Theme Of Machismo In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Machismo is strong or aggressive masculine pride. It is used throughout Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The theme of machismo is shown as a moral compass for the society in the novel by replacing faith and creating expectations to the characters to prove their masculinity. An example of this is when the Vicario brothers go and kill Santiago to gain their family reputation back. The men were more superior than the women and had more control over the households, while the women were just allowed to cleaned and cooked.
The characters in the novel are religious, yet they justify murder if it were for the honor. Instead, of them following Christian values, they value honor, wealth, power, and their reputation. Even though murder is a sin; everyone, …show more content…
As the Vicario brothers murder Santiago because "it was a matter of honor" (Márquez 56). Honor ties in with machismo because in order for a man to be machismo they must have honor. Bayardo San Román gains his honor through his wealth while the Vicario brothers had to murder Santiago to gain their honor back because of their sister Angela. Also, honor is a social expectation and is mandatory to a have and if a man did not have honor then they would have been …show more content…
This occurs when the women are treated as the second class that is lower than the men. “ I just realized just how alone we women are in the world! (Márquez 72) This is important because in the novel, women are only seen as wives and mothers and have little to no part in their society. Another effect is the double standards the have. For example, men gets praised for having sex while women are shunned for losing their virginity before marriage. In fact when Angela was sent back home “[she] thought [her mother] was going to kill [her] as she was beating her.” (Márquez 52) This is important because it shows that Angela’s mother was ashamed that her daughter did not stay pure until marriage. In addition, the men had all the power over the women and would treat them as they were objects and not humans. For example, when Santiago tells Divina Flor that “ the time has come for [her] to be tamed.” (Márquez 8) Which means that Santiago feels that he can control Divina like she is an animal. Overall, the women in the society in the novel are seen as servants,prostitutes,wives and mothers who are voiceless. In addition, they give up their dreams and education or jobs, to be a full time mother for their children and devotes their life to their family and always putting their priorities last. Gabriel García Márquez uses Chronicle of a Death Foretold to criticize and condemn the cult of machismo by