Gabriel Garcia Marquezs Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Essay Example

prison, they are released as free men. The plot of the murder becomes widely known because the Vicario brothers make no effort to conceal their plan.

The town's awareness of the murder plot is demonstrated by the ironic statement from the narrator, "There had never been a death more foreshadowed" (57). Everyone in the town seems to know about the impending death except for Santiago himself. It is unbelievable to think that the murder is allowed to happen without any warning given that there is so much prior knowledge. Pablo and Pedro Vicario are deeply influenced by their society's code of honor, which drives them to commit murder. In fact, it appears that the Vicario brothers do not even want to kill Santiago; they are simply fulfilling their duty as they feel compelled to do so.

According to the text, the family believes that they must publicly kill Santiago in order to restore their honor. They feel obligated to follow through with this action because of the honor code that binds them. Prudencia Cotes's statement, "I knew what they were up to... and I didn't only agree, I never would have married [Pablo] if he hadn't done what a man should do" (72), highlights the immense social pressure they face. Despite the possibility of intervention from others, the townspeople fail to stop the murder. This suggests that the town embraces this honor code that allows murder as a way to regain respect. By not preventing the murder, all individuals become partially complicit in the crime. Alvarez-Borland's analysis views the last two sections of the story as the author's condemnation of the townspeople.

The narrator describes the autopsy in

the second to last section as a massacre and a murder after the murder. According to Alvarez-Borland (221), this depiction, along with the grisly depiction of the actual murder, can be seen as a motivation for the reader to realize the dire consequences of hypocritical honor codes. Additionally, the analysis points out that there is a change in point of view from "I" to "we" in the fifth section, which serves as further evidence of the author's condemnation of the narrator and the townspeople. This change in point of view presents a scathing comment on the corruption of their moral values and institutions. Thus, the book exposes the town's true nature: ugly and dirty.

After the crime resulted from these outdated honor codes, the town itself seems to disintegrate. The entire community carries a collective guilt, forever altered. This transformation is perhaps mirrored in Bayardo San Roman's deteriorating house and car: "The house began to crumble. The wedding car was falling apart by the door, and finally nothing remained except its weather-rotted carcass" (Garcia Marquez 100). Don Rogelio de la Flore dies from shock upon witnessing Santiago's murder. Santiago's ex-fiancee, Flora Miguel, elopes with a lieutenant who subsequently forces her into prostitution in a nearby town. Divina Flore, now overweight and faded, sits surrounded by her children from different fathers.

According to Alvarez-Borland's analysis, Chronicle of a Death Foretold examines why the murder is allowed to happen, while Carlos J. Alonso argues that the novella's purpose is to reenact the murder in an attempt at redemption. In his essay "Writing and Ritual in Chronicle of a Death Foretold", Alonso suggests that the text serves as a means

of recreating the crime rather than understanding or accounting for it. The ritual reenactment of the offense is an effort to give the crime a prescribed order of ceremony and overcome the original events' random nature (Alonso 265).

The townspeople experience tension, which they try to ease by attributing the day's events to fate. Their constant effort to find order in a series of chance events indicates that their motive is not to solve mysteries but rather to have a precise understanding of their role and purpose assigned by fate (Garcia Marquez 113). By labeling it as fate, they are able to accept the occurrence of a murder that could have been prevented. This belief helps alleviate the guilt felt by the townspeople. According to Alonso, the purpose of the story is simply to provide emotional release through storytelling. The chronicle aims to recreate the murder, relieving both the tension and guilt felt by the town and the narrator. Nevertheless, since the story is a repetitive reenactment, it can never serve as a means of redemption. Each time the story is read or retold, the reader experiences the murder again.

The text portrays an unending cycle of violence, never truly purging itself. Throughout the story, Santiago is repeatedly killed, both literally and symbolically. While the brutal murder at the end of the book is the most obvious instance, Santiago Nasar also experiences a figurative death in his dreams. The night prior to his murder, Santiago's dream features ominous birds, serving as an unlucky sign. His mother, skilled in dream interpretation, mistakenly misinterprets this warning, regretting her failure deeply. Additionally, Victoria Guzman symbolically kills Santiago while gutting rabbits

in the kitchen, a sight that disgusts Santiago and foreshadows his own disembowelment.

The autopsy of Santiago is described as a gruesome mess, emphasizing his brutal murder. This continual act of murder leaves no room for remorse within the book. The reader is limited to the same information as the narrator and does not uncover any significant facts that the investigating magistrate had not already discovered. The ultimate truth about Santiago's guilt or innocence remains unknown. Therefore, it is evident that the true purpose of the story goes beyond these details and calls for a deeper interpretation.

The meaning of the text is ambiguous and can be interpreted in various ways, whether as a criticism of medieval traditions and beliefs, an expression of penitence, a reflection on the consequences of murder, or an examination of the psychology of mass complicity. Therefore, it is important to approach the text with an open mind.

Works Cited Alonso, Carlso J. "Writing and Ritual in Chronicle of a Death Foretold." Modern Critical Views: Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Edited by Harold Bloom, this book was published in New York by Chelsea House in 1989 and contains pages 257-269.

Alvarez-Borland, Isabel. "From Mystery to Parody: (Re)Readings of Garcia Marquez's Cronica de una muerte anunciada." Modern Critical Views: Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Ed.

The text below contains information about a book called "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was published in 1989 by Chelsea House and can be found on pages 219-226 of the book written by Harold Bloom.

New York: Ballantine