The Theme Of Fate In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold By Gabriel García Márquez
Santiago Nasar had a life that no one wishes for; his life can be described as catastrophic. Imagine knowing everyone knew you were about to be murdered yet no one did the most to save your life, Santiago can relate. The inevitability of his death is what makes us think his death was simply out of fate.
From the very beginning of the story the narrator mentions a quote which could suggest Santiago’s death was due to fate: “On the upper floor, where the customs offices had been before, he built two large bedrooms and five cubbyholes for the many children he intended having, and he constructed a wooden balcony that overlooked the almond trees on the square, where Placida Linero would sit on March afternoons to console herself for her solitude”. This quote makes it seem like Santiago’s death was predestined before he was even born.
There are so many coincidences throughout the story that shows us that it cannot just be by chance that Santiago met his tragic end, but by fate. The first clue we get as to Santiago’s death being inevitable is in chapter 3 of the story. The narrator mentions, they “had done much more than could be imagined to have someone to stop them from killing them, and they had failed, ” this is showing the twin brothers really didn’t want to kill Santiago. It looks like to me that they wanted to be stopped but no one actually went out of their way to stop the twins. It is fate that made it so that no one stopped the Vicario brothers, not even officer Leandro Pornoy stopped them! The narrator states “he’d settled so many fights with friends the night before that he was in no hurry for another one, ” how ironic!.
The various ways the author presents the theme of fate is through super ironic and strange coincidences. What are the odds of everyone knowing you are about to get murdered yet don’t do anything to try to save you? Santiago’s tragic ending really screams fate, or was his death all apart of God’s plans? Is this what fate is? The society in the story have close ties to the catholic religion. An important belief in Catholicism is that a woman’s virginity should be preserved until marriage. The bishop was also a big role in this story which further proves the strong role of religion. Furthermore, Santiago’s family might not believe that the way he died was due to fate, because according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Augustine says (City of God I): "If anyone calls the influence or the power of God by the name of Fate, let him keep his opinion, but mend his speech. " Fate, in its popular meaning, is something opposed to chance, in so far as the latter term implies a cause acting according to no fixed laws. Basically, it is saying that not all of our fate is predetermined by God, since God’s decrees are free. Also, we can say that the circumstances in which Santiago was murdered in relate closely to Christs story. Santiago was murdered for someone else’s evil act. In other words, he was a sacrifice for the town’s sins.
Santiago Nasar should not have been killed in my opinion, but ultimately the way he died was his own fate. Instead of murdering Santiago he should have been forced to marry Angela. This would have been a more humane way of dealing with their beliefs rather than murdering the guy! I also believe the Vicario brothers should have done some investigating first to make sure Angela wasn’t lying. The way the twins handled things was inhumane and surely against their religion. Ultimately, all of this falls with the theme of fate; the reason the sequence of events happened the way they did is because this was Santiago’s fate to die the way he did. In addition, the story makes it clear that Santiago’s death was inevitable. From the start of the story we read the authors opening phrase, “On the day they were going to kill him, ” then we read about Santiago’s strange dreams that apparently were an omen to his death. To solidify this point, Jeffrey M. Lilburn writes: “The structure of the narrative seemingly supports this by giving the impression that Santiago's death was inevitable. His imminent demise is announced on the very first page of the novel and is announced several times again throughout the chronicle. Even the Vicario brothers are said to think of the murder "as if it had already happened. "
We also have the coincidences in the story that happen to Santiago which result in the way he died. Then we read about Dr. Dionisio Iguaran stating that Santiago was bound to die anyway because of his liver condition; "That is to say, " he told me, "he had only a few years of life left to him in any case”. It turns out Santiago might of died from having a bad liver either way! The murder of Santiago Nasar had the whole town and his family shaken up, and left a traumatic effect on them. The townspeople are seen still talking about the murder years later; by trying to justify themselves for not alerting Santiago that he was going to die. Some people thought he knew already and some didn’t care that he was going to be killed, his fate was simply his fate. The consequences of his death took a toll on the Vicario’s and on Placida Linero. The twins went to jail for 3 years, Angela was sent away, and Placida spent her life blaming herself for Santiago’s death. All of these consequences could have turned out different if Santiago lived. Angela could have possibly married Santiago or they both could’ve just lived their lives in sin. If Santiago was able to justify himself maybe we would even find out if what Angela is saying is true! Angela Vicario’s life decisions also seemed inevitable, her fate is what ruined her life. Angela Vicario is forced into marriage with Bayardo San Roman by her family, as if she couldn’t make her own decisions. She marries Bayardo and on the night of their wedding she decides whether she should drunk him and pretend to be a virgin or if she should be honest with him. She decides to be honest with and he returns her to her mother, who then beats her immediately. All of Angela’s decisions are fate to me, she could have just faked it to Bayardo, but instead her fate was to be honest to him, and suffer. These occurrences begin the “death” of Angela and the actual reason of Santiago’s murder. From this point on in the story marks the start of Angela’s misery, she is left without honor, a family, and maybe even guilt.
