Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel García Márquez

“Chronicle of an Announced Death” (Crónica de una muerte anunciada) is a book written by Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. This work presents us with a love story full of suspense and tragedy, in which Santiago Nasar is involved in pretending Angela Vicario.

Characters from "Chronicle of a Death Foretold"

The main character in the story is Santiago Nasar; Plácida Linero, who was his mother; Victoria is the cook and Divina Flor the daughter; Angela Vicar cousin of the narrator and wife of Bayardo San Román, who left her because she was not a virgin.

We also find other secondary characters, of which we will name the most outstanding: Ibrahim Nasar, Father of Santiago, The Bishop, The investigating Judge, Clotilde Armenta, who was the owner of the milk store. The twins Pedro and Pablo Vicario, the brothers of Ángela Vicario and those who carried out the crime in which they murdered Santiago Nasar.

We also find Margot, the sister of Cristo Bedoya; Jaime, the brother of Margot and Cristo Bedoya. Luisa Santiaga, who is the mother of Jaime, Margot and Cristo. We also find Father Carmen Amador, the priest. Cristo Bedoya, a friend of Santiago Nasar; Don Lázaro Aponte, Colonel of the academy and municipal mayor. Flora Miguel, who was the girlfriend of Santiago Nasar; among other characters.

Summary and synopsis of the work

"Chronicle of an announced death" is a book that tells us about a love story between Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Román, which ends on the wedding day when the husband finds out that his wife is not a virgin. The plot takes place in the town of Manaure. Firstly, the main character Santiago Nasar appears, who gets up that day very early, suspecting absolutely nothing. This one had a fairly large collection of weapons. But that day he unloaded it before leaving his house to avoid accidents.

Santiago said goodbye to his mother and left the room and went to the kitchen where he met the cook Victoria, who long ago had been seduced by Ibrahim Nasar, and from there Divina Flor was born. For this reason he did not like it when Santiago looked at his Divine daughter. They knew that they were going to assassinate him but they did not tell him anything because they wanted him to die.

Then an anonymous person inserted an envelope with a piece of paper under the door that warned Santiago that they were going to kill him, but nobody saw him. At six Santiago left his home for the port. In the milk store were the Vicario twins, since at that time it was the only place open. Clotilde saw Santiago, but did not dare to say anything to the brothers. These twins wanted to kill Santiago because their sister, Angela Vicario, was returned to her parents' house, because her husband Bayardo San Román realized that she was not a virgin. The funny thing is that Angela had never met another boyfriend.

 After the wedding, the twins returned home a little before three in the morning because their mother called them urgently and they found Angela Vicario lying face down on a dining room sofa and her face scarred. They asked her who it was and she only spoke the name of Santiago Nasar.

After knowing the name of the culprit, they went to the pigsty to choose the two best knives, one to butcher and one to clean. When they were sharpening the knives, Pablo commented that they were going to murder Santiago.

Then the brothers went to the Clotilde store at 4:10 to buy two bottles of brandy to wait for Santiago. These brothers had told twelve people that they were planning to kill Santiago Nasar.
The twins were there for a long time but did not see that the light in Santiago's room was on.

Before going to sleep, Jaime, Santiago and the others wanted to sing a song to the couple, so they went up to the house of the widower Xius. But they did not know that the wedding had ended two hours ago. Bayardo went on foot with his wife to return it to the parents, since he wanted to avoid the noise of the car.

Santiago arrived at his house and asked the cook to wake him up at 5:30 in the morning and bring him a change as the clothes he was wearing. He went to his room without turning on the light, he lay down on the bed with the clothes he had on, since after an hour he had to get up to go see the bishop.

After this, Santiago went to his girlfriend's house, and there her father told her that they were looking for him to kill him and he was looking for the shotgun but he couldn't find it. Then he went back to the plaza and ran home, but the mother closed the front door, since she thought her son was already inside. He knocked on the door several times. But the brothers were already there. Santiago turned around and saw them right there and they started stabbing him and they didn't finish until he fell dead to the ground.

Analysis of "Chronicle of an announced death"

The main theme of the work is fatalism, in which he could not escape his cruel fate, which is inevitable. In this work the main reason for the death of Santiago Nasar is associated with the fact that Angela was not a virgin when she married. This represents a traditional vision within Hispanic society, where haughtiness is presented as a key element for the development of violence and tragedy.

In "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" the Vicario brothers wanted to defend the honor not only of their sister Angela but also that of the family, since this work unfolds within a macho era, in which women lost their value if they did not arrive virgin to marriage.

Quotes

"He was healthier than us, but when you listened to him, you could feel the tears bubbling inside his heart"

"Men of bad law," he said in a very low voice, "shitty animals who are not capable of doing anything other than misfortune"

"The truth is that he spoke of his misfortune without any shame to hide the other misfortune, the real one, that burned his insides"

"Then they both kept stabbing him against the door, with alternate and easy blows, floating in the dazzling backwater they found on the other side of fear"

 "It was like being awake twice." That phrase made me think that the most unbearable thing for them in the dungeon must have been lucidity.

"They looked like two children," he told me. And that reflection scared her, because she had always thought that only children are capable of everything ”

"Above all, it never seemed legitimate to him that life used so many forbidden coincidences in literature, so that such an announced death would be carried out smoothly"