Oedipus and The vicario twins
Jonathan Smith
Writing and Literature Oedipus and the twins
There are many themes in the book, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” which have been used throughout time. Many of the themes were used back in the time period of the Greeks and Romans. A two of the main themes used are Machismo, the masculinity and pride of a man, and Fate, which is when something is going to happen and nothing can be done about it. These two themes mainly apply to Pablo and Pedro Vicario, however they also relate to a few of the other characters. This paper will cover the similarities of situation and fate between the Vicario twins and Oedipus. Both the twins and Oedipus had to prove themselves but for different reasons. The twins needed to regain their sister’s honor and Oedipus needed to save the city as the king and savior. Angela Vicario—Pedro and Pablo’s sister—was returned to their house after she was married to Bayardo San Roman because she was not pure. A similarity can be drawn here between Oedipus and Jocasta because they both are commiting incest which is really impure and Jocasta is obviously not a pure virgin because she gave birth to Oedipus, however the meanings are different. Angela lost her virginity before marriage which made her un-pure and Oedipus committed a terrible act which caused him to endulge in incest. In order for the twins to restore Angela’s honor they needed to perform a “horrible duty that’s fallen upon them” as Clotilde Armenta said in the book” Chronicles of a Death Foretold” (Marquez p.57). The horrible duty Clotilde was referring to was that the twins would have to kill Santiago Nasar, a wealthy man whom happened to be friends with the Vicario twins. According to Angela, Santiago Nasar took her virginity, which in her culture related to her honor. The only way to restore Angela’s honor was to have Santiago killed. This is similar to the horrible duty Oedipus has to perform to save his city. Oedipus has to get rid of the
Writing and Literature Oedipus and the twins
There are many themes in the book, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” which have been used throughout time. Many of the themes were used back in the time period of the Greeks and Romans. A two of the main themes used are Machismo, the masculinity and pride of a man, and Fate, which is when something is going to happen and nothing can be done about it. These two themes mainly apply to Pablo and Pedro Vicario, however they also relate to a few of the other characters. This paper will cover the similarities of situation and fate between the Vicario twins and Oedipus. Both the twins and Oedipus had to prove themselves but for different reasons. The twins needed to regain their sister’s honor and Oedipus needed to save the city as the king and savior. Angela Vicario—Pedro and Pablo’s sister—was returned to their house after she was married to Bayardo San Roman because she was not pure. A similarity can be drawn here between Oedipus and Jocasta because they both are commiting incest which is really impure and Jocasta is obviously not a pure virgin because she gave birth to Oedipus, however the meanings are different. Angela lost her virginity before marriage which made her un-pure and Oedipus committed a terrible act which caused him to endulge in incest. In order for the twins to restore Angela’s honor they needed to perform a “horrible duty that’s fallen upon them” as Clotilde Armenta said in the book” Chronicles of a Death Foretold” (Marquez p.57). The horrible duty Clotilde was referring to was that the twins would have to kill Santiago Nasar, a wealthy man whom happened to be friends with the Vicario twins. According to Angela, Santiago Nasar took her virginity, which in her culture related to her honor. The only way to restore Angela’s honor was to have Santiago killed. This is similar to the horrible duty Oedipus has to perform to save his city. Oedipus has to get rid of the