Violence and Brutality in Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Abstract

Acts of violence in any society are predominantly seen as disruptions in the ordinary ebb of everyday existence- as deviations from the norm. This essay, however, argues that violence often emanates from the structures of society and it is only through the alteration of these structures that we can truly and effectively counter the various violences and brutalities we see around us. To this end, this paper shall look at Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 1981 novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold to delineate on Marquez’s attempt to show violence and brutality as intrinsic elements of Columbian society. Marquez shows how violence has been internalised and institutionalised in the novella’s town by highlighting the fault lines of the novella’s society which is deeply entrenched in brutality, patriarchal codes of machismo and honour and a cult of violence. The essay also looks at the tragic dramatic mode called pundonor which is central to understanding the vitiated codes of honour germane to the Columbian national psyche. The article ultimately concludes by looking at how in the overwhelming existence of violence and brutality, relations of and sustenance provide by love are splintered.