Chronicle of a Death Foretold

by Gabriel García Márquez

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The Characters

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There is little attempt to represent the deep psychological dimensions of the characters, as has been prevalent in the novel in English since Henry James and Virginia Woolf. The characters are rather ingredients in Gabriel García Márquez’s so-called Magical Realism, a Latin American offshoot of Surrealism, in which the fantastic is ordinary. These characters are like flowers in a small garden so exotic that the observer is astonished almost beyond understanding; they are more the inhabitants of folktale, myth, and legend, than of the twentieth century.

Even the narrator remains oddly unknowable, though he is clearly García Márquez’s fictive alter ego (he tells how he proposed to his wife Mercedes, for example, and mentions her sister and aunt by name). He is a sort of wide-eyed, baffled observer, a student visiting home during the period of the novel, who simply likes his fellow villagers so much that he cannot find any wickedness in them—the forgivable sins of lust and drunkenness, perhaps, but not the malice that could produce the unthinkable murder of one of their own citizens in broad daylight, with practically the whole village as witnesses.

What the characters lack in psychological shading, they make up for in abundance of color. The groom Bayardo San Román arrived in town with silver decorating his saddlebags, belt, and boots, looking for someone to marry. He had “the waist of a novice bullfighter, golden eyes, and a skin slowly roasted by saltpeter.” Magdelena Oliver could not take her eyes off him and told the narrator that she “could have buttered him and eaten him alive.” He could swim faster, drink longer, and fight better than any man in town, and was far richer than any of them; every woman in town would have married him, except for the girl he wanted at first sight: Angela Vicario. He bought all the raffle tickets to win a music box for her, then bought the best house in town for her, though it was not for sale. (The sight of all the money he put on the table ultimately killed the owner.)

Bayardo’s character may justly be said to be flat because he is little more than a vehicle for machismo, but such a stylistic choice enables García Márquez to portray his characters as victims trapped by the prevailing codes of their lives, as outmoded as they may be judged, which leads directly to the absurd murder of Nasar because he violated Angela, although no one is ever sure that he was guilty. Indeed, the reader will not find the characters divisible into categories of major and minor, but only find those who appear more often and those who appear less, and all contribute to the unlikelihood of the central action. Magdelena Oliver, who first reacts to Bayardo’s male beauty, appears but once, and her comment stands not as her own opinion but as the ultimate consensus of the village. It is as though the village itself were the main character of the novel, speaking with many voices; in this reading, the murder itself becomes a ritualistic, communal suicide in which the forty-two characters who are named in the novel (and many more of their brothers and sisters and cousins) are helpless participants.

Thus, of the murdered man and the woman he allegedly wronged, the reader learns little more than of the characters on the perimeter of the central drama: The lesser characters serve as a kind of moral reflection of the central ones. There is Maria Alejandrina Cervantes, for example, the elegant, serviceable woman who never sleeps and who, as the narrator attests, “did...

(This entire section contains 748 words.)

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away with my generation’s virginity,” including that of Nasar, who dies for a crime that for the woman is a vocation.

Nasar is a fairly affluent young man, inclined to womanizing and drinking with friends. He dies not so much because his guilt is established, but because he is typical and therefore able to be presumed guilty. His public execution at the end of the novel is described as in slow motion and in precise detail, in more detail than any aspect of his life, because his death more profoundly affects the village than his life could. Until he dies, the characters are locked into the modes of action that will produce his death. Once that is accomplished, they are freed to pursue their individual lives again, though this time, haunted by a terrible memory.

Characters Discussed

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Santiago Nasar

Santiago Nasar (sahn-tee-AH-goh nah-SAHR), a member of the Arab community, slim and pale, with dark curly hair. He is killed in front of his own house at the age of twenty-one. A handsome bachelor, he is described as having had a love for horses, falconry, and church pomp; his other characteristics included flirtatiousness, valor, merriness, peaceableness, and prudence. Normally dressed in khaki with riding boots, he donned unstarched white linen pants and shirts on special occasions. Inheritor of the Divine Face cattle ranch and a firearms enthusiast, he carried a .357 magnum with armored bullets as he traveled in the country. Although he is killed as the deflowerer of Angela Vicario, his innocent behavior up to the moment of his death suggests that he was wrongly accused of the act.

Angela Vicario

Angela Vicario (AHN-heh-lah vee-KAHR-ee-oh), the youngest and prettiest daughter of a poor family. She resists the prospect of marriage to Bayardo San Román and unsuccessfully attempts to pass as a virgin on their wedding night. After Bayardo takes her back home, she is beaten by her mother, Purísima (Pura) del Carmen Vicario. Questioned by her brothers, she names Santiago as the man responsible for deflowering her. In the aftermath of the murder, she grows from a hapless spirit to a mature and witty woman. Previously uninterested in Bayardo, she becomes obsessed with him and remains unmarried, writing hundreds of letters to him in the years after their separation.

