Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Chapter 4: Analysis Questions

While reading the chapter, annotate for the common elements of craft and then answer each of
the following questions in at least 3-4 concise sentences.

DO NOT RESEARCH THESE ONLINE!

CHALLENGE YOUR INTELLECT AND DO THE WORK YOURSELF!

First, carefully read pgs. 72-77 and annotate heavily concerning the details of Nasar’s autopsy.
Then answer the following two questions:

1. Examine three passages that reflect on the church during the autopsy, providing the quote,
citation, and brief commentary as to Marquez’s main intent:

A. During the autopsy, the Church is represented through father Armador. Even though he
has no knowledge of how to do an autopsy, he decides to try it anyway. After he
performed the autopsy the narrator states, “They gave us back a completely different
body. Half of the cranium had been destroyed by the trepanation, and the lady-killer face
that death had preserved ended up having lost its identity” (76). This shows how the
church takes away people’s identity since Santiago’s identity was lost. It also shows how
the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church because they are supposed to nurture the mind and
act as teachers. Instead, in this instance, the priest had destroyed the mind of Santiago and
was going against the teaching that he tries to get other people to follow. It shows how
the church does not follow their own rules even though they would outcast someone if
they were to go against the teaching. In other words, they do not practice what they
preach.

B. The church is also represented in a negative light a second time during the autopsy. This
is demonstrates when it is revealed that “The priest had pulled out the sliced-up intestines
by the roots, but in the end he did not know whta to do with them, and he gave them an
angry blessing and threw them in the garbage”(76). This chows the hypocrisy of the
Catholic Church because the church preaches that the dead should be honored. In this
image given to us by the narrator, the priest is definitly not honoring the body. He
literally throws the intenstines in the trash bin. He treats Santiago’s body like he is a
peice of trash and does not honor him how the church tells them to. Also, he gives them
an angry blessing. Why would he be angry, Santiago had done nothing to him. Preist are
supposed to be reverent and peaceful, and in this image Father Armador does not follow
this.

C. As if it couldn’t get worse, Father Armador, representing the Catholic Church, dishonors
the body of Santiago yet another time. This is demonstrated when the narrator reveals
that “the empty shell, stuffed with rags and quick-lime and sewed up crudely with coarse
twine and baling needles, was on the point of falling apart” (77). At this point the body is
so messed up, you would think that Father Armador would just stop, because all he is
 doing is making it worse. But he then decides to stuff teh body with rags. Instead of
honoring Santiago, he is treating him like a peice of trash. He also decides to sew him up
with coarse twine. Anyone with a brain would use their common sense to realize that
coarse twine would rip the skin apart. But not Father Armador, he thinks that it would be
better. To make it worse he didn’t even have to cut open Santiago in the first place, they
could determine what happened just by looking at him. This paints the Catholic church in
a horrible light because he is literally destroying Santiago’s body more than the Vicario
twins did, and he didn’t even have a reason to.

2. Examine three passages that offer further character development for Santiago Nasar during the
course of the autopsy, providing the quote, citation, and brief commentary:

A. During the autopsy, Santiago is given Characterization although he is already dead. When
searching throughout the body Father Armador finds “in the midst of the morass of
gastric contents appeared a medal of gold the Santiago Nasar had swallowed at the age of
four”(75). This gave further characterization to Santiago because it shows that at a young
age he was already consuming wealth. It demonstrates that Santiago was a man that
wanted to be wealthy from a young age. This shows how even in death Santiago still held
wealth, and this goes back to jealousy as a partial reason of why he was killed. This can
be seen as him being destined to be successful, and that was taken away in his death.

B. Santiago is given characterization once again when the narrator describes that his body
“looked like a stigma of a crucified Christ”(75). This gives him characterization because
he was religious. This can also characterize him as being innocent, because just as Christ
was crucified unjustly, so was Santiago. The reader can also interpret this as the narrator
trying to say that he was pure just as christ was. If he was a stigma, that means that he
may have held qualities that Christ were. This offers character developement because he
was seen as a good-looking person and during this autopsy he was unrecognizable. He
was transformed from being someone people were jealous of, to someone that people
pitied.

C. Another instance where Santiago’s character development shows through is when the
Father states that “Santiago Nasar had a superior intelligence and a brilliant future”(76).
This shows his character development because he transformed from someone who was
going to be successful, to someone who has no more future. He had such purpose in life
and now he is nothing. It shows his development from a boy because when he was
younger he literally ate a medal, so since he had superior intelligence, it shows how he
grew over the years into someone that people may have admired

Next, annotate the second paragraph on pg. 77 for a Global Issue and make a connection in your
notes to TTTC.

