making sure their marriage would please both of them, then to only have the truth come out only after the fact.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your analysis. However, I think that the smell that lingered in the brother's jail cell symbolizes their guilt. Pedro Vicario tells the narrator that, "no matter how much I scrubbed with soap and rags, I couldn't get rid of the smell" (Marquez 90). This shows that even though they killed Santiago in the name of honor, they are still haunted by the guilt of having done so. I also agree with you that Angela Vicario felt a little regretful, but I think that she truly loved Bayardo in the end because she "had written six letters with no reply, but she comforted herself with the certainty that he was getting them" (Marquez 108). This shows her love for him due to her dedication to proving it even if she never gets those feeling reciprocated.
DeleteIn Chapter 4, Marquez implies this idea of guilt. The chapter takes place after Santiago's murder, and the chapter includes a recurring state of the characters. In light of the Vicario brothers' act of murder, the chapter states that they did this act of murder as a sense of honor, however the sense of guilt lingers with the air "smelling of Santiago Nasar" (78). The chapter also includes the sense of guilt, saying that the smell of the death cannot be washed off. Therefore explaining why the Vicario brothers act a certain way. In the novella, soon after the murder, the brothers would starve themselves and not sleep, almost as if the acts were put on them by the spirit of Santiago as an act of revenge.
ReplyDelete"'It was as if we killed him all over again after he was dead,'"(72)
I also observed the idea of life vs death in the characters; specifically the Vicario Brothers and Santiago Nasar. With the passage above, one can examine this in relation to the novella and conclude that Santiago's death was predetermined. Also in the light of the events happening in the plot during the reference to the passage, the biopsy was similar in the sense of the murder that the Vicario brothers performed. According to imagery in which Marquez included of the biopsy, the stabbing and murder of Santiago Nasar was definitely high up in light of brutality. Now looping back to the theme of life vs death, the Vicario brothers' state "...was like being awake twice over" (78-79) Meaning that with Santiago's payback of starvation and sleep deprivation, the Vicario brothers are to experience what they did in a large, and lucid/vivid event. These two experiences for both Santiago Nasar and the Vicario brothers are a sense of magical realism because they are two events in which contradict one another, and do not match up completely with their innocence/loss of innocence. Whereas the brutal murder was given to one who did not necessarily deserve it, while being alive was given to ones who also didn't deserve it. However the state of being alive is not in favor, as the events in which happen to them portray a deeper understanding of their terrible actions.
I completley agree with your interpretation. I too was getting a sense of guilt from the behavior of the Vicario brothers. However, I didnt look too much into the idea of life VS death and you make a very good argument as to how that is supported throughout the book. To add onto your post I would consider examining the symbol of the smell since you discuss it a bit in the beginning. Smell seems to play a pretty big role in showing the guilt of the characters and explaining how whats done cannot be taken back
DeleteIn chapter 5 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the moments leading up to Santiago Nasar's death and the murder itself is recounted to the readers. We get to observe Santiago’s very last actions just before getting stabbed multiple times in front of his own home. This is most definitely the most gipping chapter of the entire novel, as all 4 previous chapters have been leading up to these last couple of minutes, countlessly retelling intricate details of why Santiago was going to get murdered, and what had lead up to such an action to be committed. As Nasar’s last actions are told, dramatic irony plays a key role in the anticipation. As the narrator states, “My personal impression is that he died without understanding his death” (Marquez 101). Readers are very aware as to what is roughly going to happen to poor Santiago very soon. Yet he fails to have the slightest clue as to what has been going on for several hours now, despite the fact that almost all the people of the townsfolk know of Nasar’s impending death. Perhaps they failed to warn him because he had already looked dead to them, as it states, “‘Also, Sara Noriega was opening her shoe store at the moment they passed and she was frightened at Santiago Nasar’s paleness’” (Marquez 102). This could signify that his sole has already departed from his body, and that “‘No matter what, he’s good as dead already’” (Marquez 102).
ReplyDeleteChapter four of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was about the events that occurred after the murder of Santiago Nasar and contained information about the other characters. One particularly memorable part was the description of the “massacre” of Santiago Nasar’s body during the autopsy. This act of barbarism is similar to the murder of Santiago Nasar and might even surpass it in sheer horror and represents how they all had a part to play in his death even if they did not wield the knife personally. Their desecration of Santiago Nasar’s body serves as a reminder of the true horror that they allowed to happen and emphasizes the point that they allowed him to die. The smell left by his blood and his body symbolize the guilt that blankets the town, especially the Vicario brothers who killed him. I believe that it was only after the mutilation of his body during the autopsy that they realized the true horror of what occurred with the knowledge of the majority of the village and they were intensely affected by his body in the quote “the last onlookers ranged about the schoolhouse windows lost their curiosity, the helper fainted, and Colonel Lazaro Aponte, who had seen and caused so many repressive massacres, became a vegetarian as well as a spiritualist.”
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ReplyDeleteChapter 4
"Well," he said, "here I am."
He was carrying a suitcase with clothing in order to stay and another just like it
with almost two thousand letters that she had written him. They were arranged by date in
bundles tied with coloured ribbons, and they were all unopened.”
This quote shows the change in Angela and Bayardo’s relationship. This is an interesting change because of the previous lack of love between the two of them, and the dishonor that was brought on Angela and her family. When the two first met, Bayardo married Angela for her beauty and she, him, for his money. But when Bayardo finds out Angela is not a virgin, he dumps her. Normally, that would be the end of it, especially after it caused Santiago Nasar to be killed. However, chapter four reveals that Angela loves Bayardo,and he, in turn,loves her back. The unopened letters show Bayardo only cares about the implied meaning, not the formalities inside, which reveal that he no longer cares that she is not a virgin.This goes against the typical relationship for this setting, which I find very interesting.
