Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez rejects traditional crime fiction tropes to expose the problematic power imbalance within the sexes in Colombian society. The power imbalance refers to the way in which women and young girls become commodities to the family and forced to conform to specific male centric ideals. This imbalance is evident through three main sub-arguments. The first argument positions virginity as a patriarchal construct to subdue women into believing that their worth is based on conforming to normative sexual behaviour. The second argument exposes marriage as an institution for female suppression, where the male has dominance. The final argument condemns female conformity and the sacrifices that women make
…show more content…
This patriarchal, Colombian society was preoccupied by a woman 's virginity. The Vicario brothers actions were deemed excusable by general society as Nasar did the Vicario family a great dishonour through having sexual contact with their most eligible daughter. “So he put the knife in his hand and dragged him off almost by force in search of their sister 'slost honour.” (pg. 62) The brothers preoccupation with their sisters virginity is inherently sexist as they have not considered their sisters right to be sexually intimate with whom ever she chooses and choose to believe their sister as women are perceived as being honest and pure. By doing this, Nasar had no way to defend himself and was subsequently murdered.
Based on the storyline, the usual crime fiction question of 'whodunnit? ' is not centralised on who killed Santiago Nasar, but rather who took Angela Vicario 's virginity. By making the preoccupation of a woman 's worth through her sexual conduct over the death of a community …show more content…
Firstly, the Father is always expected to be the one to make the money 'to maintain the honour of the house ', even when he is disabled. This societal expectation of him to be the sole earner places pressure on the entire household, as well as on him. If this societal expectation was not in place, the wife, who was once a school teacher could be the one to earn the family money. However, this is not a social norm and hence the family will have to suffer due to this.
It is also evident within the quote that Purisima del Carmen has lost her self identity to be labelled as a wife and mother. Due to this, the community disregarded her of any importance and were only aware of her existence through her marriage bound maternal role. This loss of identity means that she would then impose the views of her new found maternal role onto her children, so then they would have to conform to the gender roles which she
This patriarchal, Colombian society was preoccupied by a woman 's virginity. The Vicario brothers actions were deemed excusable by general society as Nasar did the Vicario family a great dishonour through having sexual contact with their most eligible daughter. “So he put the knife in his hand and dragged him off almost by force in search of their sister 'slost honour.” (pg. 62) The brothers preoccupation with their sisters virginity is inherently sexist as they have not considered their sisters right to be sexually intimate with whom ever she chooses and choose to believe their sister as women are perceived as being honest and pure. By doing this, Nasar had no way to defend himself and was subsequently murdered.
Based on the storyline, the usual crime fiction question of 'whodunnit? ' is not centralised on who killed Santiago Nasar, but rather who took Angela Vicario 's virginity. By making the preoccupation of a woman 's worth through her sexual conduct over the death of a community …show more content…
Firstly, the Father is always expected to be the one to make the money 'to maintain the honour of the house ', even when he is disabled. This societal expectation of him to be the sole earner places pressure on the entire household, as well as on him. If this societal expectation was not in place, the wife, who was once a school teacher could be the one to earn the family money. However, this is not a social norm and hence the family will have to suffer due to this.
It is also evident within the quote that Purisima del Carmen has lost her self identity to be labelled as a wife and mother. Due to this, the community disregarded her of any importance and were only aware of her existence through her marriage bound maternal role. This loss of identity means that she would then impose the views of her new found maternal role onto her children, so then they would have to conform to the gender roles which she