Bayardo San Román

Bayardo San Román (bay-AHR-doh sahn rroh-MAHN), who captures the imagination of the villagers when he arrives in town wearing clothing ornamented with silver. About thirty years old, he has a slim waist, golden eyes, and tanned skin. A drinker, he seems to lack a steady occupation but exhibits familiarity with railway engineering, telegraphy, frontier illnesses, card games, and swimming. Soon after seeing Angela, he courts her and proposes to her. When he discovers on their wedding night that she is not a virgin, he carries her to her mother. Afterward, he is found in a state of severe intoxication and carried out of the town by members of his family. Although he never opens any of Angela’s letters, he saves them and eventually returns to her.

Pedro Vicario

Pedro Vicario and

Pablo Vicario

Pablo Vicario, brothers of Angela, identical twins who support their family by slaughtering pigs. Both presented themselves for military service at the age of twenty, but Pablo, six minutes older than Pedro, stayed home to support the family. Pedro entered service, where he contracted a case of blennorrhea (excessive mucus discharge). Told that Santiago has dishonored their sister, the brothers undertake to stab him to death. Although they are unrepentant after the deed is done, the narrator notes that they seemed reluctant to carry it off: By informing more than a dozen villagers of their intent, they seem to have been hoping to be stopped. In jail, they are haunted by an odor of Santiago that lingers after his death. Pablo, who suffers a severe case of diarrhea in confinement, becomes a goldsmith upon his release. Pedro, whose chronic pain prevents him from sleeping for eleven months, is cured of his disease while behind bars. After he is freed, he rejoins the military and disappears on a mission.

The narrator

The narrator, a friend of Santiago. Returning to his hometown, he investigates Santiago’s murder twenty-seven years after its occurrence. the narrative summarizes the results of his efforts.

Clotilde Armenta

Clotilde Armenta (cloh-TEEL-deh ahr-MEHN-tah), a milk vendor who appeals to the Vicario twins to refrain from killing Santiago. In an effort to prevent the crime from taking place, she asks all the people she sees to warn Santiago of the danger he is in, attempts to intoxicate the brothers, unsuccessfully tries to restrain Pedro, and shouts a warning to Santiago.

Don Rogelio de la Flor

Don Rogelio de la Flor (roh-HEH-lee-oh), Clotilde Armenta’s husband.

Colonel Lázaro Aponte

Colonel Lázaro Aponte (LAH-sah-roh ah-POHN-teh), the mayor. He and Don Rogelio disappoint Clotilde because they do not take strong measures to prevent the murder from occurring. Don Rogelio dies from shock after seeing Santiago’s bloody corpse.

Purísima (Pura) del Carmen

Purísima (Pura) del Carmen (pewr-EE-see-mah), Angela’s mother, who beats her daughter harshly after Bayardo returns her.

Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique (lew-EES ehn-REE-keh), the narrator’s brother and a friend of Santiago.

Cristóbal (Cristo) Bedoya

Cristóbal (Cristo) Bedoya (krees-TOH-bahl bay-DOY-ah), another friend of Santiago. Luis, Cristo, Santiago, and the narrator had been drinking companions of Bayardo.

Luisa Santiaga

Luisa Santiaga (lew-EE-sah sahn-tee-AH-gah), the narrator’s mother, who was Santiago’s godmother and a blood relative of Pura. She is initially impressed with Bayardo, but her regard for him gradually ebbs. On the day of the murder, she tries to warn Santiago of the threat to his life but is told that she is too late.

Characters

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"It was a matter of honor," defends Pablo Vicario regarding his role in the murder. This statement also serves as the artistic premise of the novel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is crafted to both entertain and provoke social and psychological reflection in the reader. The story unfolds like a ritual with a predetermined cast of characters: the seducer, the seduced, the wronged husband, the avengers, and the various bystanders who witness and validate the act of vengeance. Consequently, character development in the novel is minimal, with individuals primarily fulfilling their assigned roles.

After discovering his new bride's infidelity, Bayardo San Roman returns his wife to her disgraced family. Angela Vicario, the wife, identifies Santiago Nasar as her lover, prompting her twin brothers, Pedro and Pablo, to take on the duty of restoring their family's honor. Publicly declaring their intent to kill Santiago, the brothers follow through with their threat, met with either weak protests or silent approval from the townspeople. Adding a layer of irony, Garcia Marquez portrays Santiago as an unwitting participant in the seduction, Angela as not entirely innocent, and the Vicario brothers as possibly questioning the necessity of the murder. Thematically, Santiago is consistently depicted unfavorably as a brash, conceited, and unsympathetic womanizer. Additionally, his Arab heritage allows Garcia Marquez to hint at a racial dimension in the town's moral paralysis in preventing his death.

