Nightingale 1

Emily Nightingale

Mrs. Balka

IB English Year 1

27 November 2018

Written Assignment

Various societies past and present day have been known to take strong interest in overall

moral values that engulf the community, but with various beliefs and expectations these groups

of people are often found living in a toxic environment of hostility. This exact idea was

brilliantly showcased in a Colombian society by Gabriel Marquez within the novel Chronicle of

a Death Foretold in which ideas of machismo and religious expectations rigorously contradicted

each other. The idea’s of expected masculinity of their men while also celebrating their beliefs as

catholics and the purity of others were extremely relevant and important aspects of their culture.

Nonetheless, when a specific man, Santiago Nasar, representing aspects of both was murdered,

the community’s belief system was tested after the group as a whole neglected to put a stop to it.

This neglegation to perform the honorable action versus a Christ-like action was only one way in

which the society was represented as corrupt overall. Marques utilizes the Vicario brothers and

their honor along with women’s sense of purity and religious figures of the novel to symbolize

the contrasting aspects of society leading to warped moral values and a sense of corruption in

both principles. The character Santiago Nasar is also used in showing this corruption through his

strong symbolism of both masculine and pure characteristics that led to a dishonorable chosen

ignorance by the society after his murder.

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By illustrating the characters Pablo and Pedro Vicario as embodiments of machismo

qualities, the respect for said masculinity is proven to be corrupt in nature and put on a pedestal

within society. Various attributes of the brothers represent this image such as, “a bullet

wound…” that one brother would often show off as a sort of “novel trick” to impress others (60).

Symbols such as these that prove nothing more than one’s masculinity were employed by many

men in Colombian society to portray themselves as the patriarchal dominator’s of the community

and prove themselves worthy of respect. However, these qualities were shown to corrupt the

minds of men by persuading most to believe in responsibilities that they were obligated to carry

out as the leaders of those weaker than them. The most intense action being the murder of

Santiago Nasar committed by the Vicario brothers who pleaded that they were innocent due to

the felony being, “a matter of honor”, as honor is a major aspect of machismo (49). Murder is not

an honorable action as most people would agree especially when sought after for revenge.

Nonetheless, to uphold their manly disposition the brothers felt forced to carry out this duty and

protect their image in society. Along with the pressure they exerted on themselves, others in

community contributed as well such as Pablo’s wife who stated, “I never would have married

him if he hadn’t done what a man should do” displaying her support in their manic decision (62).

The clear point of corruption can be noticed by one of the ten commandments that states “thou

shalt not kill”, and yet for a society that raises religion as an equally important virtue, those

within the town continue to support these act’s of secured manliness. With a sense of

disproportionate values, the town’s beliefs were skewed and the renowned ideal of machismo

brought the Vicario brothers to commit a horrendous crime: the murder of Santiago Nasar.

Machismo and the qualities the reside with it clearly show the corruption of a town that could not

choose between what was right under the bible or a patriarchal society.
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Corruption is also found in the assumed equal principle of religious authorities and the

purity of women. Catholicism is the prominent religion of Colombian societies and therefore

women are expected to maintain a purity that is equivalent to the virgin Mary and stay

wholesome until marriage. Yet women in the novel are often found, “carrying… baskets of

artificial flowers” to mask their innocence (28). Flowers are a known symbol of purity and

fragility of the mind and body; artificial flowers mean quite the opposite. To hide their secret

infidelity, women will use these artificial flowers to falsely uphold their image of innocence and

trick those around them. When it is found out that Angela Vicario isn’t completely pure, it is

stated that, “the fact that [she] dared put on… orange blossoms without being a virgin would be

interpreted afterward as a profanation of the symbols of purity” and would cause disgrace on her

and her family (41). For years Angela was able to hide her tampered saintliness with fake

flowers, but to be put through her marriage with real flowers would be blasphemous. Religious

authorities of the novel had also displayed moments of unholiness but not quite to the extent of

women. During Santiago Nasar’s autopsy for instance, a priest took the dead man’s intestines,

“gave them an angry blessing and threw them into the garbage pail”(76). The irony in this

example is that no priest would be found probing a deceased man’s body and throwing his

organs in the garbage with no thorough blessing. People look to priest’s for their christ-like

attitudes and for one to “angrily bless” and throw away a living souls body parts is a horrible

representation of the church. All in all, the false and inhumane practices that represent the town’s

devotion to their religious beliefs is yet another corrupt section of society that is no better than

the encouragement of machismo and its contribution to the murder of Nasar.

Marquez yet again finds a distinct way to represent this societal immorality within one

character, Santiago Nasar, and his representation of both machismo and religious ideals. Many of
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his masculine characteristics had derived from his deceased father such as, “the mastery of high-

flying birds of prey” which is shown as an intimidating past time (7). By controlling a bird of

prey, Nasar represents himself as a man willing to “prey” on others and uses the fear of those

around him to demand respect. He also uses a similar tactic of wearing a, “.387 Magnum on his

belt” but takes out the bullets (5). With or without the bullets, a man holding a gun is instantly

respected in society due to having dominance of power. Both of these hobbies are symbols of

machismo qualities that intimidate others and gain the admiration of his town that sees these

things as honorable. Unfortunately, this respect is upheld even after Nasar defiled a woman and,

“grabber [her] whole pussy”(13). Sexual harassment at this time was obviously not as recognized

and tolerated as being a normal behavior. Men used it as yet another way to represent

dominance, but the irony is that if believed their wife were not a virgin before marriage they

would completely disown them. Despite each of these masculine symbols, Nasar was juxtaposed

as a symbol of purity and at the end, Jesus himself. In simple ways his name was derived from

the word “saint” and he was found in his last hours wearing, “a shirt and pants of white linen”(5).

His name and physical appearance- all white to represent purity- were direct symbols of his

christ-like attributes. The most prominent symbol however was his complete comparison to Jesus

Christ with his murder scene paralleling Jesus’ crucifixion in its entirety. Similar to Jesus being

nailed to the cross, “The knife went through the palm of [Santiago’s] right hand” to portray him

as a symbol of Christ in his last moments (117). Even if his wounds were simply coincidental,

the symbols alluding to his purity prove otherwise. Yet another direct comparison of the

crucifixion was that when stabbed, “there wasn’t a drop of blood” that escaped Santiago (118).

His purity had shown through at that moment and made those within the town question whether

or not he was truly an innocent man falsely accused of the defilement of another woman.
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Regardless of these major symbols, no man who defiled other women and raised predatory

animals to assert dominance by fear can be seen as a completely pure individual. By including

reputable characteristics that contrast with the normal manly behavior exerted from most

Colombian men, corruption is not only found in societies warped definition of each, but in their

decision to respect one over the other that inevitably led to an unforgiving murder.

In all, by juxtaposing the Vicario brothers, women, and religious authority figures along

with conflicting values within the character Santiago Nasar himself, societies fraudulent ideas of

machismo and religion were clearly shown. The many “masculine” actions that took place

plainly contradicted the beliefs of the Catholic church while many supposed “pure” individuals

took part in just as many unholy affairs. Although it is unclear where the town’s priorities were

given, Marquez made a point to recognize the conflicting viewpoints in a society that eventually

lead to strife and highlight the dangers that could ensue.

Works Cited

Márquez, Gabriel García, and Gregory Rabassa. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Penguin Books,

2014.