Characters In The Novel Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Name:
Institution:
Course:
Date:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
Character Victimization
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez has victimized some characters to bring out several themes in his novel. The author points out some regressive cultural practices and laxity in leadership that costs the life of Santiago. This essay describes how social and cultural forces victimize some characters and the lessons the reader can take from the tragic events that ensue.
The patriarchal society has victimized women and reduced them to be objects used for pleasure by men. Machismo and male chauvinism has caused communities to regress and oppress women. Angela is returned to her home the night of her wedding for not being pure before marriage. The society does not care much about the person who deflowered her and even Angela’s brothers do not avenge her because she was betrayed by another man, but to reclaim their family honor. Pablo Vicario said. "It was a matter of honour" (pg.29. She gets to be ridiculed and embarrassed for losing her virginity while the society does not have a punitive measure for the man who deflowered her. Even her mother turns against her and beats her up for losing her virginity. “She was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me," Angela told me (pg. 28). The man purported to have deflowered her was in a brothel unaware of the pain she put Angela through. If the society was fair, then Angela was not the only one responsible for losing her virginity.
Some people use others to escape poverty or get to a higher social status they crave. Some families ‘sell’ their daughters to the wealthy as means to get rich. Angela’s mother pushes her daughter to get married to Bayardo for her own selfish interests. Often Angela complains that she does not love Bayardo but her mother wouldn’t hear of it. “It was Angela Vicario who didn't want to marry him (pg.20)” However, her mother insists that she can learn to love him later after she is married. “Love can be learned too (pg.20)”. Purisima del Carmen is not concerned about her daughter’s feelings to the man she was to marry., but she expects to alleviate her social status by being a mother-in-law to a wealth ruling family. Angela is unhappy that Bayardo doesn’t seem keen on courting her but marrying her. “Roman hadn't even tried to court her.” Purisima del Carmen only cares about her interests and willing to sacrifice her daughter to achieve her objectives. Erendira (1983) by Gabriel García Márquez and directed by Ruy Guerra, is also a victim of a get-rich-quick scheme where young women are used by their families to earn a fortune against their will. Erendira is prostituted by her grandmother to ‘pay up’ for causing the fire that burnt her house down. Unfortunately, the society is in support of such a heinous scheme by the grandmother.
Racial prejudice also leads to victimization in the novel. Minorities living in foreign communities are often victims of racism. Wealthy young Arab man living in low income Christi...