What is the significance of animal imagery used by Gabriel Marquez within A Chronicle of a Death Foretold?
Within the novel, a Chronicle of a death Foretold the author uses animal imagery to effectively bring across varying themes and concepts within the novella. Marquez uses the symbolism of roosters to comment upon the disloyalty that the bishop and the town have to their own religion. The use of other animals such as pigs, dogs, birds and rabbits are used to characterize Santiago and the townspeople as well as show the brutality of Santiago’s murder and the animalistic nature of the human race. Overall Marquez uses the symbolic meaning of the animals to effectively bring across varying themes and place emphasis upon certain characteristics of the personas in A chronicle of a death foretold, allowing the readers to gain a deeper understanding of the themes and descriptions of characters.
One of the main themes in which the use of symbolism helps aid in the effectiveness of bringing across the main theme of religion is the use of rooster symbolism. Here the animal symbolism is used to further develop the theme of disloyalty and distrust for the Roman Catholic religion that the town supposedly follows. The rooster is a holy animal within the Roman Catholic religion and gets offered by the townspeople to the
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Through the use of pig imagery Marquez effectively shows that Santiago’s death was one where “He was carved up like a pig” [p.2], placing emphasis upon the brutality of the murder. This brings to light how uncivilized this society is, allowing the reader to feel sympathy for Santiago