abriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, is set in a small Columbian village during the late 1900s. Through the interactive orals based on this story that addressed the social conventions and family expectations of a Latin American society, I was able to better understand the specific roles the characters played in the novel.

Living in a western society where virginity is no longer idolized, it was difficult for me to rationalize the mistreatment of Angela by Bayardo and her own family members. However, through the orals, I learnt that a Columbian society upheld the value of chastity. The characters in the novel unconsciously accepted these societal values as their own. It was society’s belief that a woman must enter …show more content…
Angela broke this sacred code, by sleeping with another man before she was married, and by doing so, she brought shame to the entire family. This newfound understanding greatly enhanced my ability to comprehend the actions of Pedro and Pablo Vicario. In order to cohere to the teachings of society, the men had to adopt an aura of machismo. Therefore, as the men of the house, it was the twins’ responsibility to avenge their family honor even if it meant killing their friend, Santiago Nassar. This revelation cleared some of the confusion I had on as to why Pedro and Pablo chose to broadcast their plan to murder Santiago across town. At first I thought it was so that they could fortify the reverence of virginity among the community seeing as there would be dire consequences for those who didn’t uphold it. However, after the orals, it can be inferred that their homicidal ideation ensued from societal obligations, reflecting the idea of machismo rather than a genuine desire to kill Santiago. Hence, it is possible they publicly revealed details of their murder plot in the hopes that someone would stop them. Unfortunately, no one intervened because like the twins, they too were the products of