It has been said that literature consists of victors and victims. Discuss how the idea of victors and victims has been presented in Chronicle of a Death foretold"

Authors Avatar

It has been said that literature consists of victors and victims. Discuss how the idea of victors and victims has been presented in “Chronicle of a Death foretold”

In the short novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” the book provides many different interpretations for it’s characters not viewing them entirely as a victim but also hinting at the possibility that they are not entirely innocent. The book is the story of a man called Santiago Nasar and how he would be killed in the name of the honour code. The book argues whether or not Nasar is in fact a victim of a brutal killing or the trigger of his own death.

The obvious first interpretation of Nasar is that he is purely a victim in his death and it would be extremely difficult to view him as a victor seeing as he has a grim outcome. However, the act of deflowering Angela Vicario it is possible to view Nasar as a victor. He had taken the virginity of the woman who is considered to be the most beautiful lady the town had ever seen, and to be the first man to engage with her may be seen as a personal achievement by him. However, it would eventually come to the fact that this act would’ve propelled the actions that would lead to his death. Santiago Nasar was a victor in the seduction of women; he had gained his traits from his father Ibrahim. Santiago desires the daughter of his family’s cook (Divina Flor) whose mother (Victoria Guzman) had been seduced by Ibrahim. Unable to accomplish this task due to the overprotective nature of Victoria, Santiago has maintained a reputation for being a ladies man who has a special talent in women. Santiago’s reputation succeeds his fathers in almost every way. More likely than not, it was this reputation and the fact that it was him who deflowered their sister that led to the Vicario twins decision to kill Nasar.

Join now!

Pablo and Pedro Vicario could be interpreted as cold-blooded murderers, or in fact overprotective brothers upholding their family’s honour. As murderers they would be the victims of their own actions and their sister’s deceit. The reader may interpret that Angela Vicario may have been lying about losing her virginity and blaming it upon Santiago Nasar. This would mean that the killing of Santiago was a murder with an accidental reason. This would then mean that the indirect murderer would have been Angela Vicario. This would then ultimately mean that the Vicario brothers were a victim that were also caught ...

This is a preview of the whole essay