Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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Chronicle of a Death Foretold

• By Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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About the author

• Born in Aracataca, Columbia in 1928
• Grew up in a house with his aunts, uncles, and
  grandparents
• The women told him tales of superstition and
  fantasy while the men kept him grounded in
  reality
• Dropped out of college because of civil war and
  became a reporter for a newspaper
• His best known work is One Hundred Years of
  Solitude
• His writing reflects the influences of his
  grandmothers stories as well as the myths,
  superstitions, and lifestyle of Latin America
• Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982

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A Brief Summary

• Relates the events leading up to following the
  murder of 21 year old Santiago Nasar
• He is killed by the Vicario twins to avenge the
  loss of their sisters honor
• 27 years later, the narrator returns to his home
  town to put back together the broken mirror of
  memory
• The story is constructed from the fragmented
  sometimes conflicting versions of events
  remembered by the townspeople and the narrator
  himself

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Historical Context

• Latin American Culture
• Derived from both European settlers/conquerors
  customs as well as the traditions of native
  inhabitants
• Resulted from an intermixing of male immigrants
  and female natives
• Marquez blends elements of both cultures

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Themes to look for

• Honor
• How does honor play a role in the events that
  take place?
• Revenge
• Which characters seek revenge?
• What type of revenge is enacted?
• Gender Roles
• What is the difference between what is acceptable
  for men and what is acceptable for women?
• Supernatural
• What kind of omens are perceived before the
  murder?
• Deception
• Who is deceived by whom and how are they
  deceived?