First, Marquez underlines, “Both were exhausted from the barbarous work of death…” (49). Marquez exemplifies the way in which some aspects of religion are ignored and some have great emphasis put on them. When Roman finds out that his new bride is not a virgin, he returns her. She is beaten savagely, and her brothers are called from the brothel to come defend the family's honor. The hypocrisy of family is revealed as they consider honor to be a part of the religion and instead of religiously and peacefully solve the manner, the brothers murder Santiago Nasar. The family believes that upholding the honor is righteous, and in doing so the sin of murdering Nasar is downplayed. Furthermore, when the brothers put down their knives in front of the priest, instead of giving them advice or condemning them, the priest “recalled the surrender as an act of dignity” (49). This is in total conflict with Catholicism as it is amongst the Ten Commandments that “Thou shall not kill” and thus it illustrates that even the priest of the town has lost the knowledge of the true religion. Marquez cements the corruption of religion as even father Amador protected the brothers and not only him but “the lawyer stood by the thesis of homicide in legitimate defense of honor, which was upheld by the court in good faith” (48). Marquez continues to demonstrate that the society was lenient on the brothers due to tradition and thus it illustrates that religion was only a minor component of their lives.
Furthermore, Marquez specifies the absence of religious values through certain examples and the setting of the town. Marquez informs us that the whole town is dressed in its best with jubilations for the arrival of the bishop; however, the Bishop doesn’t even step foot on the town soil and flashes the cross sign from his boat as if showing that God has blessed them. Evidently, religion still exists but has become just a label and has lost its meaning. Moreover, Marquez describes the town as a joyful town filled with alcohol, whorehouses as well as gambling. This clearly demonstrates the absence of the true meaning of religion as these are forbidden in Catholicism. Marquez, throughout the novel, cements the fact the religion has a different meaning in the town where this story takes place and that the true meaning of religion has been chased away by its people. Equally important, Marquez highlights, “My sister the nun, who wasn't going to wait for the bishop because she had an eighty proof hangover, couldn't get him to wake up.” This again shows that while drinking is forbidden in the religion, the religious person, a nun of the town, drinks to such an extent that she gets a hangover.
The parody of religious figures and symbols concludes when Santiago Nasar is alluded to as a Christ like figure martyred for machismo. Even if any other allusions are missed by the readers, this final attacking allusion looks into the reader's face leaving him without a hint of doubt regarding the “befittingly mocking treatment” which demonstrates the ugly face of the religion in the novel.
