Topic > Nonlinear Time Structure in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold"

After being awakened from a sweet sleep in a brothel waiting to meet the bishop later that day, Santiago Nasar meets his untimely demise; His death is the product of a pre-existing indifference rooted in their Caribbean society. In Gabriel Garcia Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the death of Santiago Nasar highlights his greater purpose in which he states the idea that society is inactive towards the issues present within it. It is this inactive nature of society that leads to Nasar's tragic death. Nasar's death is the consequence of the issue that Marquez seeks to express in his purpose and message, which is what makes his death significant. By telling the story of Santiago Nasar's murder in a non-linear manner, Márquez allows himself to fully develop and shape not only the events that occur in the novel, but also the meaning and meaning of Santiago Nasar's death without having to be aware of or focused on rigorous progression of time. Through the use of a nonlinear time structure, Marquez exemplifies the meaning of Nasar's death through examples of societal inaction ranging from many years before the accident to 27 years after the accident. With this freedom to develop the story without time constraints, Márquez is able to order the events that happen in the novel according to their importance and relevance to the central event, namely the death and murder of Santiago Nasar, and the its purpose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Marquez begins the novel with the events that occurred on the morning of Santiago's murder, starting with his waking moments and ending with the arrival of the bishop, moments before Santiago's death. From the opening sentence of the novel, the reader is thrown into the thick of the action without any indication of who Santiago Nasar is or why he was murdered; the reader only knows that Santiago Nasar would be killed. The moment when Santiago first wakes up and begins to prepare for the bishop's arrival is where the reader gets their first glimpse into Santiago's lifestyle and the reality in which the novel is set. In the time he prepares for the bishop's arrival, Santiago is characterized as a religiously based individual with predatory tendencies and the society: also religiously based. The importance of the arrival of the bishop, in the case of Santiago Nasar, is shown by the case in which Nasar dresses in “special” clothes for the arrival of the bishop (Marquez 5). The same meaning attributed to the bishop's arrival extends to the citizens themselves when they are shown crowded around the dock with “well-fattened roosters” as gifts for the bishop (16). These two cases both create the atmosphere upon which the rest of the book is set; defines the reality in which the perception of the problems present in their society is fundamentally based on the religious values ​​that are part of the culture of the imaginary city. It is with this information that the reader now considers the social implications of Santiago's murder. By first describing the current events of the novel, Márquez lays the foundation upon which the rest of the book is built. This foundation then allows the reader to fully grasp the meaning of Santiago's death by the end of the novel. With this foundation that has been laid with the current events of the novel, Márquez includes a description of the past. This description provides context for current events for the sole purpose of fully explaining the circumstances of Santiago's murder. The wedding of Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Roman is the eventdeterminant of the past that helps the reader understand the conditions that led to Santiago's death. After learning that Angela was not a virgin at the time of the marriage, Bayardo accompanies Angela to the door of her house. From there, Angela stays with her mother who beats her for revealing her impurity to Bayardo, which leads her two brothers, Pablo and Pedro Vicario, to try to figure out who had taken Angela's virginity. Angela, who “took the time to say the name” of her rapist, comes to the conclusion that it was Santiago Nasar who deflowered her (47). Considering that Márquez has already established Santiago's predatory nature in the novel's present, the reader can now use that information to understand the Vicario Brothers' reasoning in killing Santiago. With the information given in the present of the novel, the reader can deduce that the Vicario brothers killed Santiago because they thought it reasonable that Santiago was fully capable of taking Angela's virginity, given Santiago's predatory nature that had been established in the present. -day of the novel. The reader is now taken into the future to understand the effect of Santiago's murder. He uses events that happen in the future to show the reader the effect of Santiago's murder on their society. One of the main events that occurs in the future of the novel is the autopsy of Santiago Nasar. Within this scene, we have a now deceased Santiago Nasar on an operating table with Colonel Aponte and Father Amador in charge of performing the autopsy. Despite their lack of experience in this particular medical field, Colonel Aponte and Father Amador manage to successfully perform the autopsy. It is from this autopsy that the reader learns how much the community was affected by Santiago's death and the community was affected by Santiago's death. While the community's effect on Santiago is shown through his seven "fatal" wounds and his decaying form, the effect of Santiago's death on the community is shown through the "one common anxiety" that surrounded the city (75 , 98). This common anxiety did not only affect those who knew Santiago personally, but the entire country, as it affected the “daily conduct” and “many linear habits” of the villagers (98). With the autopsy scene, Márquez establishes the idea that society's actions towards Santiago and their perception of Santiago had a direct effect on Santiago as an individual. The direct effect mentioned is his body rotting and decomposing after being seen in the public eye in his dead state. The people of the city were forever changed by his death; His death was more than just dying. His death brought out all the pre-existing problems within their society. His death was the catalyst for a supposed change that could reshape the culture and understanding of their small Caribbean town. With the present events (the morning of Santiago's murder and the bishop's arrival) now fully developed with the events of the past and future, Marquez takes us back to those moments before Santiago's murder, which he describes in great detail. Márquez does this to fulfill the purpose of the novel. Now that the reader has been given all the necessary information and important details about how Santiago's death occurred and the effects of that murder, his actual death is introduced. By piecing together the puzzle pieces of the past and future to create a larger picture of the present, the reader is now able to fully understand the scope and circumstances in which Santiago's murder occurred. The actual murder of Santiago Nasar reveals the meaning behind the action since his death.