COAD-F

In “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, the murder of Santiago Nasar occurs due to many people not doing what should have been done. Because the novel begins with Pablo and Pedro Vicario having already committed the murder of Santiago, the author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, must have another idea in mind. The novel focuses on what people could have done to prevent the murder, and also what people thought while doing nothing.

There are many characters in the novel that could have influenced the outcome of Santiago, but they did not have much momentum to stop it. Victoria Guzman is one of them. She was the cook in Santiago Nasar’s home. When Victoria was a teenager, she had had an affair with Santiago’s father causing a slight hatred of the family. Also, Victoria has a daughter named Divina Flor. Santiago is very sexual with her but in an inappropriate manner. Santiago believes that because Divina is poor and works for him, that he can do anything he wants with her. Having these two as enemies was not the greatest idea for Santiago. Later on in the novel, we find out that Divina and Victoria both new that Santiago was going to be murdered but they chose not to say anything. Showing the reasons that they had not said anything because, “hadn’t said anything to Santiago Nasar because in the depths of her heart she wanted them to kill him. Divina on the other hand, didn’t warn him because she was nothing but frightened child at the time.”

Clothilde Armenta is the owner and proprietress of the “milk shop” in which the Vicarios brothers are before they go out to kill Santiago. Clothilde gives the boys more alcohol than they probably need, trying to prevent them from been physically able o walk out of the shop to find Santiago. Also, she took their knives away from them thinking it would stop them. But the brothers return home to get different sharpened knives. This attempt by Clothilde obviously fails.

Two others fail in warning Santiago about the attempt to murder him, but these are for slightly less excusable reasons. Father Amador is told to warn Santiago but he forgets to do so because of no real reason at all. Colonel Lazaro Aponte forgets to do the same as Father Amador, but not only does he forget, he does not tell him because he became distracted with the games of dominoes he had been previously in. Many people in the novel had the full opportunity to save Santiago’s life but it does not seem as if they wanted to. After reading the novel, it does not seem as if many of the characters really liked Santiago besides his sister, Margot.

Honor is a key fact in the novel because it is pretty much the reason for Santiago’s death. Angela Vicario was a dishonorable bride because of the fact that she was not a virgin. When Pablo and Pedro received word of this, they commanded her to tell her who was the man. She soon after replied, “Santiago Nasar,” and that was it. Realizing that they must kill Santiago in order to restore their family’s honor, they quickly find knives in order to do so. Prudencia Cotes, Pedro’s fiancé, said about the murder, “I knew what they were up to…and I didn’t only agree, I never would have married him if he hadn’t done what a man should do.” This shows the value of honor within the Columbian culture. Even the priest agreed that the two brothers were innocent before god and before men because it was a matter of honor, which applies before all else.