Examples Of Machismo In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Harms of Machismo in the Community

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, tells a tale about a girl, Angela, who lost her virginity to Santiago Nasar and then got married to Bayardo San Roman. Bayardo San Roman then returns home because he finds she is no longer pure. Her twin brothers, Pablo and Pedro Vicario, then went out for reparations and murdered Santiago Nasar. The character's actions in the novel are heavily influenced by the machismo in their community. As the novel begins, we are introduced to the character Divina Flor. Divina Flor worked for Santiago Nasar as a maid and her mom as a cook. One day, as Divina was serving Santiago Nasar, he told her “‘The time has come for you to be tamed…’” (Marquez 9).

Santiago exposes his machismo with his acts of believing he can control someone else and specifically women. Santiago further uses a demanding tone while telling Divina this, showing his actions to forcefully make Divina do something. He shows how he takes advantage of his power without regard for anyone else. He uses the phrase ‘the time’ showing no choice for Divina and forcing his timing and wants onto her. Furthermore, it is exposed that Santiago sexually assaulted Divina. She expresses that when it happened, “... She was nothing but a frightened child at the time, incapable of a decision of her own, and she’d been all more frightened when he grabbed her by the wrist with a hand that felt frozen and stony…” (Marquez 13). Divina expresses that when she first began getting sexually assaulted, she was a child and never gave Santaigo Nasar consent. She describes the way he grabbed her wrist with such constraint she could not do much. Santiago’s hand is compared to a stone which allows the reader to understand the amount

The brother's machismo starts to appear in this specific instance because the brothers feel the need to restore their sister's honor due to being the men in the family. Although they wanted to save Angela from embarrassment, as she is no longer a virgin and their community deems that unacceptable, she did not need the saving. There was nothing that would change, Angela still wouldn’t be a virgin. Yet they were determined to get vengeance for their sister. They were so determined that it was, “‘Before God and before men,’ Pablo Vicario said” (Marquez 49). They believed that even good understanding and man. That god would find their actions acceptable. The brothers were trying to prove their masculinity to their community with violence and even further rationalizing it by using God. Religion is glamorized and by using God to excuse their actions it was justified. The brothers were idealized because they were doing it all for their sister. This shows the audience how the community justifies the men's actions because they are being masculine for their sister and using God to excuse them. Yet Angela’s honor will forever be lost because of their ideals. The Vicario twins show their machismo when the brothers went to kill Santiago Nasar, “The knife went through the palm of his right hand and then sank into his side up to the hilt. Everybody