Love in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novel about a mysterious man Santiago Nasar that is convicted and killed for apparently raping Angela Vicario. The death of Santiago is well known by most people in the community that it was startling that Santiago was not aware of his upcoming death. The story is retold in five different perspectives from different members of the community. The philosophy related to this novel is magical realism. Magical realism incorporates fantasy into a modern setting that reveals mysterious or deeper meanings beyond what is implied. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a paradox that involves dream like elements combined with reality that reveal a deep and true meaning that might not be stated.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a paradox in terms of Columbian culture. The culture strictly opposes premarital sex. The setting of this novel is in a small Columbian town in the 1950s. The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me (pg.65) This is said by Angela when her fianc Bayardo Sans Roman returns her after he realizing she is not a virgin. Most of the men are not judged and are in fact allowed to practice pre marital sex. Santiago, Cristo and Ibraham are examples of men in the novel that practiced premarital sex and were not seen in a different light. This contradicts the Columbian view on pre marital sex that reveals a truth that is commonly known to people as a double standard.

A mix of reality and fantasy are integrated in this novel through dreams. In the beginning, Santiago has re occurring dreams of him in a grove of timber woods. "He'd dreamed he was going through a grove of timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling, and for an instant he was happy in his dream, but when he awoke he felt completely spattered with bird shit."(Pg.3). His dreams were foreshadowing what was to happen in the near future. Santiagos mother, Placida Linero has the ability to interpret dreams. According to Placida, timber woods represent a bad omen and birds represent a good omen. She only paid attention to the birds and ignored the timber woods therefore misinterpreting his dream for good health. The author uses Santiagos dreams to incorporate a supernatural aspect in a normal setting.

One of the main characteristics of magical realism is having a deeper meaning behind a message or situation. There is a quote that is stated in the narrative note. It says, The pursuit of love is like falconry. Falconry is the act of hunting falcons and also the act of training them to hunt.(Lovelady Cambria) When Bayardo Sans Roman comes into town, he hunts to win over Angela Vicario and make her his wife. He impressed the family with his confidence and background. He came from a wealthy and prestigious family. In the Columbian culture, women are married off to men that are wealthy or have a good name. Love was not considered a necessity in a marriage and according to Placida, love can be learned too. (Pg.35) After their separation due to her sexual status, Angela was determined to win Bayardo back in any way possible. Referring back to the quote, Angela was now being trained to hunt for her husband. All in all, one has to read in-between the lines and figure out the underlying truth of a message or situation.

The quote in the beginning of the book about the pursuit of love has a deeper meaning that explains the basis of the love story between Bayardo and Angela. The dreams that Santiago had are the supernatural aspect in the book that foreshadows his own death. This novel is a paradox in terms of its culture. It contradicts its view on pre marital sex revealing the unfortunate truth that women will be treated and judged in a different way than men. All of the above are characteristics of the philosophy of magical realism being related to the book. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a paradox that involves dream like elements combined with reality that reveal a deep and true meaning that might not be stated.