Fate and Free Will in Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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Abstract In García Márquez, the magical is associated with fantasy, myth, literariness, and the unknowability of reality, while realism suggests seeing through fictitious versions of reality constructed by hegemonic discourses. Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981) is about fate and ambiguity, but also encourages the challenging of convention and the assertion of an independent identity: the “magic” of the imagination is a path to alternative ways of being and a new reality. The title suggests the circularity of a mystical destiny and the investigative desire to recuperate historical truth. Santiago Nasar’s death is inevitable because of an honor code rooted in religious and social conformity (his killing is necessary to purify the Vicario family name following a bridegroom’s discovery that his bride, Angela Vicario, has already lost her virginity, possibly to Santiago). Moreover, there is a performative, ritualistic, sacrificial dimension to the planning of the death, as Angela’s brothers act out their compulsion according to what they believe is required of them. Behind this is the idea that the magic of love has become little more than a social contract and has ceased to be “real.” The investigation of the detective-like chronicler (into a real event now being transformed into a fiction) implies a quest for “truth,” and the final outcome is a not entirely ironic achievement of “true” love, independently chosen. This article explores how agency and authorship are mobilized to test the limits of fatalism and convention.