Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Narrative Structure Essay

In Chronicle of a Death Foretold there is a progression to the narrative structure. There is also a chronology to it although there are times where there are flashbacks or mention of things that happen later but other than that it pretty much follows the order in which the events happen. The first part of the narrative structure would be the morning of Santiago’s death. The morning is pretty much mentioned and elaborated on in the first chapter. Several characters are also mentioned in this chapter. One of the main characters in the chapter is Santiago’s mother, Placida Linero. She talks a lot about Santiago’s dreams the night before and his actions the morning he was killed. She and Santiago didn’t see this coming at all as expressed when …show more content…
The chapter opens with the trial from three years later, but then it goes into the details of the day he was killed. The first recount from the narrator was that early morning that he spent with his brother Luis, Cristo and Santiago. By this chapter everyone knows his death is coming, but still no one does anything about it. The narrator also recounts the Vicario brother’s actions from the time they started plotting the death and waiting for Santiago at Chlotilde’s place, “Vicario twins were sitting and waiting there” (53), all the way until they met him at his door and slaughtered him like they did to the pigs in the slaughter house. The Vicario brothers didn’t want to kill anybody, but it was mandatory to restore the family honor they were loyal to the family and did what they had …show more content…
It opens with the feelings of everyone in the town and how they felt guilty for not telling Santiago and how they felt they had played a part in the murder. There was an investigative magistrate that was sent to the town to the overwhelming number of people that wanted to testify against themselves because they felt they played a part in the murder. The chapter also includes how Santiago eventually found out he was going to be killed. He was with Flor Miquel at the time of the murder. Flora’s mom was in the house before the murder and unfortunately Divina told Placida that Santiago was already in for the night and he wasn’t so Placida locks him out and he is then killed. Even though Santiago is stabbed a bunch he was still able to walk to his neighbor’s home where he then fell dead. This chapter is written more in a past tense and it clearly lays out the death with vivid imagery on the event of Santiago’s death as expressed when the novella says, “holding his hanging intestines in his hands” (119). In conclusion, chapters one, two and three are similar in the style the author uses. They are all written in the past and are the events leading up to the death of Santiago. They all have the format of an interview between the narrator and several of the characters. With chapter four it is written more in present tense and is written in the years after Santiago’s death. Chapter 5 started in present talking about everyone’s