There had never been a death more foretold.
So begins a brutal tale of honour killing. Santiaago Nasar became a victim of honour killing. He was accused of violating Angela Vicario. Angela had been returned home by her husband on the wedding night because she wasn’t a virgin. She and the Vicario family are dishonoured, and the two Vicario brothers must kill Santiago Nasar to restore their honour. Sounds ghastly? Yes, it is.
Gabriel García Márquez wrote the Chronicles of a Death Foretold to express his horror and condemnation of honour killing. The practice was deeply embedded in his culture at the time. Márquez strongly opposed this practice, severely criticizing the societal choice of honour over human life. He saw the practice that sacrificed a human life to safeguard reputation as absurd and brutal, and he boldly used his weapon (his pen) to expose the horrors of this destructive cultural practice.
The story begins with the murder of Santiago Nasar and proceeds to narrate it from various points of view. An unnamed narrator, adopting an investigative journalistic style, chronicles accounts of various people as to how and why Santiago Nasar is murdered. These accounts reveal the chilling truth of social acceptance of the commission of a cold-blooded murder to uphold reputation. The whole town knew Santiago Nasar was to be killed by the Vicario brothers. The word was spread by the brothers themselves. But the town didn’t act. Therefore, not only the Vicario brothers, but the community was also guilty of his murder. Their feeble excuses of not thinking the murder would actually be committed are mere external justification for an inner approval of a cultural tradition.
The Vicario brothers spread the word of their intention to kill Santiago Nasar to the community. Márquez sees this as an appeal to the community to relieve them from this atrocious duty. If a religious or law-enforcing person had intervened, the crime might have been avoided. But their actions are lukewarm even in the preknowledge of an intended crime. The mayor failed, and the Father failed. The result was a brutal killing, condoned by a community that far more valued their tradition than a human life. The worst is that it was never even proved whether Santiago Nasar was indeed the true guilty party. There was no evidence, only the girl’s word. Márquez thus exposes the danger and injustice of allowing these practices to continue, as they violate all human rights.
The victim is not only Santiago Nasar, even though he is the main one. The Vicario brothers and Angela Vicario are also victims to some extent. A bride must be a virgin. If not, she is returned, dishonoured. The men in the family must kill the violator. These are social conventions established by the cultural traditions. And it is the tradition that calls for violence. A civilized society must value human life above all. The traditional practices and conventions must be set accordingly. This is the message of Gabriel García Márquez.
The novella, Chronicles of a Death Foretold, is written by Márquez in his chosen genre of magical realism. I don’t claim to be a big enthusiast of the genre, but I have, time and again, enjoyed novels of that genre. I thought magical realism was quite appropriate to the story. It gave Márquez more freedom and leverage to emphasize the inhumanity of the brutal cultural practices. The story was powerfully written, but dark and oppressive. It wasn’t an easy read. The graphic details of the killing and the dead body disturbed my sensitivity. Still, the story had such a magnetic charm that you were pulled into it despite its violent content. I cannot say that I “enjoyed” the novel, but I very much appreciated the message of humanity that Márquez conveyed through the story. I had a fallout with him a few years ago over Love in the Time of Cholera. This novel, however, portrayed the author in a different light. I think I like him. 🙂
Rating: 4/5
