The chronicles of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (chapter 3, 4 and 5)

Summary:

    After Angela Vicario reveals Santiago's name to her brothers, they immediately go to the store, and pick out two of the best knives, and have them sharpened later on at the meat market. Pablo declared that they were going to kill Santiago Nasar. Because the twins brothers are known to be good people, nobody payed any attention to them, and never took them seriously. Although Pedro made the decision to kill Santiago, Pablo still insists on following through with the plan. The twins go to the milk shop, their knives wrapped in newspaper. Clothilde Armenta, the owner of the shop; knowing their plans, gives them rum, hoping to make them so drunk that they won't be able to do anything. In chapter 4, after murdering Santiago, both Vicario brothers' can't get Santiago's smell off them, nor can they sleep at night. They both go to prison, and the rest of the Vicario family moves away. In the last chapter of the book, the narrator explained that Santiago died without understanding why. This chapter also demonstrates the complicity of the town in the murder of Santiago Nasar, and shows how they saw themselves as spectators rather than actors.

Quote:

    "The truth is I didn't know what to do,' he told me. 'My first thought was that it wasn't any business of mine but something for the civil authorities, but then I made up my mind to say something in passing to Placida Linero.' Yet when he crossed the square, he'd forgotten completely. 'You have to understand,' he told me, "that the bishop was coming that day." (marquez, 150)

Reaction:

    The speaker of this quote is Father Amador. Father Amador is an authority figures who had the power to stop the crime, but ended up being completely ineffective in preventing it. The bishop, the priest, a police officer, and the Colonel had all been warned that Santiago Nasar was going to be murdered by the Vicario twins, but none of them took this news seriously enough to take effective to prevent this murder from happening.

The chronicles of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (chapter 1 and 2)

Summary:

    On the day Santiago was eventually killed, he woke up at 5:30 a.m. to wait for the boat that was bringing the bishop. The night before he died, he dreamed about trees. Some people remember that the weather to be cloudy that morning, others say that it was fine, but all recall that Santiago was in a very good mood that day.In chapter 1, Nasar is described as slim and pale with Arab eyes, and curly hair. He is an only child. He inherited his sixth senses from his mother;s side, and he learned his love of horses, and falconry, from his father, Ibrahim. After the death of his father, Santiago quit his secondary school, and took over his families ranch. There were many rumors going around that Santiago Nasar was going to get killed, but no one knew if the rumors were true, or when his death was going to occur. Santiago's murderers were Pedro Vicario and Pablo Vicario.

    In chapter 2, the narrator tells the story of Bayardo San Roman. He is the groom of Angela Vicario. Bayardo looks young because he has a slim waist and golden eyes. He wanted to marry Angela Vicario at first sight. The Vicario family is described as "scant resources". The Vicario brothers murdered Santiago because he took away the virginity of their sister, Angela Vicario.

Quote:

    "Pedro Vicario, the more forceful of the brothers, picked her up by the waist and sat her on the dining room table. 'All right, girl,' he said to her, trembling with rage, 'tell us who it was.' She only took the time necessary to say the name. She looked for it in the shadows, she found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names from this world and the other, and she nailed it to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written. 'Santiago Nasar,' she said." (Marquez,)

Reaction:

      This quote is from the end of chapter 2.this scene is when Angela tells her brothers who took away her virginity. The image of the butterfly pinned to a wall is symbolic of both Santiago Nasar's situation and of Angela Vicario's. Once she has said that Santiago is the one who took away her virginity, his fate, like her own, becomes bounded by cultural morals. If Angela did not give her brothers the name of the person, they would have became furious at her for protecting the man who had dishonored her. She "pins" Santiago with her words, but she herself is "pinned" by the sexism of the culture. Its like following the rules of decorum.