Characters

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Colonel Aponte
See Lazaro Aponte

Lazaro Aponte
Lazaro Aponte, also known as Colonel Aponte, serves as the head of the police. He first learns about the twins' plan to kill Santiago shortly after four o'clock in the morning. Having just finished shaving, one of his officers, Leandro Pornoy, informs him of the threat. Aponte does not take the threat seriously because when he encounters the twins, they appear relatively sober. He confiscates their knives and feels confident that they will not go through with their plan.

Clotilde Armenta
Clotilde Armenta is the owner of the milk shop where the killers slept and waited for Santiago. She recalls that Santiago already looked like a ghost when she saw him early on the morning of the murder. She makes a mild attempt to persuade the twins not to kill Santiago.

Cristo Bedoya
Cristo Bedoya is a close friend of Santiago and the narrator. The three young men spend the night before the murder attending Angela Vicario's wedding. The next morning, Cristo joins Margot and Santiago at the pier to await the bishop's arrival. Upon reaching the village square, Cristo and Santiago part ways. When Cristo learns of the murder plot, he tries, unsuccessfully, to catch up with Santiago to warn him.

Maria Cervantes
Maria Cervantes owns the brothel, also known as the "house of mercies," where Santiago Nasar, Cristo Bedoya, Luis Enrique, and his brother, the narrator, continue their celebration after the wedding. Maria is known for having helped all of them lose their virginity. She is tender and beautiful but maintains strict house rules.

Purisima del Carmen
Purisima del Carmen is the mother of Angela and the twins, Pedro and Pablo. A former schoolteacher, she is married to Poncio and has dedicated her life to being a wife and mother. She has raised her daughters to be good wives and mothers and her sons to be honorable men.

Divina Flor
Divina Flor, a young girl just entering adolescence, is Victoria Guzmán's daughter. She is overwhelmed by emotions she cannot yet understand whenever she sees Santiago. Santiago touches her in ways that make her uncomfortable and seems to want to harm her. She is aware of the plot to kill Santiago but, like her mother, says nothing. Too young to make the decision to tell him on her own, she is also frightened enough by him to keep her distance.

Victoria Guzmán
Victoria Guzmán is the cook for the Nasar family. Once Ibrahim Nasar's mistress, she now views Santiago with the same disdain she held for his late father. She resents Ibrahim for relegating her to the role of cook after tiring of her. Believing Santiago to be just like his father, she works hard to keep him away from her daughter, Divina Flor. Early on the morning of the murder, she learns of Santiago's impending death but chooses to remain silent.

Plácida Linero
Santiago's mother, Plácida Linero, has a talent for interpreting dreams. However, on the day her son is killed, she fails to grasp the importance of Santiago's dream about birds and trees from the previous night. She later regrets focusing more on the birds, which symbolize good health, while ignoring the trees, which are an omen. In her later years, Plácida suffers from chronic headaches that began the day she last saw her son. The knowledge that she unknowingly closed the main door of the house, allowing Santiago's killers to catch him, torments her.

Flora Miguel
Flora Miguel is Santiago's fiancée through an arrangement made by their parents. Her family has a tradition of not opening their doors or receiving visitors before noon. On the morning of the murder, Flora learns that Santiago is going to die. Fearing that Santiago will have to marry Angela to save her honor if he survives, Flora invites him into her home and expresses her frustration and anger. Concerned for his daughter, Flora's father checks on her and is the one who informs Santiago about the plot against him.

Narrator
The narrator, whose name is never revealed, is a member of the Santiaga family, the son of Luisa, and the brother of Margot. He is also a close friend of Santiago Nasar. Returning to his village twenty-seven years after Santiago's murder, he attempts to reconstruct the events of that fateful day.

Ibrahim Nasar
Ibrahim Nasar, Santiago's father and Plácida Linero's husband, passed away three years before the story begins. Santiago carries on his father's legacy, inheriting his good looks and managing the family ranch. Ibrahim had arrived in the Caribbean village with the last group of Arabs after the civil wars. He was relatively wealthy and had purchased the house where Plácida and Santiago live. He also brought his mistress, Victoria Guzmán, to live with them as their cook. Victoria despises Ibrahim for his womanizing ways and harbors hatred for Santiago because he behaves similarly to his father.

Santiago Nasar
Santiago Nasar, the son of the recently deceased Ibrahim Nasar, lives with his mother, Plácida Linero, in a small Caribbean village. At twenty-one, Santiago bears a strong resemblance to his father, with Arab eyelids and curly hair. He shares his father's love for horses and firearms, as well as his wisdom and values. Having inherited the family ranch, The Divine Face, Santiago leads a comfortable life with financial security. From his mother, he has gained a sixth sense about certain things. On the day of his death, Santiago tells his mother about recurring dreams involving trees and birds.

