Santiago Nasar Murder

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Unseen Forces
Can it be possible for a whole town to be guilty of murder? While some readers believe that only the people directly involved in the killing of a person can be found guilty, after reading the fictional novella, The Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, this student believes that knowledge of a murder without an effort to stop it can cause an entire town to be guilty as well. The author creates an elaborate story in which the whole town knows of an approaching murder, yet it is still executed without flaw. Santiago Nasar becomes the victim of this murder after sleeping with and taking her family’s honor along with the virginity of engaged Angela Vicario, the younger sister of the twin brothers Pablo and Pedro …show more content…
Though the town and its people were not a direct part of the murder, almost everyone took part in it, whether they knew it or not. It was well known through the town that Santiago was to be murdered, “many of those who were on the docks knew that they [the twins] were going to kill Santiago Nasar”(19). Because of their lack of effort to attempt to even stop the brothers or to help Santiago in any way, all the members of the town that were aware of the brothers’ plan to kill Santiago should be considered guilty, and after he was dead, they realized this. There was a “smell of guilt” throughout the town that could not go unnoticed by even a single person(78). Everyone knew that they had played a part in this dreadful murder. Even the town priest, Father Amador, knew of the mission to kill Santiago and was too concerned with the visit of the bishop to even warn him, “the truth is I didn’t know what to do...You have to understand that the bishop was coming on that unfortunate day”(70). Father Amador easily could have made a point to tell Santiago just a few words telling him to get out of town or even to be careful and aware of his surroundings. “But most of those who could have done something to prevent the crime and did not consoled themselves with the pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies, giving access only to those who are part of the drama”(97). Everyone in the town that knew of the plan could have made a difference at the end of the day, but they were all “too busy” or were too pressured by society to save a
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