Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Analysis

Nelson Mandela once said, “Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression” (“Mandela”). Oppression is what segregates the gender roles of society, especially in Central America. Women are forced to work around the house by cleaning dishes, folding and sewing clothes, and making food. Men are given the privilege to be the “chosen ones” to make all crucial household decisions. This biased behavior is learned from society during childhood; shaming women while empowering men is perceived as normal. The prejudice environment is what led the members of the community to be bystanders in countless crimes without saying a word. In the novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author
The core of the problem delves deep into the taught characteristics from society. For a vast amount of characters such as Angela Vicario, the societal norms push her to the breaking point thus driving her to be embedded within a constant anxious state during the time of her hesitant marriage. Angela was said to have already lost her virginity with another man, Santaigo, at an early age and when the time came to get married to her new husband, Bayardo, she was scared to death. When getting married there is a tradition after the husband and wife are together on their wedding night in which the blood of the virginity is shown on the sheets. The next morning the husband hangs the blood stained sheets out in front of the house to show everyone the wife is pure and is true to her word. Angela knew it would be revealed on her wedding she is not a virgin and didn’t know what to do because her family honor was at stake. Angela grew with panic and depressingly said “The only thing I prayed to God for was to give me the courage to kill myself” (Marquez 37). If she wasn’t going to follow through with marriage, her family would be infuriated because they need the money and a raised title to their name. She was pressured into the marriage with Bayardo due to his high status and wealth without any thoughts of love. From a male’s perspective, if he was the one to cut the engagement off, the consequences wouldn’t be as
One act of reprimandation used by Angela’s mother is beating her kids to make sure they don’t make the same mistake twice. When Angela was taken back to her family home by her new husband for having her virginity taken before him, Angela’s mother beat her senselessly. Angela said, “The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me” (Marquez 46). Proving the punishment for humiliating your family is severe. Her mother never gave Angela a chance to explain herself as to how or even why she lost her virginity at such a young age. Her mother was enraged to instantly know her daughter had ruined their family name. After the beating, she scolded Angela and never looked her in the eyes again. Her mother’s expectation of Angela is biased due to the fact she never took into account Angela being a naïve, young girl and unaware of what the consequences entailed if your virginity could be revealed on your wedding day. Purísima del Carmen, Angela’s mother said, “Any man will be happy with them because they’ve been raised to suffer” (Marquez 31). This shows why she didn’t care what happened to her daughter before marriage. Women suffering through constant oppression is something Purísima believes molds girls into strong individuals. The source of the problem can be