Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, published in 1983, is deeply rooted in Latin American culture in, specifically highlighting the presence of social status and machismo. Being a central part of the work, these two aspects of Latin American culture are emphasized through the symbolism of knives. Gabriel Garcia Marquez includes this symbol to challenge traditional ideologies of social status and machismo in Latin American culture. The reader comes to a greater knowledge of Latin American culture through this symbol and the social hierarchy of Latin America as well as an understanding of the prevalence of machismo throughout the work. Marquez provides his viewpoints on these aspects of culture via a satirical social
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Although Pedro and Pablo justify their actions against Santiago through machismo, the repetition of the knife continuously coming out clean hints towards Santiago’s innocence despite Angela’s allegations. This scene allows readers to acknowledge the possible purity of Santiago Nasar and question the validity of Angela’s accusation. Marquez masterfully includes this scene to once more present his voice on both machismo and social status in Latin America. Through the symbolism of the knife coming out clean Marquez enforces his satirical comments on the overemphasis of machismo. The Vicario twins exaggerate the meanings of machismo and end up killing Santiago Nasar only to ironically not even have “a drop of blood” (Marquez, 118) surface despite the repeated stabbings. Additionally, Marquez exploits this scene to indicate that the perception of the upper class by the poor may not be entirely warranted. Despite expectations to respect and uphold the caste system of Latin America, many members of the lower class distrust and negatively view the wealthy. However, through this scene Marquez clues that these negative views may be ill-founded. Marquez provides this scene to prove the innocence of the wealthy and refute negative
Although Pedro and Pablo justify their actions against Santiago through machismo, the repetition of the knife continuously coming out clean hints towards Santiago’s innocence despite Angela’s allegations. This scene allows readers to acknowledge the possible purity of Santiago Nasar and question the validity of Angela’s accusation. Marquez masterfully includes this scene to once more present his voice on both machismo and social status in Latin America. Through the symbolism of the knife coming out clean Marquez enforces his satirical comments on the overemphasis of machismo. The Vicario twins exaggerate the meanings of machismo and end up killing Santiago Nasar only to ironically not even have “a drop of blood” (Marquez, 118) surface despite the repeated stabbings. Additionally, Marquez exploits this scene to indicate that the perception of the upper class by the poor may not be entirely warranted. Despite expectations to respect and uphold the caste system of Latin America, many members of the lower class distrust and negatively view the wealthy. However, through this scene Marquez clues that these negative views may be ill-founded. Marquez provides this scene to prove the innocence of the wealthy and refute negative