Santiago Nasar Innocence

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The novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel José García Márquez explores the confusion, surrealism and ludicrousness surrounding the completely preventable murder of Santiago Nasar. Santiago is accused by Angela Vicario, a bride rejected by her new husband, of taking her virginity before her wedding night. Santiago is then murdered by Angela's brothers, the twins Pedro and Pablo Vicario, to avenge their sister's honor. Yet throughout the novel it is uncertain whether Santiago Nasar was indeed guilty of this crime, as the details in the text could point to both his innocence and culpability. By Márquez 's design, the convoluted narrative is permeated, in the circumstances and outcomes of the murder, with deep absurdity and contradictory …show more content…
"[Angela] only took the time necessary to say the name. She looked for it in the shadows, she found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names from this world and the other, and she nailed it to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has always been written."(pg. 47) She never incriminates anyone else, even on post-factum interrogation. Her assertion has some merit - Santiago is described as "a sparrow hawk … nipping the bud of any wayward virgin…" (pg. 90), and molests his young servant, Divina Flor, hence implying a strong sexuality in his nature. However it is also stated that "Santiago Nasar was too haughty to have noticed [Angela]"(pg. 90); if he never cared for her, why would he take her virginity? The reader may notice that Angela picked Santiago's name from many - did she do so simply to give an answer, not because Santiago was guilty? Why was the action detailed as pinning a butterfly who's "sentence has always been written" - was Santiago's death pre-ordained because no one would doubt her assertion due to his sexually predatory inclinations? The narrator considers that perhaps "Angela Vicario was protecting someone who really loved her and she had chosen Santiago Nasar's name because …show more content…
Márquez includes a cold and precise description of the many blows dealt to Santiago, as related by the priest Father Amador - a religious figure, of all people, is forced to conduct an autopsy that he later describes was "as if we killed him all over again"(pg. 72). Moreover, Father Amador ends up ripping out Santiago's guts and, upon not finding what else to do with them, throws them in the trash, which is not a very honorable way of treating someone's remains. Márquez intentionally develops irrationality once again to give his narrative an all the more hideous tinge and perplex the audience, but he also takes care to point out that a stab wound through Santiago's had was "like a stigma of the crucified Christ." (pg. 75) It's a clear allusion to his innocence, as Christ was innocent wherein he was killed upon the cross. Moreover after the murder, the Vicario twins suffer greatly: Santiago's scent cannot be washed from their hands, and they cannot sleep, as they would only dream of killing Santiago all over again. The torment of the Vicario brothers is perceived by the audience as penance to a horrible deed. The murder, allegedly committed to re-gain honor by Colombian standards, cannot be considered a crime unless Santiago had never deflowered Angela, and his supposed innocence would logically induce such suffering as the twins endure, thus
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