Betrayal in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay Example

At a young age, most people do not realize the amount of lies constantly told around them, whether about their character or the people connected to them. And though they may understand it more in the future, most lies and deceptions are taken with a grain of salt. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Latin American 1950s based mysterious novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a narrator searches for the story behind the death of Santiago Nasar decades before the narrator's arrival. Those questioned about the event detail communications and impactful events that lead up to Nasar’s ending, including the murderers’ plan and reasoning, the reactions of the townspeople, and the deciet laced between each person’s interpretation of the murder. Betrayal and deception run the society of Sucre as seen through Angela’s deception to her family, Santiago’s possible betrayal of his fiancee, and Placinda Linero’s misinterpretation of Santiago’s dreams on the day of his death. This community foundation allows Garcia Marquez to show how one cannot avoid deception as one cannot avoid their fate. 

Angela’s deception of her family is displayed in her attitude and decision to label Santiago as the man who stole her virginity before her wedding day, which was seemingly the primary cause for the entire plot of the story. Throughout the novella, multiple holes and inconsistencies appear in her accusation, causing speculation of a deceitful decision on her behalf. From birth, Angela was labeled as a fragile and feminine symbol for her family, and because of this, she knew that she would have to marry well and follow all societal gender roles in order to keep her name clean. However, she seemed to have a rebellious distaste for this birth-given role, as she did not wish to marry a suitable character by the name of Bayardo San Roman. Angela claimed to have “ detested conceited men, and [she had] never seen one so stuck up,” referring to San Roman – a wealthy man who greatly wished to marry and prove himself to her (Garcia Marquez 17). Despite this detest towards San Roman’s attitude, she accused Santiago Nasar – a man known to have similar characteristics and status – of deflowering her before her wedding day in an act of love. Angela had only agreed to marry San Roman to fulfill her familial duty and for the benefits it would bring her family. So it is peculiar why she would be convinced to be with Nasar if she would gain the same benefits yet lose her feminine purity.

Furthermore, speculation noted during the narrator's escapade was that Angela “was protecting someone who loved her, and she had chosen Santiago Nasar’s name because she thought her brothers would never dare go up against him,” (Garcia Marquez 53). Although this does not prove whether she spoke the truth or not, it does show that she was attempting to intimidate her brothers so that they would not do something, knowing how they would react to any given circumstance. And as her betrayal of their trust and keeping her word of staying pure continued, so did the course of events leading up to Santiago’s death. Nasar was known to be the epitome of machismo – intense masculine energy – but that would not prevent the brothers from trying to attack him because their inevitable fate is to protect their sister at all costs. 

In addition to the multitude of townspeople who knew the Vicario twins’ plan, Santiago’s wife, Flora’s, decisions following hearing the heartbreaking news played a lead role in Nasar’s fate and Flora’s perception of her society. Flora is one of the female characters who are practically unheard of in the story unless spoken of in alliance with her male counterpart. She was submissive and fell in love with him through the classic love story of letters written in school, so their destiny seemed to be to live a pure and clean life. However, when “it occurred to her that they would force [Santiago] to marry Angela Vicario to give her back her honor,” she no longer felt keen about protecting her fiance (Garcia Marquez 66). Not even choosing to communicate about the possible affair and instead taking the news personally caused her to feel more emotional and evoked an irrational response from her. Flora’s understanding of fate had been one that would flow smoothly if only positive events had preceded it, but “WHile half of the town was waiting for the bishop, she was in her bedroom weeping with rage and putting in order the chestful of letters that Santiago Nasar had sent her from school,” (Garcia Marquez 66). In the midst of her realization of deception, she reached for the only sign that her fate would be positive, just as she had hoped for her entire life. Consequently, her only possible response to the betrayal was to betray Santiago in another form. It is ingrained in this society that life must continue with a flow, as fate will take its course, as dreams have meanings, and with that comes the idea that if one thing happens, the result should be equal in value. If society did not run on continuous deceit and betrayal, fate would not be an established idea, and there would be a million possibilities for every scenario. So, in a way, this foundation creates balance. 

Placida Linero, Santiago’s mother, seemingly could not sense the misfortune that would follow on the day of her son’s death despite her supernatural ability, tying together the idea that deception in the town of Sucre allows fate to take its course. Santiago’s mother “had a well-earned reputation as an accurate interpreter of other people’s dreams,” (Garcia Marquez 1). Nobody had questioned this idea or any possible mishap because of the magical realism established in the novella but the one day it proved faulty remained a stain in Linero’s brain until the day the narrator visited Sucre. Nevertheless, this trait was advantageous for Santiago since he could find out what he was feeling or what his dreams meant every morning, “provided they were told to her before eating," (Garcia Marquez 1). But the night before his death was different from most. He had drunk large amounts of alcohol and did not have a stable memory of what had occurred the night before, possibly causing an infraction on his dreams or his memory of the dreams. Although it may not be “deception," there are many uneven aspects in the possible recollection or understanding of what had occurred in Santiago’s dreams or the morning afterward, as well as how his mother interpreted them, causing fate to be even closer to the death foretold. 

Angela’s inconsistent recollection of events, statements made to other people, and judgment of others displayed her willing deceit to her family and acceptance of not always being truthful or morally correct in her society. And although she may be against the morals of her patriarchal town, she continues to fall into the harmful cycles and habits of her deceitful peers and superiors. With this, she inevitably must give into fate, as her betrayal backfires on the one she possibly loved and her brothers whom she attempted not to harm. Additionally, Flora fell under the spell of ‘two wrongs make a right’ in her decision to not inform her fiance of his death sentence. Blinded by jealousy, shame, and rage, she allowed fate to take its course in her following Santiago’s supposed footsteps. Where Placida may not have intended to deceive herself in her judgment of what would happen to her son on his fateful day, the magical realism played in favor of inevitability. Thus further proves that betrayal and deception ordain the society of Sucre in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s display of how one cannot avoid deception as one cannot avoid their fate. 

Works Cited

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. sxcsrannalibrary, http://www.sxcsrannalibrary.co.in/sites/default/files/Chronicle%20of%20a%20Death%20Foretold-GABRIEL%20GARCIA%20MARQUEZ.pdf, Accessed Apr. 2022.