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteAs the last chapter in the book, readers would expect to find a resolution, but “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” gives none.This reflects the journalistic approach in that people in the town might never know what truly happened. The details of the murder are clear, but the motives are still unknown. Was Santiago really the one who stole Angela's virginity? The narrator gives his opinion that he probably wasn't because they never spent time together, but that was just his guess. The journalistic approach to this story gives it a lot of mystery,and makes it a lot more realistic as in a truecrime case, the truth about it may never be realised.
In the final chapter of “Chronicle of a Death” the novel ends, with no feeling of closure, or fulfillment to the end of this story. This story does not end with any form of conclusion or answer any other question besides that of what the book initiated to originally, being the story of how Santiago Nasar was murdered. I believe this method was implemented by the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez because it demonstrates the truth to actual mystery. With the book ending not revealing what the read intended or hoped would be revealed, such as questions like is Santiago truly innocent, who took Angela’s virginity, the reader is left with open ended questions and more of the story is not defined. Just like in a real mystery all someone could really believe without first hand experience is the word of someone else, so in order to maintain that same authenticity to the mystery, the Marquez avoids ever revealing the truth the certain questions, leaving it open to reader interpretation. Even the author being a mysterious character just connected to the story adds to the story’s mystery authenticity, and relies on the character taking a word for it, opposed to a third person narrator telling the readers finite informations saying explicitly ‘this is what happened’ not leaving room for alternate truths to the same story. Marquez successfully wrote an authentic mystery story, while maintaining to keep the most important thing throughout the entirety of the book, the mystery.
ReplyDeleteI find your analysis to be very interesting, and I agree on that it was successful as a stylistic choice to leave the book with the same question which was posed in the beginning. I might add however, that there is a certain amount of closure within the "ending" that leads me to believe the story is less about the murder of Santiago Nasar and more about the effect that it has within the village, and more specifically, Angela. Marquez chooses to let the reader know where all of the characters find themselves in the aftermath of Santiago's death, and most of them are leading relatively normal lives; with nothing significant changing. This then prompts me to think that perhaps Santiago's death is something which will become cyclical with the same crime occurring as nothing changes. Until there is a positive, impactful change within the community to affect and involve everyone, nothing will ever become more than stagnant. I think Marquez leaves the reader with the open ending to imply that change is possible, but until then, traditions and habits will stay the same
DeleteIn chapter five of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia writes about the narrators’ search for more information about the circumstances surrounding the case of Santiago Nasar’s murder, as well as some perspective of Cristo Bedoya, Santiago’s friend. It also gives some of the character’s reflection which just emphasizes the feeling of inevitability and the feeling that it was through fate that Santiago Nasar would die as the coincidences continue to pile up. From Cristo Bedoya not staying with his parents, who would have warned him, like he had planned to how Santiago Nasar’s fortune-telling mother overlooked an ominous augury in Nasar’s dream. This creates a tone of futility in the story that no matter what the characters did, Santiago Nasar would die and that feeling only increased as the story progressed all the way to chapter five. Santiago Nasar’s death was not only caused by the inaction of the village people, but also an unknowable series of coincidences that eventually culminated in giving the Vicario brothers a chance to mercilessly slaughter Santiago right in front of his own home. I do believe, however, that the series of events could have been obstructed had one of the bystanders taken action to ensure the prevention of the murder as well as the continued survival of Santiago Nasar.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis very much so Chris, and I also had the same feeling as well. As we are reading the novel, it is as if Santiago Nasar might have a chance at survival if the Vicario brothers were arrested rather than just having their knives taken away, or his mother didn’t lock the door on him by mistake, or any of the townspeople actually put effort in to stop the murder from occurring. At that very same time though, we know he will die, we know no matter what might happen in between the beginning and the end of the book, the ending will have poor Santiago perish at the hands of Pedro and Pablo Vicario. This is the first time I have read such a book that establishes such an enormous plot spoiler in the very beginning sentence, but it does provide it with such a uniqueness that makes the book such an interesting one to read.
DeleteI really liked your analysis of the story, and have to agree with your inferences of the events that took place. This psychological effect called the "bystander effect" was very evident in the plot, as many of the characters suprisingly did not do anything to try to stop the murder. They all had some lame excuse or some wanted him to die. I like how you mention that Nasar dreamed of his death before it even took place, which could help give evidence that the townspeople would not help him. Also, this allows the Vicario brothers an opening to commit it without interference. Overall, I agree completely with your analysis as I read the book.
DeleteIn chapter 4 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the following quote found in the abandoned house “What we discovered inside seemed to be a woman's natural items for hygiene and beauty, and I only learned their real use when Angela Vicario told me many years later which things were the old wives' artifices she had been instructed in so as to deceive her husband.” Has a great deal of symbolism in that the description of these “natural items for hygiene and beauty” turned out to be something they were not. This could allude to a common theme of the loss of innocence throughout the novel. This could be illuding to for one; Angela’s loss of innocence in her virginity being taken before marriage. Angela who lied about her innocence before being married, could also being lying again when blaming Santiago for taking it. She obviously isn't innocent enough not to lie about her virginity, so it isn't crazy to assume she could be lying about who she lost it with. Another theme of loss of innocence is within the town itself. Assuming Santiago is innocent, the seeming innocent town would have just let an innocent man be murdered without the hesitation of the entire town, in which many people were aware of the murderous plan. The guilt the entire town has to deal with after his death is similar to the guilt and loss of innocence within Angela. This quote can also show how nothing is what it seems necessarily, and how innocence can be hidden and disguised behind ignorance. As the husbands choose not to believe or look into the women’s beauty items, the town chooses to ignore and not be involved in the rumors of the planning of Santiago’s death.
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