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Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of the story “Chronicles of a death foretold” by Grabriel Marquez explains the events that led to the death of Santiago Nasar. In particular, the excerpt that stands out is “Don’t be a savage”, he told her. “Make believe it was a human being.” (6) These words were said by Santiago when he observed the brutal manner in which Victoria Gomez was disemboweling the rabbits. Coming from him, those words were a sharp contrast to his behavior, as he engaged in behavior that was considered brutal. First, he used to hunt down defenseless animals for sport, and it seems hypocritical to be concerned about how the dead animals were being prepared. Secondly, he was ruthless in his treatment of other people. For instance, he always touched Victoria’s daughter inappropriately without caring that she might be affected by his behavior towards her. Additionally, he deflowered Angela Vicario, which led to her humiliation when she was shunned by her husband after discovering that she was not a virgin. This shows that he had double standards, as he did not mind hurting other people, but he expected everyone else to be more considerate.

Santiago’s words can be interpreted to describe his death. He recoiled at the way in which the rabbits were being handled, not knowing that his death was awaiting him. His words seem strangely prophetic, as he would be brutally murdered the same day. He admonishes the maid and implores her to regard the rabbits as human beings, meaning that he feels that they should be handled in a more humane manner. In a similar turn of events, he would be killed in the same manner as the rabbits, as the brothers to the shunned bride were waiting to kill him as revenge for the humiliation he caused their sister. As such, his words seem to foretell his approaching death.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of the story “Chronicles of death foretold” describes how Bayarn San Roman came into the town, and the events hat led to his wedding with Angela Vicarion. Bayarn tells the landlady of the bachelor’s boardinghouse “When I wake up…remind me that I am going to marry her.” He only says this after he catches a fleeting glance of Angela, and discovers that she has a good name. He makes a decision to marry her based on her name and first impression, as he had not got a chance to meet her or know more about her. This shows that Bayarn was used to getting his way, as he did not consider Angela’s wishes when making a decision to marry her. The few words uttered by Bayarn give insight into his character and nature, as he sets out to get his heart’s desires with no regard for the people who might be affected by his actions.

Bayarn’s attitude of getting his way is displayed later when he asks Angela to sell him a music box that was intended to be raffled off. Upon her refusal, he bought all the raffle tickets just so that he could claim the music box. In another instance, Bayarn asks Angela about her favorite house, and she answered that the widower’s house was the prettiest. He went ahead to entice the widower to sell it, although the widower had told Bayarn that it held sentimental value. Despite that, he was persistent about buying the house, and the widower ended up selling it, a factor that resulted in his death two months later. The above events show that Bayarn was not used to rejection. He did not consider that someone might reject his advances, and when that happened, he tried all manners of tricks to ensure that he got his way. The fact that he wanted to marry Angela means that he regarded her as an object to be acquired the same way he was used to acquiring other objects that had roused his interest.