Organized Religion In Gabriel Garcia Márquez's Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Organized religion has been both beloved and criticized across human history, yet it is still an integral part of many people’s lives. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, religion is at the forefront of the town’s life, dictating its morals and traditions. Throughout the novel, Gabriel García Márquez presents religion in a hypocritical way with ironic language, critical diction, and a pessimistic tone. In his novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel García Márquez criticizes the hypocritical nature of religion through the role of the bishop, ironic characterization, and the symbolism of virginity.

Márquez characterizes the bishop as harsh and hypocritical to criticize religion. The bishop is central to the novel as Santiago 's death occurs on the same day as his visit.

Although most characters seem to admire him, others hate him, such as Placida Linero who says “He 'll give an obligatory blessing, as always, and go back the way he came” (Márquez 8). Márquez describes the blessing as “obligatory”, alluding that the bishop would not do it unless he had to. The negative tone Placida uses creates a sense of hypocrisy; she perceives the bishop’s blessing as negative. When the bishop gives the blessing, “he kept on doing it mechanically afterwards, without malice or inspiration, until the boat was lost from view and all that remained was the uproar of the roosters” (17). The negative diction of “mechanically” characterizes the bishop as indifferent as the blessing has lost meaning to him religiously. Additionally, the motif of birds characterizes the bishop as wasteful as he left the roosters that the people of the town offered him.