Murder of Santiago Nasar in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Essay Example

Since Santiago was responsible for Angela’s loss of virginity, his death would be expected to be caused by a member or members of the Vicario family; more precisely, Santiago Nasar was killed by two brothers, Pablo and Pedro, from the Vicario family.  Santiago Nasar was going to be killed according to Marquez (67). The two brothers from the Vicario family had vowed to avenge their sister’s virginity since it robbed their family of honor. A bishop’s visit to the town threw the events of the day into disarray and shifted the attention from the foretold murder.

The bishop decided, at the last minute, to stay on the boat on which he had travelled rather than get in town. Santiago Nasar was a member of the ruling class, together with his friends’ family. The family of the narrator in the story was close friends with Santiago’s family, which gave the narrator the expectation that before the bishop left the town; he would have personally paid them a visit. Everyone, for sometime forgets about the saga that involved the return of Angela to her home after the wedding.

The Vicario brothers were going to kill Santiago. Except few people, almost all the dwellers of the town including the priest and the mayor were aware that two identical twin brothers, Pablo and Pedro Vicario, were in a mission to find Santiago Nasar with the intention of killing him (Marquez 163). Santiago Nasar remained unaware of the plot by Vicario brothers to kill him until the time they accosted and attacked him. The manner in which the story unfolds is inverted, hence does not give very clear evidence of the murder at first.

The story unfolds backwards rather than forwards. The possible reasons for the murder, the circumstances surrounding the murder and the motivation behind it are traced. The evidence that the Vicario brothers were going to kill Santiago is built from the importance they give to accomplishing their revenge mission. Angela Vicario was married by Bayardo San Roman in a flamboyant wedding ceremony. Barely five hours later, Bayardo returned her to her parents. The consequences of not being a virgin were potentially dangerous, a fact that Angela was very much aware.

She, in fact, wanted to stop the marriage knowing very well that there existed no love between them. The Vicarious family, were so much impressed by Bayardo’s wealth and were, therefore, opposed to the decision by their daughter to stop the marriage. Her brothers were particularly not pleased by the incident and had vowed to kill whoever had deflowered their sister. Bayardo did not love Angela and neither did she love him. Rather, Bayardo was excited about the idea of marrying a beautiful woman.

Bayardo San Roman used the wedding ceremony as an excuse to show off the power and wealth he wielded. According to the narrator’s comment, Bayardo San Roman could marry any woman he wanted to. His wealth and power came from the fact that he had been born of a decorated hero, the only one to defeat Colonel Aureliano Buendia, in a civil war fought in the nineteenth century. Lack of love may not have been a reason good enough to stop the marriage between Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Roman. However, the fact that Angela had lost her virginity to somebody other than her proud husband, Bayardo, was a reason enough to make her return to