A Detailed Summary and Analysis of 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- englit.in
A Colombian novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014), wrote ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ (1983) in the late-twentieth century. It was based on a real murder case in Sucre, Colombia. One of the most enchanting aspects is its “honor is love”. In the course of the novel, Marquez shows the murder of Santiago Nasar in a small village by Angela Vicario’s twin brothers. During the mid-twentieth century, Marquez's non-fiction is often associated with the Latin American literary movement known as, “magical realism”. The novel ‘Chronicles of a Death Foretold’ portrays the destructive power of societal norms and the values.
At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Santiago Nasar, lives with his mother Placida Linero. However, Santiago takes over successful family ranch after his father’s dying. He comes to the home from a wedded celebration in the early morning. On the other hand, Angela Vicario’s husband dragged back to her parents because she wasn’t “virgin”. In this regard, Angela expresses, “I felt that I was the one who was going to die”, and she reveals the name of the culprit, Santiago Nasar. And her twin brothers decide to kill him who losses their sister’s “virginity.”
Angela Vicario’s twin go to market to sharp their knives, and tell others about the upcoming murder which they will do. Pablo and Pedro announce, “We had told many people that we are going to kill Santiago”, but the town’s people do not believe us. Faustino Santos, a friend of brothers, who suspects them and tells the Policemen. Before murdering, The brothers hide themselves inside Armenta’s milk shop. In the time, a local military officer, colonel Aponte, who was enjoying breakfast.
Pablo and Pedro Vicario announce about their plan through the city, some of the people did not believe that they should get involved; some assume that Santiago has been “warned.” Most of them conceive that the murder would be “justified” and secretly want “Santiago’s death”. It raises important questions about “justice, responsibility, and the value of human life”, that the contemporary society doesn’t give honor instead of respectability.
The brothers return to the milk shop, and Pedro expresses his hesitation about their “homicidal plan”. Nevertheless, they repeat their intention to kill Santiago. Whenever, Santiago takes an hour nap, and he notices that some had left to warn him about Vicario brothers threat on his life. However, the Bishop’s boat passes near the city without stopping. On the other hand, Santiago then proceeds to his fiancée. she yells, and does not warn him.
When the foretold becomes tangibility, the murder is described and Cristo Bedoya tenderly wants to warn Santiago but he did not find him. When Flora’s father finds out Santiago; then the brothers reach there, and Santiago leaves the place. A few hours later, the twins caught Santiago at his kitchen, and stab many times whereas he dies.
An Argentine-Chilean-American playwright Ariel Dorfman lamentably criticizes the novel’s portrayal of the “irrationality and futility of violence,” and he critiques the machismo culture leads Santiago’s death. After the murder of Santiago Nasar, Vicario family leaves the town, and the twins spend three years in prison. When three years crossed, Pablo marries his kinswoman, Prudentia Cotes. On the other hand, Angela writes letter to Bayardo San Roman for seventeen years, and then he comes to her and unopened all. Lastly, the novel also elicits “the grief and suffering of Santiago’s mother, who is left to mourn the loss of her son.”
To conclude, Marquez’s iconic post colonial novel ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ expresses the “patriarchal nature” of Colombian society and the “harmful effects” of toxic masculinity, as men are expected to defend their family “honor” at any cost, even it resorting the “violence”. Even, the non-fiction examines, “Honor, Justice, Guilt, and Fate”. It also discloses to ameliorate the sense of “tragedy and fatalism that permeate the novel”. Accordance to an American essayist Sandra Cisneros, who reveals ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ is a power of brawny of a small community, and how the brawny is shaped by the cultural and historical factors.
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