Gabriel Garcia Marquez
CHRONICLES OF A DEATH FORETOLD
BY
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
Certainly, Gabriel Garcia Marquez chose the use of magic realism as a tool to tell the story, which in fact is a real life story. In Sucre, Colombia there was a similar series of events and facts as the ones tell by Marquez in the book. These series of events are recreated from the author’s point of view in the predominantly conservative concepts, taboos and religiosity of a society based on an essential feature of magical realism.
There are several contrast to this story in which I would like to highlight the contrast caused by the coexistence of what is moral, ethical and conservative, with what is sexuality and lust.
Without a doubt, one of the fundamental themes of the novel is “honor” or as I see it, is more of a sexist behavior. Bayardo San Roman returns Angela on the wedding night to her parents, after beating her because he found it she wasn’t a virgin. It is said, according to the novel or the traditions of society that by a woman not being a virgin, it is not only her honor but the entire family’s honor that falls to the ground and the only way to remove the stain of dishonor is through the blood of the defiler.
Therefore, aside from her virginity, what exactly are the qualities of an honorable or ideal woman and what does this has to do with the sexist theme represent by the male characters in the novel? The book mentions the daughters of Purisima del Carmen as an example and it’s described in the book as follows: “They had been educated to get marry. They knew bastridor embroidering, they knew how to sew, wash and iron, made artificial flowers and fancy candy”. They were also described as perfect in the novel and that any man would be happy with them because they had been “bred to suffer”. Personally I assume is the most remarkable feature of a perfect woman at that time. We can also deduce that the stereotype of a perfect woman in that type of society, whether is a mother, daughter,
BY
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
Certainly, Gabriel Garcia Marquez chose the use of magic realism as a tool to tell the story, which in fact is a real life story. In Sucre, Colombia there was a similar series of events and facts as the ones tell by Marquez in the book. These series of events are recreated from the author’s point of view in the predominantly conservative concepts, taboos and religiosity of a society based on an essential feature of magical realism.
There are several contrast to this story in which I would like to highlight the contrast caused by the coexistence of what is moral, ethical and conservative, with what is sexuality and lust.
Without a doubt, one of the fundamental themes of the novel is “honor” or as I see it, is more of a sexist behavior. Bayardo San Roman returns Angela on the wedding night to her parents, after beating her because he found it she wasn’t a virgin. It is said, according to the novel or the traditions of society that by a woman not being a virgin, it is not only her honor but the entire family’s honor that falls to the ground and the only way to remove the stain of dishonor is through the blood of the defiler.
Therefore, aside from her virginity, what exactly are the qualities of an honorable or ideal woman and what does this has to do with the sexist theme represent by the male characters in the novel? The book mentions the daughters of Purisima del Carmen as an example and it’s described in the book as follows: “They had been educated to get marry. They knew bastridor embroidering, they knew how to sew, wash and iron, made artificial flowers and fancy candy”. They were also described as perfect in the novel and that any man would be happy with them because they had been “bred to suffer”. Personally I assume is the most remarkable feature of a perfect woman at that time. We can also deduce that the stereotype of a perfect woman in that type of society, whether is a mother, daughter,
Cited: Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Chronicles of a Death Foretold. New York: Vintage International, 2003. Print. Michaels, Leonard. “Murder Most Foul and Comic.” March 27, 1983: Late City Final Edition Section 7; Page 1, Column 1: Book Review Desk. Web. November 1998.