Slim and pale, Santiago wears his clothes with style, typically opting for a khaki outfit and boots when working. On special occasions, like the day the Bishop arrives at the beginning of the story, Santiago looks particularly handsome in his white linen shirt and pants. Women admire Santiago for his good looks, fortune, and pleasant disposition, considering him a man of his word. Men also respect Santiago. After his father's death, Santiago leaves his studies to manage the family business without complaint and remains eager to join his friends in celebrations. Everyone knows Santiago is cautious with his guns and ammunition, only arming himself when necessary for work in the country.

Santiago is set to marry Flora Miguel at Christmas. He seems satisfied with the arrangement and content with his life. He appears to have no enemies. However, Santiago's carefree lifestyle ends abruptly when Angela Vicario accuses him of taking her virginity.

Pura
See Purisima Del Carmen

Bayardo San Román
The disgraced bridegroom, Bayardo San Román, returns Angela Vicario to her parents' home upon discovering she is not a virgin. San Román maintains the gentlemanly demeanor that people have come to know since his arrival in their small community. Although he has only lived there for six months, his background remains a mystery to many. However, women are captivated by his looks and do not concern themselves with his past. He arrives dressed in a short calfskin jacket, tight trousers, and matching gloves, with silver adorning his boots, belt, and saddlebags. His physique is reminiscent of a bullfighter, and his skin radiates health. When Bayardo's family arrives for the wedding, the townspeople learn that Bayardo is the son of a wealthy civil war hero.

General Petronio San Román
Bayardo's father, the General, arrives for the wedding in a Model T Ford with an official license. Renowned for his leadership in civil wars of the past century, he is instantly recognizable. The General wears the Medal of Valor on his jacket and carries a cane bearing the national shield. The villagers no longer question Bayardo's honor and acknowledge that, given his background, Bayardo can marry anyone.

Luisa Santiaga
Luisa, the narrator's mother, usually knows everything happening in the village. On the morning of the killing, however, she goes about her daily routine unaware of Santiago's impending fate. When her daughter, Margot, returns home and starts to share what she has heard on the docks, Luisa instantly understands the situation before Margot finishes. Luisa is Santiago's godmother and also a blood relative of Pura Vicario, Angela's mother; thus, knowing about the plan to kill Santiago creates a dilemma for Luisa.

Margot Santiaga
Margot Santiaga, the narrator's sister and Luisa's daughter, harbors jealousy towards Santiago's fiancée. To spend more time with Santiago, she frequently invites him over for breakfast at her parents' home. On the day of Santiago's murder, Margot has a premonition and urges him to accompany her home immediately. Later, while awaiting the bishop's arrival, she learns about the plot to kill Santiago. Distressed by the news, she rushes home to inform her mother.

Angela Vicario
Angela Vicario, the sister of twins Pedro and Pablo, faces immense humiliation when her husband discovers on their wedding night that she is not a virgin. As the youngest daughter of the Vicario family, she has been groomed for marriage. Despite her beauty, Angela has a meek, nun-like appearance and seems helpless. The Vicarios have closely monitored her, leaving her little opportunity to develop social skills or interact with men. The family expects Angela to remain chaste, and when her secret is revealed, they react violently, blaming Santiago Nasar for her disgrace.

Pablo Vicario
Pablo Vicario, the older twin by six minutes, often takes on the role of the accommodating younger brother. When Pedro joins the military, Pablo stays behind to manage the family business and care for their relatives. Upon Pedro's return, Pablo is content to follow his brother's lead. Although Pedro claims responsibility for deciding to kill Santiago, it is Pablo who retrieves the knives and persuades Pedro to follow through with their plan after the mayor disarms them.

Pedro Vicario
Pedro Vicario, a pig slaughterer by trade, is Pablo's twin brother. Together, they are responsible for Santiago's murder. Pedro, the "younger" twin by six minutes, is twenty-four years old. Both brothers have endured a tough life characterized by heavy drinking and carousing. Pedro initiated their slaughtering business after their father lost his eyesight. Despite being the more sensitive twin, Pedro's military service has hardened him, and he enjoys giving orders. He claims to have made the decision to kill Santiago. During his time in the military, Pedro also contracted blennorrhea, a condition that makes urination painful and difficult.

Poncio Vicario
Poncio Vicario is the head of the Vicario household. Formerly a goldsmith, years of detailed work have left him blind. Although his family still holds him in high regard, Poncio struggles to adapt to his blindness and often appears confused and anxious.

The Widower Xius
Bayardo persuades the elderly widower Xius, who resides alone in the most beautiful house in town, to sell his home. Xius initially hesitates to part with his cherished house. However, he eventually agrees when Bayardo offers him ten thousand pesos. Despite his deep emotional attachment to the home and his discontent with the situation, the widower capitulates. He passes away just two months later.

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