We still don’t know if it true that Santiago was to blame for her not being a virgin. Angela seemed to say his name thinking that he would be safe anyway since her brothers would never dare to go up against him. Anyhow, her mother sends her to another town hoping she’d “die” in life, because she was basically a shame to the family. The narrator states, “She had gone beyond what was possible to make Angela Vicario die in life”. Angela didn’t obey her mother’s plans though. According to Mario Rendon’s writings, “Angela had nullified her mother's plans by not only not hiding her misfortune, but, on the contrary, by talking about it to everyone. There was only one item that she would never talk about, and that was who the real perpetrator of her damage had been”. Sadly, it was the fate of Santiago Nasar to have his name said by Angela.
Angela is seen to be making her life as an embroiderer in a town called Guarija. She is successful at it and seems to be content even after everything that went on. Towards the ending of the story we find out Angela realizes she is in love with Bayardo. When she thought of her mother punishing her she would cry thinking about it because she realized that she’s in love with Bayardo. Angela said she would write him a letter weekly for over half a lifetime. One day he arrives where she is and stays with her; her fate was ultimately to end up with him. The way the author presents the theme of fate is through lots of coincidences. What were the possibilities that Santiago Nasar would choose to go through the door the cousins were waiting at for him at? Santiago was never seen using that door! This coincidence is what shows us readers that Santiago’s death really was unescapable. Santiago choosing that door is what sealed his fate. Nevertheless, the whole town knew he was about to be murdered, yet no one cared enough to actually tell him (although there was a few characters that did but that wasn’t enough)! It was fate that no one bothered to notify Santiago. Also, what a coincidence that someone left an anonymous letter under the door warning him yet he didn’t see it. In addition, Colonel Aponte (mayor) was the person that actually did something but didn’t do enough to save Santiago. He “took away their knives and sent them to sleep, ” later claiming that “no one is arrested just on suspicion”. This further proves to us that Santiago’s death was inevitable, and shows us that it was fate. If he would’ve arrested them they wouldn’t have murdered Santiago. The narrator then reveals, “Colonel Aponte was at peach with his soul. ” This emphasizes fate, because the person that could have had an influence on the story, didn’t. On the other hand, the narrator gives us a huge hint that Santiago was going to die no matter what. Marquez states, “There had never been a death more foretold”. The author probably wants us to think that everything was not a coincidence, but rather fate, everything happened due to fate. Life for Santiago Nasar has seemed predestined from the start. In the beginning of the story we read about Santiago’s father building a balcony in the house for Placida to sit on the day she becomes lonesome.
The author is fundamentally implying from the start that Santiago was going to die before his mother. Furthermore, the numerous coincidences that occur throughout the story show us that it cannot just be by chance the way Santiago met his dreadful ending. The fact that really no one went out of their way to successfully stop the Vicario brothers is upsetting, but this was expected. The various twists of fate along with all that happened throughout the story demonstrates to us that Santiago Nasar’s destiny was death, his fate was indeed inevitable. However, how would his life be if his fate was the other way around?
