Community, Responsibility, and Guilt

Community, Responsibility, and Guilt The brisk Chronicle of a termination Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of capital of Chile Nasars death. More consequentially it tells the story of what set and note mean to a community and to what extent one mickle go to maintain that archetype. A central theme in the unexampled is how a society can pressurize its people to act and birth in a certain way. They feel bound by a standard that if not kept, then it will tally shame to their family. In the novel, after her husband returns Angela Vicario to her family on their wedding night, she admits that it is Nasar that had aken her virginity.Her brothers, Pablo and Pedro, viscously gain Nasar to regain their sisters and familys honor. In this society a man or woman with away honor is an pariah to the community and to the culture. Al more or less everyone in the community knew what was going to happen simply no one did anything approximately it. Everyone in the communit y had excuses to wherefore they did nobody to help. Excuses stating that they didnt believe it would really happen or that they skilful didnt know what to do. all(prenominal) person seemed to Just hope that someone else would do it someone else would tolerate hem, and didnt want to take responsibility.The novel reflects how a community can gip individuals within its society causation detrimental affects to two the general domain and the specific individuals involved. The novel looks into the Latin American culture and how its cultural norms and the enormousness of honor effects the entire community. The principles that obligates the Vicario family and the community conducts the murder of a most likely innocent Santiago Nasar and burdens Pedro and Pablo with the duty to defend the family honor.In this culture, honor of a womans purity does not only belong to the female individually notwithstanding the honor belongs to the family as well. To not be pure can bring shame on the family name in the eyes of the entire community. So much so that keeping ones honor is more important than been ingenuous and keeping Godly values. This double standard makes it okay for a women to sell their husband into thinking that theyre virgins. We see this in the novel, page thirty-eight, where Angela is taught old wives tricks to invent her virginity on her wedding night and told that it is ommon that women have to do this.The community consists of both Latin culture and Arab culture ranging for different social classes. However, as verbalize in the lecture notes, both cultures connect through religion. Both the Latin and Arab cultures in the novel ar Catholic. The Catholic religion is very important to all the members of the community. Cultural beliefs, traditions, and rituals form the Catholic Church influence the roles of the family. The novel presents a break deplete in religion. A break down in religion causes a break down in family values. This is why almost a ouble standard is seen with the communitys values.In the book, the Bishop never comes ashore to give his blessing, acting as if he is to good to stand with the people of the community and seems to Just be going through the motions. Another example is how Father Amador is told about the plan to murder Santiago scarce he never tries to infract it blaming it on being busy and not knowing what to do. If a attraction of the church church do it either? The novel stress the impressiveness of the Catholic Church and practicing church tradition, but at the same prison term there is stress to put all that aside or the saki of honor.To defend ones honor, it is okay to lie and murder as long as it is Just. It is even okay to make excuses for guilt. No one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible to all that he hadnt (Marquez, p. 20). Everyone had an excuse for why they didnt get involved. They mat they didnt have to do anything because someon e else would do it. Another double standard is how men having premarital sex at the brothel or prostitution house seems to be acceptable in the community but a woman having sexual relations efore marriage is what is wrong.The community is collectively thinking. No one is standing up as an individual. So then when everyone decides to beat silent the effects of their actions intern breaks down the community responsibility to its members causing havoc for umteen of the characters and the public as a whole. Having honor and shipment to the family and community is major theme of the Chronicle of a Death Foretold. social responsibility is different for men and women. The boys were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get get hitched with (p. 31).The community emphasizes a machismo culture. The women are taught to have suffered, be pure and be compliant to men. Men are taught to show and prove their masculinity and to be dominating. Society fails to care for and victimi zes Santiago Nasar. However, I feel that the other characters are somewhat victims as well. Santiago, most likely innocent, is victimized because he is slaughtered for deflowering Angela Vicario. Pedro and Pablo are victims because they are bound by honor and duty to regain their familys honor by killing the man believed to have taken it. So he ut the knife in his hand and dragged him off almost by force in search of their sisters lost honor. Theres no way out of this, he told him. Its as if it had already happened (Marquez p. 61). This quote shows how the Vicario brothers are ruled by their cultural beliefs and feel that they have to do the deadly deed to be respected. Other examples are the hypocritical gender differences, which makes Angela a victim and Bayardo is a victim due to the cultural expectation of having a pure wife and if she is not then he has to return her and face the embarrassment.This victimization of many of the characters is because they are all bound by the ru les of their communitys culture leaving them with no other outcome. Santiago is easily victimized because he was never told that he was going to be killed. He was a sitting duck asleep of the hidden predators waiting to slaughter him. This victimization was because no one in the community took responsibility and in the end their society felt that the murder was Just due to family duty and the regaining of ones honor.The structure of the story is told by an anonymous vote counter who was there at he time of the scandal and returns years later to recollect information of how the murder of Santiago Nasar came to be. The narrator was apart of the community in the novel the endorser is told that he is a friend of Santiago Nasar and many of the other characters and we are told who his family members are as well. The narrator to is guilty like the rest of the community for not winning charge and helping to city block the murder of Nasar. He never mentions himself pickings part in the responsibility to save Santiago or stop the Vicario brothers.He portrays the community as being ausing a double standard in the midst of genders. Men are masculine and dominate and women are submissive and taught to beguile the man. Overall he shows how the communitys responsibility for each other falls apart. The reader finds out information on Santiagds death and how it came about through a series of ways directly, indirectly, through associations, and hearing it talked about. In the novel, time Jumps from historic to future throughout the five chapters and we are given different accounts of the events from non-homogeneous people in the community reconstructing the details of Santiagds murder.This adds more emotional effects in understanding the community obligations that lead to the murderous deed, but it alike leaves the readers with a lot of questions and assumptions. Chronicle of a Death Foretold tells the story of a commun. This novel underscores how religious beliefs a nd cultures can nurture a warped mother wit of honor and values. In the novel the characters believe they are doing the business thing, but in actuality they go against the values of their religion that they claim is so important. award is above all and put above their very sense of right and wrong.