Saturday 28 April 2012


Chronicles of a Death Foretold
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In one of his interviews, Garcia Marquez was asked which aspect of journalism he liked the best and he answered reporting [1]. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a perfect example of his love for journalism blended with his astute literary skills. He has even started the novel like a report - ‘The day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five thirty..’.[2] Everything in the novel is written as a collection of records of witnesses’ statements which are then combined with symbolism, magical realism, characters, irony and other literary devices dexterously to create a masterpiece.

The story is set in 20th century Latin America where honor, rituals, family and morals have huge influence on the culture. Santiago Nasar is a wealthy Arab who is murdered the day Bishop is supposed to visit the town and bless the marriage of Angela Vicario and Bayardo Son Roman. Angela Vicario is the sister of Pedro and Pablo Vicario who is sent back to her parents’ home on the night of her wedding by her husband Bayardo as she wasn’t a virgin. Her brothers then decide to avenge the honor of their sister by murdering Santiago who is accused of disgracing her. Even though they repeatedly announce their intention to kill Santiago, the police officer, the Colonel and the butcher believe that they are largely bluffing. After the murder, the Vicario brothers are sentenced to three years of prison. Though Angela never loved Bayardo before their marriage, she falls in love with him after he leaves her and she starts writing him weekly letter professing her love for him. After 17 years, Bayardo returns to her, even though he has never opened any one of her letters. In the final chapter, the author describes how Santiago Nasar was killed by Vicario brothers [2].

The narrative style is non-linear. By the end of the first chapter we know about Santiago and that he is to be killed by the Vicario brothers. In the subsequent chapter, through various witnesses the reader is told why Santiago is to be killed. In the last paragraph, the act of murder is explained. The author tells you about the death of Santiago in bits and pieces, keeping the mystery alive till the very end. Unlike other stories where there is a clear plot, scenes move in chronology and there is an ultimate climax, this novel is written in non-chronological order. The journalistic style of writing has been used where through witnesses (mainly seven) the story unfolds without delving out too many details and letting the reader draw conclusions. This is one of the characteristics of modernist writing. This is a pleasing change from the traditional way of story writing.  It helps the novel to transgress from fiction to a text more factual and real. Though the plot is revealed in the first few pages, the enigma around the story is upheld till the end.

Even though the work is journalistic and factual in nature, there are many symbols used by Garcia Marquez in the text to signify the death of Santiago Nasar. Santiago’s mother Placida, who can interpret dreams and read symbols, misinterprets her son’s dream. The weather on the day Santiago dies is described as funereal, cloudy, rainy and gloomy. One of the characters Clotilde Armenta says in the text that Santiago already looked like a ghost when she saw him on the day of his death. The wedding party floral decorations reminded Santiago of the funeral and he confided in his friend that the smell of closed-in flowers had an immediate relation to death for him [2].

There are many things that are ambiguous and uncertain in this twisted plot. First, it’s never made clear to the reader if Santiago is the actual culprit who dishonored Angela. When Santiago is first told that Vicario brothers were looking for him to kill him, he was more perplexed than afraid. When Angela is asked by her brothers the name of the person who had offended her, the text says –
‘she looked for it in the shadows, she found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names in this world and the other and she nailed it to the wall with her well aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written’[2]
Santiago’s character has the image of a seducer, womanizer who is a symbol of machismo [4] and therefore, no one ever really probes into the authenticity of the claim made. However his fate was joined to that of Angela Vicario the instant she blurted out his name. The reader is presented with a surreal version of what Angela thought, but never finds out if what she said was true [1]
                                            
Garcia Marquez has used magical realism as a tool to present social realities in a refreshing way in this novel. He describes the house of a prostitute, Maria Alejandrina Cervantes like some sort of paradise with colored lamps. She is not depicted as a shameful women but a beautiful one who taught other men about sex. The mundane setting which is considered degraded is described by almost fantastical imagery which makes it a very apt example of magical realism [4]. In another instance, Divina Flor says that she had the vision of Santiago inside the house with something that looked like a bouquet of roses before his death. This is interesting before Santiago dies, he carries in his blood soaked clothes roots of his entrails to his house, which is similar to the vision Divina had. However, knowing that Divina never liked Santiago and dreaded his motives of wanting to make her his mistress, there is a possibility that she might have lied about this vision to Placida to keep Santiago outside.

There are also instances where the author says something only to contradict it later. In the initial part one is told how Santiago Nasar is an open-hearted, peaceful and merry person. His death might look as a tragedy to the reader however in the very next moment the author describes him as a philanderer like his father who wanted to make his servant’s young daughter his mistress. As a reader you are fooled into thinking that he wasn’t a good person and probably did the offense. However after reading Angela’s part and his reaction to the news, it’s clear that he might not have done it.  Due to the limitations imposed by the journalistic type of writing, the author doesn’t do any kind of psychoanalytic analysis of any of his characters and maintains a distance from the characters in the text.

