Chronical of a Death Foretold Satire
Somehow I consider The Chronicle of a Death Foretold a satire, criticizing the carelessness of the whole society with a sober, objective tone. The use of animal imagery to some extent not only foreshadows the impending tragedy but also degrades human nature into animal instincts.
Firstly, considering the title of the novel, especially ¡§death¡¨ and ¡§foretold¡¨, the title itself is very contradictory. How can a death be foretold? So far as human basic instincts to survival are concerned, if a death can be foretold, one usually will try every possible way to prevent it from happening. Therefore, ¡§death¡¨ and ¡§foretold¡¨ are like two parallel lines, which should never meet each other in the natural cycle. However, by matching these two contradictory words together, Marquez is suggesting the sickness of the society, caused by the excessive emphasis on honor and human¡¦s hidden desire to be a ¡§looker,¡¨ and the inability of the authoritarian forces, represented by government and religion.
The death of Santiago can¡¦t only be attributed to single person such as the Vicario twins, Angela, Baynardo or Placida. To be more accurate, his death is the conspiracy of the crowd and a sacrifice under the traditional encomium to family honor. The Vicario twins have to kill Santiago in order to maintain their family honor, but obviously while they are spreading the news about killing Santiago around the town, they in fact expect someone to stop them rather than just watch them conducting the killing. In other words, they are not so determined. And if somebody with power can exactly take thorough action or many ¡§nobody¡¨ really take it seriously, get together to stop the twins, the tragedy is preventable. Nevertheless, people with power such as Father Armenta and Colonel Lazaro, one feels this affair in not his business, but the authority¡¦s and because he doesn¡¦t take it seriously, he later forgets it while the other is too pride of his ability in settling down the feud so
Firstly, considering the title of the novel, especially ¡§death¡¨ and ¡§foretold¡¨, the title itself is very contradictory. How can a death be foretold? So far as human basic instincts to survival are concerned, if a death can be foretold, one usually will try every possible way to prevent it from happening. Therefore, ¡§death¡¨ and ¡§foretold¡¨ are like two parallel lines, which should never meet each other in the natural cycle. However, by matching these two contradictory words together, Marquez is suggesting the sickness of the society, caused by the excessive emphasis on honor and human¡¦s hidden desire to be a ¡§looker,¡¨ and the inability of the authoritarian forces, represented by government and religion.
The death of Santiago can¡¦t only be attributed to single person such as the Vicario twins, Angela, Baynardo or Placida. To be more accurate, his death is the conspiracy of the crowd and a sacrifice under the traditional encomium to family honor. The Vicario twins have to kill Santiago in order to maintain their family honor, but obviously while they are spreading the news about killing Santiago around the town, they in fact expect someone to stop them rather than just watch them conducting the killing. In other words, they are not so determined. And if somebody with power can exactly take thorough action or many ¡§nobody¡¨ really take it seriously, get together to stop the twins, the tragedy is preventable. Nevertheless, people with power such as Father Armenta and Colonel Lazaro, one feels this affair in not his business, but the authority¡¦s and because he doesn¡¦t take it seriously, he later forgets it while the other is too pride of his ability in settling down the feud so