Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Annabel INGHAM

All References are from Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, published by Penguin Books London in 1996. All page numbers refer to the commentary cover sheet.

This passage from Marquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold displays numerous elements that through careful analysis, can reveal the society in which the characters live and throw some light on the character of the puzzling Santiago Nasar.

The extract is taken from the first few pages of the chronicle. It presents the first instance in which the reader is exposed to Santiago Nasar’s darker side, and gives a number of accounts of the series of events preceding his unlucky demise.

This passage reflects effectively the society in which these characters live. The hypocritical nature of religious institutions in the town is immediately introduced with the comparison of the ‘church pomp’ (ℓ1) surrounding the bishop’s visit, to the ‘movies’ (ℓ3). Santiago’s mother demonstrates her personal cynicism, by her obvious indifference towards the occasion that seemed to be nothing but a display of wealth and power, (‘The only thing that interested his mother…’ (ℓ3-4)).

Despite living in a town in which religion plays an important part in people’s daily lives and the furore vis-à-vis Angela Vicario’s loss of virginity, Santiago Nasar and his father have no qualms about deflowering – note the imagery – their young servant girls, who have only just ‘com[e] into bloom’ (ℓ19), ‘in the fullness of [their] adolescence’ (ℓ40-41). Although these sexual escapades are performed ‘in secret’ (ℓ41-42), in a ‘furtive bed’ (ℓ46), these double standards seem accepted by society: Divina resigned herself to what she considered that she was ‘destined’ (ℓ45) for.

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While Victoria Guzman considers her affair with Ibrahim Nasar as an expression of his ‘affection’ (ℓ43), referring to ‘seduc[tion]’ (ℓ40), and ‘love’ (ℓ41), however it seems that he used his power generated by his wealth and higher social standing to exploit her: he later hires her as ‘a house servant’ (ℓ43). Racial tension, another power-based conflict, also exists in this society between the natives and the ‘whitey[s]’ (ℓ37) as illustrated by Guzman’s use of this term in referring to her master. Strong imagery used in the passage likens the characters to animals. Santiago Nasar states his intention to ‘tame’ (ℓ34) Flor, who also is described as being unable to control her hormones (‘untamed, (…) overwhelmed by the drive of her glands’ (ℓ30-31)), portraying her as an animal is, driven by her bodily urges. The characterisation of Victoria Guzman continues this imagery: she made love ‘in the stables of the ranch’ (ℓ42) with Ibrahim for several years, is described as a ‘savage’ (ℓ55) by the young Nasar, and finally the reference to ‘a more recent mate’ (ℓ44-45) implies that it was only one of many “mates”, a word that usually describes the reproduction partner of an animal. Santiago’s fierce sexual desire, illustrated by his close observation of both women as they worked in the kitchen, (‘without taking his eyes off the two women’ (ℓ27)) and his aggressiveness both point to an animalistic personality. The presence of the ‘panting dogs’ (ℓ16) and the ongoing disembowelling of the rabbits in this episode, mirrors this imagery, as well as highlighting some important stylistic elements of the extract.

The wealth of literary devices, the interesting writing style of Marquez which simultaneously describes the events from different viewpoints presented help the reader to understand the events described in the chronicle and to draw conclusions on different characters. Foreshadowing is used effectively in this passage to whet the reader’s appetite, create suspense and to give further meaning to anecdotal events, the most obvious example being ‘It was the last time she saw him’ (ℓ8-9). Subtler foreshadowing exists, however, with the symbolic disembowelling of the rabbits acting as a ‘revelation’ (ℓ61) as stated by Guzman: the horror shown by Santiago Nasar is more pronounced as it would not be long before he himself would be disembowelled, during his autopsy, (page 75-76).

Marquez uses predominantly a journalistic and investigative tone in his chronicle. He includes specific details, to indicate the precision and the seriousness of his research; ‘She had been quartering three rabbits for lunch’ (ℓ14-15). He quotes no less than four characters with whom he had spoken, three in direct speech, increasing the proximity of past and present with every interview. The non-linear time, although confusing, is necessary to give the reader a more complete understanding of events, particularly demonstrated by the parallel between Guzman and her daughter Flor. (ℓ40-47).

The distinctive narrative viewpoint is fundamental in the development of a well-rounded portrait of the mysterious Santiago Nasar. In effect, the protagonist’s interactions with all other characters mentioned in the section give clues to his nature, and they all foster their own bias towards him. The narrator, whom is never named, is not only present in the interviews he conducts, ‘she told me when I came to see her’ (ℓ12-13), but also in interface with Nasar himself. They are evidently close friends, demonstrated by the expression, ‘ “(…)” he’d told me once’ (ℓ3) implying that they had talked on many occasions. The narrative viewpoint shifts to that of Guzman when recounting the events of the morning. Pejorative language is often used to describe him, ‘ “A shit” ’ (ℓ51), she ‘recalled without affection’ (ℓ18). Guzman feels embittered towards Santiago because of her treatment by his father, and therefore exhibits very openly her antagonism. Santiago’s mother, on the other hand, looks after her son, giving him advice, ‘She advised him’ (ℓ7), and worrying about his health, ‘[his mother wanted her son] not to get soaked in the rain’ (ℓ5). Divina admits only ‘anxiety’ (ℓ47) around him, no doubt generated by his ceaseless pursuit to ‘tame’ (ℓ34) her. The author hopes to demonstrate with the varying accounts of Santiago and the discrepancies over the rainy weather on line 5-7 and line 10-11, the ambiguity of memory and subjective nature of any narration.

Upon analysis, this extract from Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold explores the ideas of religion, morals, wealth and power to better comprehend the society in which these people live particularly through the use of imagery and characterisation. Similarly literary devices, writing style, and narrative viewpoints all culminate to illustrate the difficulties of perception in the world.