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Death Foretold

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In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the social hierarchy was dependent on the “code of honor” and the amount of wealth each family held. Throughout the book, Marquez states that the Vicario Twins murdered Santiago; however, his writing subtly plays with the concept that they are not truly guilty. Instead, he implies that the society forced Santiago to meet an early end is what is truly guilty. He poses the idea that this society, where family honor was more important than life and money was the only symbol of power that mattered, was the root of the problem. The idea that the town was responsible for the murder of Nasar was created because of how the social structure was framed by its citizens’ social …show more content…

The town’s nonchalantness towards the upcoming killing, as well as the synchronicity of certain events eventually left the twins with only one choice when they came face to face with Santiago Nasar. Only one person, Cristo Bedoya, tried to warn Santiago Nasar but he couldn’t find Santiago Nasar in time. On top of not being able to find Nasar in time, the Twins were waiting for Santiago Nasar outside of his front door- the door that Santiago Nasar never went out of, except for that day. Fate did not favor Santiago Nasar, and even with the Twins best attempts to delay the execution, the “crime” finally caught up with Santiago Nasar. Marquez says he thinks Nasar died not knowing what he had done wrong, causing the reader to develop a sense of situational irony because if the Twins had simply pursued the action that the majority of the townspeople believed would happen, forcing Santiago Nasar to marry Angela to restore the family honor, they would have possibly found out that Angela lied about losing her virginity to Santiago, and instead found the person who was truly guilty of taking the family’s honor.
The twins killed Santiago Nasar for taking the virginity of their sister, Angela, as well as stripping their family of its honor in doing so. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, paints a society where honor is valued above all else and the murder of friends was accepted and encouraged by the people. Pablo and Pedro held the knives, however the anachronistic beliefs held by the townspeople plunged the blades into Santiago’s

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