Juxtaposition Of Law And Religion In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Juxtaposition of Law and Religion

Law and religion, two of the most prevalent foundations of society, intend to guide, support, and care for people throughout the good times and the bad. Despite the intentions or goals, these institutions are led by humans, therefore often failing to fulfill the needs and expectations of fellow humans depending on them. This failure is exhibited throughout the unfolding of Santiago Nasar’s murder in Chronicle of a Death Foretold where law and religion contrast not only each other, but also their expected role in society. This book is the account of Santiago’s best friend attempting to piece together stories of the murder twenty seven years later in an effort to figure out how even though everyone knew it was

The head police, Colonel Aponte, insisted on performing an autopsy on Santiago’s rotting body, even though the entire town watched the murder so there was no debate on what killed him. Because they allowed his body to remain unattended, “they couldn’t wait any longer” for the useless autopsy, so Colonel Aponte “ordered Father Amador” to carry out the elaborate task (Marquez 74). The juxtaposition of the religious leader being chosen to perform the autopsy instead of a medical professional illustrates both the insignificance of the examination and the superiority of religion over trained medical personnel. The autopsy has no validity with the priest implementing it and none of the lawful procedures being followed. Because Father Amador has no medical degree, the autopsy ended up looking “like a stigma of the Crucified Christ” (Marquez 75). This simile in comparing the autopsy to something of religious significance, like the crucifixion, reinforces the power of religion over law and yet neither the religious leader nor the law accomplished anything through the autopsy. The religious imagery is juxtaposed with the lawful practice of an autopsy to exemplify how the two can contrast each other, but are similar in their inadequacy for society. Furthermore, even the mayor of the town knew that the priest’s “autopsy would have

One would expect that when everyone is aware of everything surrounding a crime about to be committed, police would immediately step in and prevent it from happening. However, when the chief police, Colonel Aponte, hears about the intentions of the crime, he simply “[gets] dressed calmly” and hangs “the scapular of the congregation of Mary” around his neck “to receive the bishop”(Marquez 55). Completely disregarding his responsibilities as the protector of the town, he is only focused on the bishop’s arrival, highlighting the inadequacy of law in the presence of religion through the juxtaposition of the two. Instead of performing his lawful duty to investigate the crime, Colonel Aponte is only concerned “what the bishop will think”(Marquez 56). Although religion is prioritized over law, it also accomplishes nothing for the town. In fact, the bishop causing all of this distraction does not even put forth the effort to stop his ship in the town, but rather just passes by with disregard, proving the emptiness of religion’s promises of care and protection for the people. Aponte is so focused on this religious leader he idolizes that he completely fails to fulfill his role as the protector of the town’s people. Throughout this scene, religion and law are orchestrated side by side, yet neither achieve anything in the unfolding of the