3. Analyze the narrator’s dream at the top of pg. 78 and make an attempt at deciphering its
meaning. Please research any unknown symbols and use them in your interpretation, as they will
undoubtedly be important:
 - I think that this dream displays the narrators want to enjoy something. Since popcorn
Kernals symbolize getting ready to enjoy yourself, it can show that the narrator wants a
sexual encounter to come his way. I beleive this because the popcorn kernals fall into the
woman brassiere. This shows how he is expecting to enjoy himself in that way. I think
that since the fingers of the woman are anxious it makes it seem like she does not really
want to go through with this act. This displays falconry because she is trained to know
what men want and she feels as if she has to fullfill those needs. I think that since she
stopped and slipped out of his life, it shows how women at the time were starting to back
away from their social obligations. This could also be the Narrator dreaming about what
he thinks actually happened between Angela and Santiago. Maybe Angela actually
pursued Santiago and he was willing to be with her, but then she could have gotten scared
and walked away just like the lady in the dream. This could mean that the narrator
beleives that he is innocent.

4. Hopefully you have already begun picking up on the motif of ​smell​ in this chapter. Starting
half way down pg. 78 and continuing for the next few pages, analyze the motif and how/why it is
being used by the author. Use quotes to support your analysis and connect it to a main theme.
- Throughout this chapter the motif of smell is utilized by the author to illustrate the guilt
of those that took part in his death or those he trained ot love him. This is seen when
Maria Cervantes can’t be with the narrator because he “smells[s] of him”(78). Him being
Santiago. She feels guilty for being with someone when someone she was trained to love
had just died. She wanted to respect him. This is seen again when the Vicario twins are in
jail and “nomatter how much [they] scrubbed with soap and rags, [they] could not get rid
of the smell”(78). This demostrates their guilt because they could not escape, their
actions. They could not sleep or eat because the smell would stick with them. This relates
to one of the major themes of the destructive effects of guilt through the Vicario brothers
and their inability to sleep and eat due to the fact that could not stop smelling blood. As
long as they felt guilty they would smell the blood and could not escape.

Then, heavily annotate pg. 81 and make further connections to Global Issues.

5. Analyze the outcome of the Vicario family from pages 82-83 and make an argument as to
whether justice was served in this instance, as well as if the family was able to maintain a sense
of “honor” from the murder of Santiago.
- No, the family was not able to maintain a sense of honor for killimg Santiago. Although
they were culturally resposible to try to maintain the hinir, they failed greatly. This is
seen because all of the children in their family were outcasted. For example, although
Santiago was killed to get Angela’s honor back, she was still beaten and forced to leave
and never come back. She was outcasted. The same thing happened to the Vicario Twins.
They killed to maintain the honor of the family, and they ended up getting outcasted as
well.Overall, the family turned into a joke as a result of Santiago’s death. The sad part is,
a lot of people did not even think that he was guilty so the family may have lost all of
their honor for nothing.
6. Discuss the two instances of Magical Realism on pg. 84 and how they contribute to the story
at this point. Use direct quotes to support your analysis:

A. An instant of magical realism is when Xius says that “he’d seen a phosphorescent bird
fluttering over his former home, and thought that it was the soul of his wife”(84). This is
magical realism because it has aspects of reality, but there are some magical elements in
this sentence such as the facts that he thought he saw the spirit of his wife. This
contributes to the story because it shows a display of falconry. Falconry can be seen here
because even in death Xius’s wife still returns to their house and to him. It illustrates how
the male always expects the woman to return to him. You would think that in detah his
wife would be free of him, but she is still there because of him and always will be untill
his death.

B. Another element of magical realism can be seen when people walk into Bayardo’s
trashed place and describe it as looking like “they were underwater”(84). This is magical
realism because everything about the situation is real, eacept for the fact that things
looked like they were underwater. This creates a magical element in the story of Bayardo.
They use the magical element to really capture what the house looked like. This relates to
the story at this point because earlier in the novel when Bayardo and Angela were
consumating their marriage, Santiago talks about the pirates that are underwater because
their ship sunk. This can relate to Bayardo because it is like he has sunken and lost
everything, just as those pirates had.

7. Examine the irony in the middle paragraph of pg. 85, using a quote(s) for support, and discuss
what the narrator might be hinting at:
- The irony in this paragraph is that Bayardo says that “nobody fucks with me,” not even
his father, but his father still messes with him by sending his mother and sisters (85). This
is ironic because Bayardo did not want the big spectacle that would happen if his father
were to come, but instead he got and even bigger audience when his siters and mother
pulled up “wailing loudly with high pitched shrieks”(85). It is ironic that Bayardo’s father
was still able to mess with him even though he, himself did not go to pick him up. The
narrator may be hinting at the fact that Bayardo has always been dominated by someone,
whether it be his mother, sisters, or father. When he came to the town alone it seemed as
if he was hiding something and maybe this is it. This could explain why he also returned
to Angela as the Falcon adn not the other way around. It shows that he is usually the
submissive one in the relationship.

Closely examine pg. 86 for metaphorical elements of falconry and annotate accordingly. Then,
heavily annotate pg. 87 for the outcome of Xius’ house, including magical realism, symbolism,
irony, and character development.

8. After reading to the end of the chapter, review pgs. 88-95 and discuss the three MOST
significant instances of character development of Angela Vicario during her exile. Use direct
quotes to support each point of analysis.
 A. Over the years Angela had developed into a woman. According to the Narrator “, she was
so mature and witty that it was difficult to believe that she was the same person” (89).
She had changed so much, not like the terrified little girl she was. She had grown into her
own person and had created a life for herself. She had accepted her mistakes and the fact
that she was outcasted from her family. This shows how because of her exile, she was
forced to mature quicker and greater than any other woman. Since she did not have a
husband she had to take care of herself and that probably contributed to her maturity.
Overall, she had developed from a fearful, childish girl to a mature, witty woman hat had
no fear or disappointment in who she had become.

