The following is the introduction from our Chronicle of A Death Foretold Study Companion, available on the resources page of our website.
“On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on.”
As you read through Marquez’s novel you may find yourself questioning many different aspects of the writing and the manner in which the plot plays out. From the very first line of the text, readers are provided with an introduction to the event that shapes the entire novel. From early on, we understand who has carried out the murder as well, meaning that Marquez is looking to do more than simply tell a tale of an act undertaken to restore honour. Through his unique journalistic style, combining the perspective of a narrator who hails from the town and was at the same celebration as the victim and the perpetrators, along with the fragments of story put forward by those involved at the time and in their memory of the event, Marquez leads us to focus on the social climate in which such an event could take place. Therefore, the novel is not a traditional ‘whodunnit’ or murder mystery, rather it is more about the people of a village and the societal expectations that they follow and galvanise.
Given that, even by the novel’s ending, readers cannot be certain that Santiago Nasar was re- sponsible for what he was accused of, we need to be open to the inaccuracy of the ‘chronicle’ and how the events and retellings of the infamous day can be clouded by human fallibility - both in memory and in integrity. Each character is shown to be flawed in some way or another, be it through their lack of courage, their indifference to hearing of the Vicario twins’ plans or their general treatment of others. However, despite Marquez outlining that Santiago Nasar was by no measure a saint, there is a collective guilt that stays with the town following an honour killing that is uncomfortably absolute in its moral motivation.
There is no hero in this story. Rather, there are many flawed characters and many moments of bumbling incompetence and error. With this in mind, those studying this text can focus more on the ideas that Marquez may have been looking to convey to his audience about the conventions of Latin American society and how people can be limited by the expectations placed upon them when living within a society that so strongly adheres to religious and social convention.
Students who are able to take the time to consider the many layers of this seemingly simple plot line will be able to draw the most insightful ideas. Those looking for certainty and absolutes will find themselves agitated by the loose and ‘pieced together’ nature of the narrative, something that reflects the nature of a community attempting to make sense of such an event and all being coloured by their own history and feelings towards how it unfolded.
All the best with your study as you dive into this intriguing tale.
Ben Taylor - The English Lab
We have lots more to say about this text! If you’d like for Ben to speak to your students or to your teaching team, please contact hello@englishlab.com.au
Please also look around our website for further resources and services that can help your Year Twelve teachers and students get the best out of themselves. Our study guide (of which this post is an excerpt from) is available by clicking on the ‘Resources’ tab at the top of this page.
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