• El Toro High

• ENGLISH 0265

• mattiasfranklin2

Mattias Franklin Franklin 1 Mrs. Farmer English 3 Honors 28 November 2017 Religion’s Role in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel Garcia Marquez in the novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, uses religion as a tool to frame the story of the book, and many other components within it. Marquez reveals this often through the hypocrisy and disregard for the Catholic ideals displayed by the characters, but often also uses their dependence on its ideals to dictate their actions as well. The author’s purpose is to expose the truth behind the a book, that at first glimpse may appear to mimic Catholic beliefs, but on further inspection does not hold to the foundational ideas of the Bible. Marquez utilizes religion to control and shape the events, actions, characters, and culture of the story. Religion is what makes Santiago’s death inevitable. The plot of Chronicle revolves around religion and it is what sways the direction of the events to lead to the “death foretold”. It begins with Angela Vicario when she is returned from her husband, Bayardo, after discovering that she is not a virgin. The virginity of the bride is a pillar to the religious customs of this time, and the fact that it is broken is what ultimately influences Pablo and Pedro to find and kill the man that defiled their sister. Furthermore, the place that they had planned to kill Santiago was at the dock to meet the bishop, because it would be an open place and they knew that he would be there. Once again, it is religion that shifts the path of the story when Clotilde Armenta says “for the love of God....Leave him for later, if only out of respect for his grace the bishop”. This allows for the story to unfold in many different events, including Santiago being able to be warned.