In the text, Garcia Marquez has given a very subtle hint to indicate the time period around which these events occur in Santiago’s life –
‘When Ibrahim Nasar came with the last Arabs at the end of the civl war…’[2]
The story is most probably set in the Latin American country of Colombia. With the Colombian civil war ending in 1902 [8], Santiago’s father must have settled in the town somewhere around the beginning of the 20th century. And with Santiago being 21 years old [2], the readers are given the luxury to conclude that the story occurs sometimes around the early or middle part of the 19th century.

Rituals and honor code are an essential part of Latin culture and can be seen in abundance in the text.  “My son never went down the back door when he was dressed up” [2] says Placida in one of the scenes. As soon as the Vicario brothers knew it was Santiago, they knew that they had to kill him and follow the unwritten moral code. Angela routinely sends letters to Bayardo and expresses that the only thing that concerns her is he was receiving them.  Even Bayardo never opened them, the fact that Angela was writing letters to him was enough for him and he decided to return to her when he was sure that she is in love with him. It also shows that the concept of love was firmly rooted in their actions, as opposed to understanding between them [6]. The novel itself is a ritual repletion of the events surrounding a crime. It can be seen as a ritual of investigation with no results or discoveries in the end. Also during these rituals there is a general disinterest in the knowledge of the content. Angela never cared about what she was writing and Bayardo never cared about what is written in the letter yet they kept sending letters, contrary to the very purpose of sending letters (to exchange information). The narrator too in general was uninterested in finding out the truth about the event, contrary to the essence of journalistic writing but an important part of Latin culture.

                                                

The best illustration of the importance of honor in Hispanic culture is the statement by Prudencia Cotes, fiancé of Pablo Vicario, that she wouldn’t have married him had he not killed Santiago Nasar [2]. She marries him after he returns from jail, imprisoned for only three years for killing a man. Everyone in the town knew about it the murder but the moral code was so strong that nobody found the punishment of death for sleeping with a woman too much. Deep in their hearts, they agreed and knew it was just for the Vicario brothers to take such an extreme step to restore their sister’s honor. Also evident in the text is the very strong gender roles for both man and woman in Latin America. “The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls were brought up to be married” [2]. The worth of a woman was by her beauty and her ability to do household works. Angela’s mother has brought her and her sisters up to be the perfect wives teaching them every household work. Men were the supreme authority in the house. They also shoulder the responsibility of protecting their women and fighting for their honor. The Vicario brothers had to kill Santiago to restore their sister’s honor. Baraydo had to return Angela to her house to save his honor.  On a serious note the novel in a way questions the honor code and dark side of Hispanic culture

One of the critiques, Mr. Anthony Burgess believes that the fact that the novel is written in Spanish originally makes it difficult to critique.  He says “Mr Rabassa’s (who translated it from Spanish) renderings is smooth and strong with an inevitable North American flavor, but it is English, and Garcia Marquez writes in a very pungent and individual Spanish”[3]. It is believed that that are scenes in the novel which certain Latin American traditions can’t be translated for English readers and therefore those accustomed to Hispanic culture and traditions can appreciate the text better [4]. The Indian culture is however similar to Latin Americans in terms of conservativeness and importance to family, religion, honor and moral code in achieving social respect. In general, the book is one of the best works of Garcia Marquez and a great read.

References:
1)    Rabassa, Gregory; “Garcia Marquez’s New Book: Literature or Journalism?”; World Literature Today, Vol. 56, No. 1, Varia Issue; 1982
2)    Garcia Marquez, Gabriel; “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”; 1981
3)    Burgess, Anthony; “Macho in Minor Key”; New Republic; 1983
4)    Méndez , Aldo; “Thematic Analysis of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’”
5)    Williams, Raymond L; “Chapter 7: ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ (1981) and Journalism.”; Gabriel García Márquez (Twayne's World Authors, No. 749); 1984
6)    Ritual in Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Its Function in the Death of Santiago Nassar. In Bookrags. Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2004/10/25/183625/15
7)    Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicle_of_a_Death_Foretold

1 comment:

  1. I was actually waiting for someone to review the novel.
    First of all I would choose to disagree on the example quoted on the part where things are contradictory.
    I think instead of that being an example of contradiction, its a simply a way to express the situation of the society where a person is not judged very heavily on his extra marital affairs. Plus who says philanderers can't be open hearted, peaceful or merry?
    Secondly I would like to know your opinion as to what do you feel was the truth behind the adultery that caused the murder?
    Was Santiago Nasar actually guilty, or was he just a victim, something that has been quite clearly hinted at in the text?

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