Death Foretold

Monday, January 22, 1951, Cayetano Gentile Chimento was murdered to avenge Margarita Chica’s honor. When someone close to all of the parties involved received a telegram that informed him of this tragedy, he decided to travel back to Sucre, Colombia where the crime had occurred. It would not be until thirty years later that this man would tell a story inspired by the events that took place. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, written by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, recounts the foretold, passionate murder of Santiago Nasar. Angela Vicario was to wed Bayardo San Roman, but when he found out that she was not a virgin on the night of their wedding she was returned home and named Santiago Nasar as the one who had taken her virginity. Pedro and Pablo Vicario,

Throughout the novel, the notion that Santiago is innocent is believed by the narrator and the town. In the novel, the narrator tells a story of Santiago serenading the couple from outside their house on the wedding night. This seems to prove his innocence because if he had taken her virginity he would have known that their wedding night would not have been a joyous time. This narrative is similar to what happened in real life. Cayetano went to the docks to see the couple leave together for their honeymoon, but they never showed. There are many more instances written in the novel and documented in the facts, including him continually repeating his innocence while he is dying, but Márquez seems to purposely change the facts that might incriminate him. It is said that “He (Cayetano) and Margarita had been engaged once in the past”(Bell-Vilada 206-7). This fact is altered in the novel when the narrator says “No one had ever seen them together, much less alone together.” (Márquez 89-90). The reason Márquez waited so long to write the book was because his mother had asked him to wait until Cayetano’s mother had died. Once she had, Marquez’s mother gave him the go ahead, but asked him one thing. She said, “Treat Cayetano as if he were a son of mine.” (Márquez) It was a consensus between Márquez and all the people he knew, that Cayetano was innocent, so it was important to portray him as so. But

The heartbreaking moment that Santiago’s mother locks him outside, thinking that he was in the house, is one of the facts. Cayetano's mother had heard about the Chica brother’s intentions, so when she saw them bolting for her door she quickly shut it and locked it. Her eyes had betrayed her because what she did not see was her son running towards the door from the opposite side. After Cayetano had been stabbed multiple times he was able to walk back to his home where he died repeating “I’m innocent” (Bell-Vilada 206-7). The moment that Márquez found out the details of the murder was the moment he decided to write the book. The lack of responsibility from the people present during the crime inspired him. His reaction to the details of the murder was so powerful that changing the moment would be unnecessary. Márquez’s alteration to the facts helps to make the book more dramatic, but his description of the actual crime is left completely to fact, as the murder was tragic, sensational, and startling on its