“He Was The One” : Uncovering Santiago Nasar’s Guilt
A typical honor killing, under sexual means, is done to the girl, however, in Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Marquez, an abnormality occurred and the knife took a different path than usual. The novel follows an upside down pyramid style and blends elements of journalism to display the question: was Santiago Nasar guilty of deflowering Angela Vicario? While the answer could be considered ambiguous, the majority of the evidence pointed towards his guilt rather than his innocence. While it is not directly stated, observing his behavior and actions show that he was more than just a suspect. Through the way he treated Divina Flor - the daughter of their house maid, how he was …show more content…
The narrator compares Santiago to his father in stating that he too went about “... Nipping the bud of any wayward virgin who began showing up in those woods, but in town no other relationship ever came to be known except for the conventional one… with Flora Miguel, and the stormy one with María Alejandrina Cervantes” (90). This demonstrates that he has no problem taking virginities and it really meant nothing to him when he did so. While men are praised for being sexual beings, women are shamed. However, many girls find it important and take it upon themselves to have sexual experience. Angela asking Santiago for assistance with that would be a very plausible conclusion due to his highly sexual yet casual nature - it was almost a guaranteed yes for whatever girl would ask, even an engaged one. Someone who has views that point toward his innocence might say that evidence from the day of his death showed otherwise. Santiago Nasar was described by anyone who saw him that day as looking “... A little sleepy but in a good mood” (4). Argumentatively, his seemingly mild temper that day along with his general confusion leading up to his brutal death proved his innocence as he had no clue why he deserved to be killed. But is being seemingly naïve the same as being innocent of a crime? Not quite in this
A typical honor killing, under sexual means, is done to the girl, however, in Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Marquez, an abnormality occurred and the knife took a different path than usual. The novel follows an upside down pyramid style and blends elements of journalism to display the question: was Santiago Nasar guilty of deflowering Angela Vicario? While the answer could be considered ambiguous, the majority of the evidence pointed towards his guilt rather than his innocence. While it is not directly stated, observing his behavior and actions show that he was more than just a suspect. Through the way he treated Divina Flor - the daughter of their house maid, how he was …show more content…
The narrator compares Santiago to his father in stating that he too went about “... Nipping the bud of any wayward virgin who began showing up in those woods, but in town no other relationship ever came to be known except for the conventional one… with Flora Miguel, and the stormy one with María Alejandrina Cervantes” (90). This demonstrates that he has no problem taking virginities and it really meant nothing to him when he did so. While men are praised for being sexual beings, women are shamed. However, many girls find it important and take it upon themselves to have sexual experience. Angela asking Santiago for assistance with that would be a very plausible conclusion due to his highly sexual yet casual nature - it was almost a guaranteed yes for whatever girl would ask, even an engaged one. Someone who has views that point toward his innocence might say that evidence from the day of his death showed otherwise. Santiago Nasar was described by anyone who saw him that day as looking “... A little sleepy but in a good mood” (4). Argumentatively, his seemingly mild temper that day along with his general confusion leading up to his brutal death proved his innocence as he had no clue why he deserved to be killed. But is being seemingly naïve the same as being innocent of a crime? Not quite in this