B. Angela had also developed into a longing for Bayardo. This is seen when she reveals that
“Bayardo San Roman had been in her life forever from the moment he’d brought her
back home”(91). This displays how her development into loving Bayardo San Roman.
When she was first forced to marry him, she was totally against it and even sang about
being single. However, now she longs to be with him and is so desperate that she send
letters over in over, in the hopes that he is receiving and reading them. Overall, she has
developed from an uncertain little girl, who was against being with Bayardo, to a
desperate woman who longs for his attention and acceptance.

C. Over her years in life, Angela had developed into a woman who trained to return back to
her husband. It seems as if every year they spent apart leads her to “She wrote a weekly
letter for half a lifetime”(93). Although, when she was younger all she wanted to be was
free from her roles as a woman, she can’t help but to conform to these roles as an adult.
This shows her developement throughout the novel because at first she rejected the social
norms as a woman, but now that she is older she has finally conformed to these
expectations. As she has grown she has finally understood who she needs to be as a
woman, and that is a wife to her husband. She no longer fihgts against the social norms
and accepts, the she has one duty. To be there for her husband.

9. Examine the investigation of the narrator concerning Santiago’s supposed guilt on pgs. 89-90
and briefly summarize three points that he makes:

A. When going to visit Angela Vicario, the narrator questions who really took her Virginity.
He comes up with his first argument saying that “they belonged to two completely
different worlds. No one had ever seen them together”(89). He questions her story
because she had never really caught Santiago’s attention. He thought of her as a child
still. Since they were never seen together teh Narrator questions the truthfulness of her
story. They did not even hang out in the same circle. ALso he was rich while she was
poor so they spent their time doing different things than him. In this argument the
narrator argues that since they were never seen together and they never spent time
together, that Santiago could not have possibly been the one to take her innocence.

B. The second argument that the Narrator made is that all of his relationships were made
known to the public. The Narrator reveals this when he writes, “No relationship came to
be known except for the conventional one he maintained with Flora Miguel, and the
 stormy ine with Maria Alejandra Cervantes”(90). Santiago had no shame and did not try
to hide his relationships. He did not care if people knew and just did his own thing. The
Narrator argues that if Santiago had actually taken Angela’s virginity, that someone
would know about it. He would not have kept it a secret and someone else would have
known of this encounter. Santiago also seemed to only have relationships with older
women and Angela was very young so that is kind of questionable.

C. The last argument that the Narrator makes is that “Angela Vicario was protecting
someone who really loved her and she had chosen Santiago Nasar’s name because she
thought her brothers would never dare go up against him”(90). This would make sense
because if she loved someone and that person loved her, then she would do her best to
protect him. The Narrator argues that Santiago could not have taken her virginity and that
she just said his name because he was the first man she though of. The Narrator tries to
get the name of the actual culprit but she dodges every advancement to learn of the true
person. Of course, if she was trying to protect someone, she would not say his name now
that she’s older and has gotten away with it for this many years. She didn’t even has to
suffer any consequences. Nobody blamed her.

10. Finally, analyze the concluding passages of the chapter and discuss the correlating motifs of
letters​ and ​falconry.​ What is the author doing/saying here? How does it connect to a larger
theme(s) of the novel? Use a quote for each motif in support of your analysis. ​This should be a
well-developed response.
- The motif of letters correlates to falconry because just as the letters Angela sent to
Bayardo found their way back to her, so do many characters in the novel, when thinking
about Santiago. The motif of letter is seen throughout the end of Chapter four multiple
times, but the situation that correlates most to falconry is when Bayardo returns back with
all of the letters that Angela had sent him. He comes back with everything that he has and
carries the letters “arranged by date in bundles tied with colored ribbons” (95). The motif
of letters correlates to falconry in this passage because Angela sent the letters because she
was trained to always want Bayardo, and it seems as if the letters from Angela were also
able to show Bayardo that she was ready to be his perfect wife, so he decided to return.
An example of falconry in this chapter is when Maria Alejandra Cervantes was unable to
spend the night with the narrator because he “smell[ed] of [Santiago]”(78). She was
trained to care for Santiago and was unable to disrespect him even though he was dead
and she did not really have any obligation to him. She was trained lke a falcon to always
return to him even though all they had together was an affair. She respected him and was
submissive to him. Through these correlating motifs the author is showing how both men
and women can be the falcon oin the relationship. This is displayed throguh Angela and
Bayardo, where Bayardo was the falcon because he returned to Angela. The woman can
also be perceived as the falcon because as displayed through Maria Cervantez, she would
always return and respect Santiago even in death. This connects to the theme that is
created through the epigraph of where men try to train women to always return back to
them by comparing it to falconry where the person trains the bird to bring something
back. It connects to this because in both instances the man tried to train the women to
come back, but only Santiago was successful, and Bayardo had the opposite happen to
him.