Chronicle of a death foretold: characters
The novels of the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez usually have a network of characters. Just look at the number of generations that appear in One Hundred Years of Solitude, there are even editions that have the genealogical tree of the main family so that the reader can follow the story. However, there are other novels that, although they do not have a large number of characters, do develop in depth those who bring the story to life. In this case, in this lesson from a Professor we bring you a recount of the characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez published in 1981.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Plot Summary
Before delving into the characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold, it is worth briefly discussing the central plot and characteristic style of Chronicle of a Death Foretold .
Santiago Nasar, a carefree young man, wakes up around 6 in the morning without knowing that this will be the last day of his life . And although all the people know that they are planning his murder, the news fails to reach his hands to allow him an escape and save his life.
The night before, the wedding between Ángela Vicario and Bayardo San Román would have been celebrated. However, the latter would have rejected her for not being a virgin. With the breakup and disappointment of Ángela’s family, her twin brothers, Pedro and Pablo Vicario, begin to follow in Santiago’s footsteps. Well, after finding her beaten in the house, she confesses that the culprit of her love breakup is Santiago .
The style of García Márquez
This is a short book in which García Márquez introduces us to a style that flirts between journalism and literature . With previous novels that made the famous “magical realism” famous , in this writing we find an effort of journalistic minutiae typical of the chronicle .
By using a narrator who is involved in the story we feel even more credibility to what we are reading. It is a text full of data and information (almost as if it were showing us old newspaper clippings or police reports); it is loaded with verisimilitude from a creative and intriguing prose.
As is common in his story, it is accompanied by a neat game with adjectives and a wide network of characters that, although many of them do not fulfill major functions, fit within the great framework of the story. To have an understanding of the book, reading a summary can help to understand more deeply the place and role of each character.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold main characters
We begin by talking about the main characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. They are as follows:
- Narrator: his name is Iván Baeza and he is a close friend of the protagonist. Although it may seem strange, this novel is written in the first person and this narrator fulfills the role of character at the same time.
- Santiago Nasar: he is a young man and he is the one who stars in the story. He lived on a farm with his father, a place he had inherited on the death of his father. It is pointed out as the culprit of having taken Angela Vicario’s virginity. Reason why her husband rejects her on their wedding night.
- Angela Vicario: the youngest daughter of Poncio Vicario, she arranged her marriage with Bayardo San Román and was returned to her family that same day for not being a virgin.
- Pedro and Pablo Vicario: they are the twin brothers of Ángela Vicario. They are in charge of committing the crime after their sister assured them that the culprit that the wedding had not taken place was Santiago Nasar.
- Bayardo San Román: with a hidden origin, he arrives six months before the crime in the town. Conquer Angela and her family through gifts and financial exaggerations. At the moment of rejecting his fiancée, he escapes. He would return more than 30 years later to meet Angela again.
Secondary Characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Although we present in the previous section the main characters of Chronicle of a Death Foretold , we find others who play a secondary role and are crucial for the entire work to maintain its tension and meaning:
- Plácida Linero: mother of Santiago Nasar.
- Victoria Guzmán and Divina Flor: mother and daughter who work as a cook on the Santiago y Plácida farm.
- Poncio Vicario and Pura Vicario: father and mother of Angela, Pedro and Pablo.
- The bishop: he plans to arrive in town on the day the murder is committed.
- Colonel Lázaro Aponte: he is the one who seizes the knives from the twins before they commit the crime.
- Luis Enrique: brother of the narrator.
- Cristo Bedoya: friend of Santiago Nasar.
- Flora Miguel: Santiago Nasar’s girlfriend.
In addition to them, there are other characters from Chronicle of an Announced Death who play minor roles in the play, such as Mercedes Barcha and María Alejandrina Cervantes who are neighbors of the town, as well as Faustino Santos who is a butcher or Polo Carrillo, owner of the power plant . Although everything has a narrative and game function within the story, the previous list highlights the characters that face the plot and its development.
