A modern plot technique which Gabriel Marquez utilizes in his novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, is the "Rashomon Effect". This literary device makes reference to the 1950s’ film Rashomon, which used a distinct plot device, “involving various characters providing the alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident” (Wikipedia). Use of that device allows the author to present divergent points of view of the same event. The story leads its reader to ask, “Who is true to blame for the victim's death?” But, no definitive answer is provided. Instead, the story reveals each character's motives to commit the murder. Any one of them could have done it; not one is truly innocent, emphasizing a postmodernist rejection
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As mentioned before, machismo was the key male expectation for males, and maintaining control in your family was essential to your masculinity. They would fight and even kill to preserve this balance. This is why they believed that murdering Santiago Nasar, even if he was innocent, was justified. Both to avenge their sister’s loss of face and show their dominance as grown-up men. The brothers were a little hesitant to go through with the murder when it was time for the killing, since both knew it was illegal and unjust, but regaining honour, is their society, is more important than following the law. After the murder of Nasar, Pablo Vicario stated, “ Before God and before men… It was a matter of honor” (49). The narrator in the book states that “Angela Vicario was protecting someone who really loved her and had chosen Santiago Nasar’s name because she thought her brother’s would never dare go up against him” (90). The brothers needed to prove to themselves and to the community that they were real men. Their perspective of the whole event is that their actions were necessary to appear they have control over this situation and their family. The Vicario brothers are symbolic characters in this book, they reflect the point of view of men in the community and how male expectations would view the death of Santiago Nasar as a sign of
As mentioned before, machismo was the key male expectation for males, and maintaining control in your family was essential to your masculinity. They would fight and even kill to preserve this balance. This is why they believed that murdering Santiago Nasar, even if he was innocent, was justified. Both to avenge their sister’s loss of face and show their dominance as grown-up men. The brothers were a little hesitant to go through with the murder when it was time for the killing, since both knew it was illegal and unjust, but regaining honour, is their society, is more important than following the law. After the murder of Nasar, Pablo Vicario stated, “ Before God and before men… It was a matter of honor” (49). The narrator in the book states that “Angela Vicario was protecting someone who really loved her and had chosen Santiago Nasar’s name because she thought her brother’s would never dare go up against him” (90). The brothers needed to prove to themselves and to the community that they were real men. Their perspective of the whole event is that their actions were necessary to appear they have control over this situation and their family. The Vicario brothers are symbolic characters in this book, they reflect the point of view of men in the community and how male expectations would view the death of Santiago Nasar as a sign of