Norms In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

“The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married.”
Santiago Nassar’s died because of the stereotyped norms in his society. These norms can not only occur in Colombia but also can be seen in Turkey too. People can commit murder for sexual matters. They do what they think is right. But, their sense of justice comes from their environment, most importantly from their parents. Some people’s opinions about racism, conservatism or even opinions of themselves are fabricated by their norms and society. This happens when there are few individual thinkers. Such as the town in Colombia in the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold.” There are two important events in the book. First, Santiago’s death and the second is Angela’s

In the novel, we don’t even know if Angela lost her virginity to Santiago or not. Even though her brothers killed Santigo, there is no evidence to prove it for sure. The term “virginity” is considered important for many cultures, so important that Santiago was murdered for it. These rules are the stereotypes of their society. By following these, they show some form of “structural functionalism.” Meaning that, their actions and obligations are shaped by their culture and norms. However, not all of these rules are acknowledged by women. It was the Vicario brothers who kill Santiago, possibly representing the whole men image in their society. So, they think that virginity is something to kill for. Same for Bayardo San Roman, he became furious after learning that Angela was not a virgin. In the novel, the reader can see that the harsh classification of women by their virginity among men. This is concept can be defined as a “malestream theory” that considers woman non-existent in general sociology. If we approach this situation in a feminist way of thinking, Angela would have never been shamed for losing her virginity. Her opinion should matter for her own virginity. Later we see that she was shamed by most people in her town. They she rises an individual, separating herself from other women. This behavior can be related with Judith Butler’s individual woman theory, where their actions are shaped

This can have a connection with his Arabic origin. Maybe some townsfolk didn’t want to prevent his murder, because of their prejudice towards foreign people. This again can be related with structural functionalism, where everyone determines their relationships based on norms. However, did Santiago was really killed because of Angela? She might have even lied to protect someone else. Believing just rumors and committing a murder is absurd. So, it is possible that he was killed because of his race. Apart from contextual aspect, it can even be argued that Santiago was a threat to South American culture as an Arab. Pollo Carillo says that; “He [Santiago] thought that his money made him untouchable.” while his wife added, “Just like all Turks.” In the book, there are other racist remarks as well. Moreover, having seeing the twins with knives, the police of the town doesn’t manage to prevent the murder. Maybe with twins’ Spanish origin, Márquez might have wanted to allude to the crusaders from old times. Even this crusader image can still be admired by other people and form a culture which can chance people in a racist way. Therefore, this allusion also makes more sense together with race differences in the