Literature Elements of a Death Foretold

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Recommended: A short history of Latin American literature

Gabriel García Márquez composes a fantastic and realistic imagination that reflects on the continents of life and conflicts in his prose and screenplays he produces. He was born on March 6, 1982 as a Colombian who produces literature pieces on magical realism. His work “Cronica de una muerte anunciada” written in 1981 was translated from Spanish to English by Gregory Rabassa in 1883 as “Chronicles of a Death Foretold”. “Chronicles of a Death Foretold” reveals to readers an interweave pattern that etches realism through representing ordinary events and descriptive details together with fantastic and dreamlike elements derived from myth and fairy tales. However, the novella is a foreshadowing of events that led up to the death of Santiago Nasar by the Vicario brothers. Strangely, he is being killed for the accusation Angela Vicario made for taking her virginity. The “Chronicles of a Death Foretold,” reveals themes such as honor, tradition and death. Throughout the reading of the novella honor was portrayed in many instances. Strangely, the actions taken to prove honor was never questioned by characters in the novella. However, Bayardo San Roman showed his honor when he sent back his newly unfaithful wife, Angela, to her parents’ house for not being a virgin. This incident proved Bayardo’s respect to his community, the men in his community and his family. Another instance of honor would be the killing of Santiago by the Vicario brothers. The Vicario brothers killed Santiago in order to restore the honor of their unfaithful sister’s disrespect to Bayardo and the community. In order for her to gain back the community’s trust her brothers set out to kill the man who supposedly took her virginity, in order to clear her name. Moreove... ... middle of paper ... ...ld” is a great novel that entails many traditional beliefs of Latin American culture that is portrayed through the Colombian eyes. The author uses the foreshadowing technique to keep readers alert of the events that lead to the death of Santiago Nasar. However, the novel leaves readers with that curious, mysterious spark of wanting to know why the characters did what they did to Nasar. Even though, times are changing some aspect of the Latin tradition can still be seen throughout our region and other parts of the world. The fact that, some mothers still prep their daughters for domestic work and to find men who are financially stable. Latin American writers especially Marquez wrote about things that was happening around his environment and the mindset of the Colombian people. Works Cited Marquez, Gabriel. Chronicles of a Death Foretold. PDF file.

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