Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez Essay

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-MarquezWorks Cited not IncludedChronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, is a storythat brings one to question the code of honor that exists in theColumbian town. Marquez paints a fork up that shows how societalvalues, such as honor, have become more important than the inherentgood of human life. The Vicario brothers belief that their sister wasdone wrong was brought upon by this honor, along with racial andsocial tension. The stark path of both honor and religious faithcaused Santiagos untimely death.Before God and before men, Pablo Vicario said. It was a matter ofhonor (Marquez 56). In the town honor is taken very seriously andany bodily process taken to protect ones own honor or familys honor is neverquestioned. If soulfulness loses their honor, they automatically become anoutcast in the society. Angela Vicarios father had lost his sightfrom doing so much fine work in gold in prescribe to maintain the honor ofth e house (33). When Angela Vicario explained she lost her virginityto Santiago Nasar, the honor and respect of the family was lost.The Vicario brothers felt it was their purpose to keep some sort ofsemblance of honor to their family name. Angelas supposed premaritalrelations with Santiago Nasar were enough in this culture to warrantdeath. The idea that honor send packing cross the boundaries of religion isconsidered to be very powerful. It is an action in which one can takethe life of someone else. The act of killing someone becomes apowerful and almost godlike statement. Honor can extend beyond thereaches of religion, as shown in this story. Angela Vicario could havebeen beaten to death because she infring... ...d the bishopdoes not get off his ship that he is traveling on and sooner asks toeat cock-comb soup, one that is costly to make and considered to be asexual innuendo. He only offers his blessing on the boat nearly a somehundred yards off shore. The people take pride in h ow they are ofreligious faith, yet a whorehouse and constant sexual relationssaturates everyone in the town.Marquez in Chronicle of a Death Foretold attempts to show that peoplenaturally blur the interpretation of their own beliefs. The honor codethat exists in the town is scarcely outdated. The hypocritical system ofhonor and religion breeds infidelity, murder, and deceit. The Vicariobrothers abused honor and Gods repentance as reasons for their act.In this town, religion and honor can be a dangerous force to merge,and Santiago Nasar was an innocent victim right in the way.