Fatal Door Omens

At the beginning of the novella, Marquez introduces his readers to the concept of omens with references towards “The Fatal Door”, an object many of the townspeople label as the cause of Santiago Nasar’s death. The word “Fatal” in the title implies the door’s human-like capability to end a life, further placing blame on the locked door rather than the Vicario brothers and the bystanders who watch them stab Nasar. Rather than accepting responsibility for his death, the people blame it on an object, an action occurring in real life because of the dependency on omens. Marquez opposes the action of transferring the cause of one’s misfortune on inanimate objects, which commonly occurs in superstitions that usually assign various everyday objects

Upset by this, Marquez desires his readers to realize how people should not place blame on objects, but rather accepts the responsibility for their lack of effort in the prevention of calamity and death. The Vicario brothers claims, “We’re going to kill Santiago Nasar,” multiple times to the townspeople (69). Despite their clear threats, the people doubt they would follow through with their claims, their disregard indicated in responses like “Those poor boys won’t kill anybody,” (105). After Nasar’s death, the townsfolk blame an object for Nasar’s death rather than their dismissal of the proclaimed intent of the Vicario brothers to kill him. However, some omens prove inaccurate, especially when someone outlives the life expectancy the superstition predicts. Marquez reveals Angela Vicario entered the world with her “umbilical cord wrapped around her neck”, which signals early death in Latin-American culture (32). Subtly, Marquez incorporates dramatic irony by associating the omen to a character who outlives some of the characters mentioned, implying the inaccuracy of the