You will discuss this novel in two parts:
Here is the first part:
1- How does the novel start?
2- Who is narrating the story?
3- What is the purpose of the novel?
4- Which culture does the novel explore?
5- List the main characters in terms of their importance?
6- Where does the story take place (setting)?
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Garcia Marquez
Garcia Marquez wrote such a fascinating novel that portrays life in a rural village from a Latin American perspective. The novel is about many important concepts that can be understood well only when put in their geographical and social contexts. Some of these concepts and themes are honor, virginity, manliness, pride, virginity (purity and impurity), importance of family and society, revenge, etc.
The Vicario brothers decide to take revenge and save the honor of their family after their sister Angela is found by her husband, Bayardo San Roman, to already have lost her virginity; virginity in the context of the story is portrayed to be very essential; according to the Vicario brothers' society, a woman's virginity is the most important quality and if she loses it before marriage, then he is unwanted! Angela, trying to get out of the trouble she has found herself in, has to name the one who has supposedly taken her virginity from her. She names Santiago. The town and the jury would be sympathetic towards them in this case.
The Vicario brothers prove their manliness by killing Santiago, the name of the character their sister charges with taking her virginity. Marquez portrays men in this rural setting as characters with double standards since they can go to brothels and engage in pre-marital sex, but when it comes to someone in their families they are ready to kill! Men's pride and manliness is shown through their visit to Maria Cervantes's brothel, referred to as the "house of mercies," and it is also shown through how fast the brother rush to kill Santiago Nasar without evidence! Their honor depends on how fast they execute the murder of whom they think is the culprit.