Books - Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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	Books - Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Chronicle of a Death Foretold (original Spanish title: Crónica de una muerte anunciada) is a short novel by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981. It tells, in the form of a pseudo-journalistic reconstruction, the story of the murder of Santiago Nasar by the two Vicario brothers.

The story is told from the perspective of a native of the town returning 27 years after the murder, and attempting to recreate what happened on that fateful day. The basis of the plot is that a newly married young woman, Angela Vicario, was found on her wedding night to not be a virgin. After getting beaten by her parents, she names her violator, Santiago Nasar. In order to repair the family's reputation, the two brothers Pablo and Pedro Vicario go to kill Santiago. The entire town eventually learns of their plan, but does nothing to stop it, or warn Santiago, who is brutally killed.

One of the unanswered questions in this book is who actually took Angela Vicario's virginity, for the narrator is unsure why she named Santiago Nasar, although it is suggested by gossip that she did to protect the man whom she loved. It's possible to read the book as a kafkian love and crime story: the beginning of the book is itself a variation of the start of The Trial and The Metamorphosis, both by Kafka. García Márquez himself acknowledges this influence saying that it was the reading of The Metamorphosis that showed him "that it was possible to write in a different way."

It was translated into English by Gregory Rabassa.

Magical Realism

Chronicle of a Death Foretold exhibits many of the aspects of a novel written in the magic realist style. For example, the novel makes oblique references to God and clairvoyance. Additionally, it has the magic realism quality of time distortion. The main plot plays out five times: once in each of the five chapters. While this is reminiscent of the traditional tragic format, it turns it inside out. The narrator's inclusion of personal judgments, as well as events occurring many years after the drama unfolds, seems to breach the definition of a chronicle. The kaleidoscopic imagery found in the novel adds to this impression and, combined with the contorted chronological structure and the townspeople's anticipation of Santiago Nasar's murder, erodes the plausibility of mere irresponsibility as an explanation for the tragedy. This incongruity fits with the magic realism style; it may be put down to fate. The opposite of unlikely powerlessness, unlikely endurance, is also present as Santiago Nasar's smell pervades the town even after he dies. The subtle intersection of human values and the supernatural with the physical world is a hallmark of magic realism.

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