Death Foretold Masculinity

The novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel García Márquez follows the narrative of protagonist, Santiago Nasar: his crime, his conviction, and his murder. At first glance, Chronicle of a Death Foretold is about revenge, purity, and honor killings. However, after a closer reading, it becomes clear that machismo is the primary cause of the murder of Santiago Nasar. His murder is more about the symbolic intrusion on a family, and of stealing a family commodity, than his taking Angela’s innocence. The novel is about honor and machismo, rather than about Angela losing her virginity. Through symbols of honor and sacrifice, Gabriel García Márquez characterizes and critiques a hyper-masculine culture and its effects on a society.

One of the

Much of Santiago’s initial description is dedicated to a depiction of his guns, which are phallic symbols. A gun emits bullets in the same way a penis emits semen. Similarly, the shape of a gun is reminiscent of masculine genitalia. This characterization is also hyper-masculine, blending violence and male sexuality. However, Santiago always keeps his guns unloaded: “before leaving the house that day he took out the bullets and put them in the drawer of the night table. ‘He never left it loaded,’ his mother told me. I knew that, and I also knew that he kept the guns in one place” (García Márquez, 3). Weapons represent power, and are the epitome of masculinity. Márquez states that one of his guns could shoot a horse through the middle (García Márquez, 3). However, Santiago never puts bullets in his weapons, rendering them useless, and in effect, making him impotent. This impotency is an effective symbol used by the author in establishing a false honor. While Santiago may appear to be masculine, in reality he is impotent. This demonstrates the hypocrisy in machismo

He had a deep stab in the right hand. The report says: ‘It looked like a stigma of the crucified Christ.’” (García Márquez, 75)

This causes conflict between the reader’s views of Santiago; on one hand, he is a pure Christ-like -figure who sacrifices himself for the sins of others and on the other hand, he is a womanizer, a man who deflowers women. The placement of Santiago’s characterization as a womanizer at the beginning, is strategic because the reader can forget about this incident. This allows Santiago to develop in the audiences’ mind as a sacrificial character, rather than someone who is murdered for retribution. The readers’ acceptance of a womanizing Christ figure challenges their acceptance of machismo