A Chronicle of A Death Foretold written by Gabriel García Márquez and The Non-Exsistent Knight written by Italo Calvino, both published in the late 1900's share a common basis.

WORLD LITERATURE

Daniel Atkins

2nd May 2003

Mr. Siegfried

WORD COUNT: 1250

A Chronicle of A Death Foretold written by Gabriel García Márquez and The Non-Exsistent Knight written by Italo Calvino, both published in the late 1900's share a common basis. Each novel evolves around a character, who in one way or another affects the lives or daily routines of people. In The Non-Exsistent Knight the main character is called Agiluf. He is a role model to the rest of the army, and is flawless in every way. He was disliked by the soldiers, however a benefit to have him on his side. He had no bodily figure, the only item of clothing that represented him, was his armour. As the novel proceeds he encounters a few minor characters who as one will see, are greatly affected by the presence of Agiluf. A Chronicle of A Death Foretold has a complete change in theme. The main character Santiago Nasar is killed the day after a great wedding, as he is accused of taking the virginity of the bride (Angela Vicario, also a main character), which in that culture is considered a great offence to the family and revenge must be taken. As this essay unfolds, it will become quite evident that the major characters are (sub) consciencely able to influence the surrounding characters by either means of maturity, love and honour.

In Chapter two of A Chronicle of A Death Foretold, Agiluf is introduced to Raimbaud. This person is young, inexperienced in battle, and a soldier who is one a quest to seek out the man who slew his father. Agiluf was astonished to encounter such a lonesome yet perfectionist knight, and decided that he would be his mentor. In the battle sequence in Chapter four, Raimbaud, overcoming his nerves watches as someone else slays the leader of the Moors. He feels joyous yet empty that he was not able to personally complete the revenge. One could say, for these few moments, he felt non-existent, as if his task in life had been completed and it was then his time to lay back, and just be another ordinary knight. Through these experiences Raimbaud gained maturity, which resulted in loving a woman. If Agiluf hadn't met Raimbaud, Raimbaud would never have been able to have revenge. Agiluf passed on a sense of security and immortality to Raimbaud, which he managed to receive by tracing and viewing all of Agiluf's footsteps.

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The next character to be influenced by Agiluf, without him knowing it, was Bradamente. She first encountered Raimbaud in Chapter four and was described as a young Amazon. In Chapter twelve, the reader discovers that the nun who is the narrator, is also Bradamente. She is first properly introduced to Agiluf in Chapter six. Raimbaud falls in love with her straight away, however she falls in love with Agiluf. She says that she had her fill of every man who exists, her one remaining desire could be for a man that doesn't exist at all. She feels as if she can get any man, yet Agiluf is resistant to her feelings, which makes it more intriguing for her to go after him. At the end of the book, Agiluf has left and Raimbaud has taken over the armour, and Bradamente falls for him not knowing that Agiluf wasn't inside. Through Agiluf's resistance to love, it has sparked a deep, emotional relationship between her and her admirer, Raimbaud, which took a long time for her to realise.

The last person he positively influences, is himself. At the end of the book Agiluf releases his armour to Raimbaud. He does this because he realises that he has reached an internal satisfaction, and believes that his honour which sustains him has been lost. The only person that could convince him that he was perfect was himself. Through this feeling, he passes on his armour to the next person striving to perfectionism. He influences himself by allowing other people to succeed and overcome obstacles.

In A Chronicle of A Death Foretold, the major characters aren't he only ones that affect others. This could be one of the only great exceptions in that all the characters affect one person, Santiago Nasar. Angela Vicario, the dishonoured bride determines the fate of her counter character, Santiago Nasar. After the wedding, Bayardo San Roman (the groom) realises that his bride is not a virgin, once they go to bed. In this culture it is a great sin to the bride's family, if the bride is not presented to the groom as a virgin. Angela has two brothers Pedro and Pablo. In order to return honour back to their family, it is their duty to seek out the perpetrator and kill him. Under great pressure and torture by her family, she regrettably says that it was Santiago Nasar that took her virginity. However as the book unfolds, the reader is not told whether or not it was him or not. Therefore, Santiago is placed as a victim in this scenario. At the end of the book, Santiago is found by Angela's brothers and is murdered at his house. Because of her yelling out a random name she cost the life of a possibly innocent man. This then would influence Santiago's mother and friends who would all have been close to him.

Bayardo San Roman who married Angela, could have also not sent Angela back home. If he decided that he loved Angela despite that moralistic beliefs forbid him to after he discovers this atrocity, Santiago Nasar would never have lost his life to Angela's tongue. Prudencia Cotes, who was married to Pablo Vicario, told her husband that if he didn't take revenge with his brother, she would not marry him. So that makes three people so far that have influenced Santiago's life by sticking to their own personal beliefs. Placida Linero, who is Santiago's mother, is able to interpret dreams. The night before the murder she misinterprets a dream, saying that her son would be murdered, because she did not believe it. Colonel Lazano Aponte was able to stop the murder from happening, however did not take swift action, as he felt obligated to finish off his game or dominoes. Again he too influenced Santiago's life in that he could have save him, yet was unsuccessful. Yamil Shaium was one of the few able to warn someone. He warned Cristo Bedoya (Santiago's best friend) who was then influenced to start scampering around in search of his friend.

In conclusion, it can be stated that certain authors decide whether or not he or she requests that certain characters consciencely or sub-consciencely influence other characters. As one has noticed, the first novel researched in to was focused around one character influencing others. In the next novel, all the characters had influenced one certain character, however not in terms of improvement or a certain internal satisfaction, although quite the opposite. They all influenced the murder of his death. Because all the characters weren't successful in stopping the murder they were just as guilty as the killers themselves. To influence someone, is to make a life changing improvement or disaster, which is then carried out for quite a while. Through Agiluf's non-existence he was able to provide an indirect influence, by merely being himself. In the other novel it was fate that all the citizens were not able to find one person, which then influenced the death of the protagonist. It always seems to be the case that the most inconspicuous characters influence the main ones.

The Non-Exsistent Knight, Italo Calvino, pg 317

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