Transcript Betrayal in Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Betrayal and Loyalty in Chronicle
of a Death Foretold
By Rosie Samuel
Betrayal
• There are various examples of betrayal in
Chronicle of a Death foretold, with some far more
obvious than others. To fully understand the
importance of the acts of betrayal that take place,
the setting and time of the novella is crucial. In
today's society, we may not imagine some of the
acts of betrayal in this tale to be considered a ‘big
deal’. However, this is very different within the
novella. Other factors like honour were hugely
important, so one may commit acts of betrayal or
loyalty to keep certain honour.
• If we look at the tale in chronological order, the first act
of betrayal we witness is Angela telling her brothers
the person who took her virginity was Santiago Nasar.
We as readers are led to believe he is innocent, so
Angela is betraying him, as she knows it will most likely
result in his death, due to honour. She is also betraying
her brothers slightly, as she is lying to them.
• It could also be said that Angela betrayed Bayardo, as
she agreed to marry him even though she was aware
she was not a virgin, meaning he wouldn’t want her.
• On a broader scale, it can be said that the
whole of the community betrays Santiago
Nasar. Despite everyone worrying about him,
no one directly warns him until it’s too late. If
the members of the community worry about
him like they claim, someone would have
warned him straight away, whether they
thought he knew or not. This betrayal
contradicts the idea of the close, loyal
community we assume there is.
Loyalty
• As well as various acts of betrayal, there are also
several acts of loyalty within the novella.
• One of the acts of loyalty we witness is Angela’s
mother helping her to try and deceive her husband-tobe about her virginity. Angela’s mother is aware of the
consequences if Angela is discovered, and puts aside
her own feelings to help Angela.
• Another act of loyalty is Cristo searching for Santiago to
warn him of the Vicario twins plans. He appears to be
the only character that goes out of his way to help
Santiago, and not just ‘gossip’ about it.
• The single most important act of loyalty in the
story is Angela’s twin brothers murdering
Santiago Nasar. This is where we really realise the
importance of the historical context. At the time,
honour was very important – far more important
than in today's society. The only way to restore
Angela’s honour is to murder Santiago, so it
seems the obvious choice for the twins. It proves
their loyalty to Angela, though we cannot be sure
how much of this is their love for their sister, or
for the family's reputation.
• The fact that there is so much betrayal as well
as loyalty could be Gabriel Garcia Marquez
pointing out issues with society. As well as the
acts of betrayal committed, Marquez makes
other negative references to the society and
culture of the time such as the uncaring
Bishop and that money is the most important
thing.