Vigilantes in Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Death and the Maiden

International Baccalaureate World Literature

Solender

The Conflicting Interpretations of Vigilantes as Transgressors and as Victims as seen in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold and in Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden

Since the idea of vigilante justice is a clearly relevant in today’s society, it is not surprising that we find frequent references to it in novels focused primarily on crime and attempted avoidance of the legal system, such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden. While vigilantism is not a commonly seen idea in the majority of literature, when it is, conflicting contours and interpretations of it are extensively manifested. By gaining exorbitant amounts of comprehension regarding the subject of vigilantism, one can then undertake on the journey that is the attainment of insight into many of the ideas that the writers were originally attempting to convey. This paper will compare the ways in which different works of literature use the idea of vigilante justice to further their plot progressions.

Midway through Chronicle of a Death Foretold, one of the central characters, Pablo Vicario, talks about the murder of Santiago Nasar that he and his brother Pedro have committed. He exclaims:

Before G-d and before men. It was a matter of honour

This puts forward the idea of whether it is socially acceptable to kill with a motive of revenge and justice when the justice system doesn’t take care of. A vigilante is defined by the Meriam-Webster dictionary as “one who takes or advocates the law enforcement into one’s own hands.” The Vicario brothers motive behind the murder that they committed was that Nasar had taken the virginity of their sister, Angela. They believed it to be rape, being the reason for their irascibility. Their punishment from general society was that they were ostracized from town, but their immeasurable legal discipline was multiple years in prison.

One position that could be used against the view presented in Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold that vigilantism is a crime as suppose to a socially expectable means towards justice is the fact that all members of society have lapses in judgment. The following quote shows how this was not the case for the Vicario brothers.

They would have done it again a thousand times over for the same reason.

The Vicario brothers are examples of vigilantes at their finest, meaning that they were willing to do whatever it took to get their vengeance that the legal system would not ...

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They would have done it again a thousand times over for the same reason.

The Vicario brothers are examples of vigilantes at their finest, meaning that they were willing to do whatever it took to get their vengeance that the legal system would not provide. In their case, it was a matter of honor, so the legal system had no say in being involved, but nonetheless, they carried out the actions that they felt needed to take place.

Ariel Dorfman does a sensational job of presenting two uncommonly seen views of vigilantism, but concurrently maintaining the standpoint that under particular circumstances, vigilantes are victims trying to make things equitable, as suppose to just more modern day desperados, just like those whom they are attempting to exact vengeance on. One of the views that Dorfman presented is portrayed through the following quote spoken by Dr. Roberto Miranda towards the end of Act III:

So someone did terrible things to you and now you're doing something terrible to me and tomorrow somebody else is going to-on and on and on.

This quote essentially illustrates the view that while vigilantism is a route towards the ultimate goal of remedying ones abuses that have taken place, it is subsequently leading to an endless chain of crime which will, at no time, cease to exist.

Another view that Dorfman expounds can be seen in the following two quotes. He puts forth the notion that it is considered acceptable and different if inalienable rights are provided to the victim when going through the process of vigilantism. This idea is implied through the beliefs of his characters and the following quotes.

He has the right to defend himself (20)

This quote is spoken by Gerardo and shows the epitome of how even though vigilantism is a way of avoiding the legal system, in the eyes of Dorfman and his characters, some morality and legality needs to be present for it to be an acceptable means to a clearly justifiable resolution.

The following quote spoken by Paulina in Act I again shows that while she may not be treating him in the most prosperous of manors, she is managing the situation handed to her with the greatest amounts of composure a person in previously mentioned situation could.

This is not vengeance. I’m giving him all the guarantees he never gave me. (22)

This passage illustrates more than just one point. Not only does it show one of the views presented regarding vigilantism and vigilante justice in Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, but it also does a sensational job of interpreting and thereby explicating the character of Paulina, who is considered by most to be the protagonist of the three act play.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, in my opinion, presents the pettier of the two motives for vigilantism, but the most drastic response. In the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the motive is what they believe to be rape, and the result is death. It is left open for interpretation whether or not the relations between the murder victim, Santiago Nasar, and the alleged rape victim, Angela Vicario. Through my interpretations and thorough examinations of the text, I believe that it was in fact consensual, meaning that the motive for the murder was, in fact, inexistent.

Death and the Maiden, on the other hand, expounds quite the contrary. It flaunts the more extreme motive for vigilantism, but the more collected and less extravagant response in terms of vigilante justice and revenge. In Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, Doctor Roberto Miranda rapes and tortures Paulina on numerous occasions. The ending of the play is left open for interpretation, just as is the end of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, but after reading the play and seeing it presented through film and live performances, it is in my belief that in the end, Paulina allows Dr. Miranda to walk away from the situation free of any serious physical harm, even through she knows it to be true that he was the one who committed the series of antisocial behaviors and atrocities upon her.

After my assessment of the two works of literature, it can be seen that Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold presents vigilantes more as transgressors, while Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden presents vigilantes more as victims who should be allowed to carry out their actions.

The way that vigilantism and vigilante justice can be used as a literary effect and as a means to plot progression is clearly evident in both Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Death and the Maiden. While Marquez and Dorfman seem to have some levels of differing views on vigilantism, they both make it clear that it is an incredibly pertinent concept in today’s society. They both use a method which entails of instead of describing directly what kind of character one has in the work of literature, or being straight forward and explaining how the plot is going to develop, the authors use a much more subtle approach through the views of vigilante justice to convey these ideas. It is exactly these sort of delicate literary techniques that makes these works not just great reads, but in my mind, works of art.

Word Count: 1218