Cartagena
Why does the mayor order Father Carmen Amador to perform the autopsy and what could Marquez be suggesting with that?
Because the doctor was absent and the priest doing it associates the violence committed by the brothers in the name of honor with the conservative values espoused by the church
What was the fate of Pedro Vicario?
He went back into the armed forces and was never heard from again.
What does Angela do to make up for dishonoring Bayardo San Roman? What is ironic about this?
She sends him one letter every week for 17 years. It is ironic because in a society where men hold most if not all of the power, this woman feels she has taken advantage of this richer, older, man.
What was the magistrate's greatest issue with the Santiago Nasar case? What does that suggest about the nature of journalism, reality, story-telling?
There was no hard evidence of Nasar and Angela's 'crime'. In our Western-inspired court system, Nasar is innocent. However, with the urban-rural divide encouraging traditional beliefs, a higher truth which everyone takes for granted prevails, although it may not have any bearing on verifiable reality.
How do the townspeople view themselves in the death of Nasar?
They see themselves as spectators rather than direct participants.
Where is Nasar's autopsy performed and what does it suggest?
It takes place in a public school with a druggist and first-year medical student which suggests absolute disregard for Nasar as an Arab or outsider and indignity in death
A week after the wedding, how was Bayardo San Roman faring? Was he in dandy spirits perhaps? A tad miffed?
He was found lying in his bed almost dead from alcohol poisoning.
How is the sexism of the narrative reinforced with the 'probrecito' (poor little one) story of Bayardo San Roman post-wedding?
It portrays San Roman as the ultimate victim for losing his wife, despite being beaten and dishonored.
What does the narrator believe about how Santiago himself felt about his death?
The narrator believes Santiago never knew the reason for his own death, it came as such a surprise to him, and he was not expecting it whatsoever.
How is the blurring of journalism and fiction best accomplished in the narrative?
Through the character of the narrator. He can't be objective because he was there himself, and he does take a certain degree of responsibility. However, he doesn't reveal any personal information and is the most ENIGMATIC of all characters.
Different characters in the novella complaining of not being able to get Nasar's smell off their bodies is characteristic of what literary genre? What kind of Western notion does it challenge?
Magical realism--the notion that the fantastical can be real and even commonplace
Angela Vicario moves to a different and takes up what work? What could this be symbolic of?
Embroidery, or the decoration of cloth by sowing patterns on it with thread. Perhaps it could be symbolic of how she embroidered, however we may interpret that word, the fates of Nasar and San Roman.
How is Angela and Bayardo's relationship like 'falconry' (see: epitaph)?
Because in the beginning, Bayardo is hunting Angela as though she is the small game; by leaving her, he trains her to hunt, and she then hunts him.
What is the reason for Santiago's death?
Debatable, but if you can't mention that one of them is SUPERNATURAL COINCIDENCES, you should.
What was the journalist narrator's presumed purpose in writing the story? To figure out whodunnit?
Not to figure out whodunnit, because this is never revealed, even after 20 years. Rather, it is a determination of how such a publicized death could have taken place: there had never been a death more foretold.
Why is Angela Vicario's face wrapped when she's in public after she was returned to her family?
To hide the severe beating she received from her mother.
What does Angela tell the narrator when he goes to see her about her relationship with Nasar?
She did indeed commit the deed with our hero. But do you believe her? Why might she lie? Can we ever be sure? I think this is so much like Death of a Maiden...
Why did the villagers rarely talk about what happened afterwards?
They considered it a matter of honor--something sacred.
Right before he died, Santiago visited someone's house. Whose house was it? What happened there?
He visited his fiancee's house, Flora Miguel. She gave him back his love letters, told him she hoped they really did kill him, and left him feeling terribly confused.
How does CDF differ from the standard plot of a Netflix true crime doozy?
We don't gradually learn more information that reveals more of the truth. We are not ever really forced to change our perspective on what happened. Everything is pretty much known from the first instance and there is no 'slow burn' effect where the audience gets more and more knowledge and starts to solve the crime, unlike more traditional crime writing such as Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, CDF is not a detective novel, but rather it uses the form and genre of a detective novel, some of the tropes of the genre.
What was the fate of Pablo Vicario?
He became a goldsmith like his father
What is one wonderfully profound connection that keeps on giving when comparing CDF to DOAM?
The notion of unreliable memory, one explored in a very linear fashion and the other by using analepsis and prolepsis. Both have unreliable narration. They center on violence. DOAM is more literal, but *the maker of this quiz* sees CDF as a massive metaphor for a society wrought by violence, everyone blaming each other and themselves, not knowing how to heal, unable to shake the demands of revenge.
Trees and birds--which one is a good omen, which one a bad omen? And why might that be?
Trees are a good omen: trees support life, there's the biblical Tree of Life, they are a source of life for all organisms in the ecosystem. Birds--especially falcons, birds of prey--are murderers, small-brained, no neural network, only a hive mentality when they're flying in droves, or roguish murder on their own. Humans hate crows by the way.
What is unusual about the way Nasar dies?
His entrails spill out of his body, the brothers stab him deeply and viscerally, he stumbles around and the entire scene is one mixed with horror at the imagery and disbelief that a guy cut in half could continue to die and not be dead already.
What is the role of ritual in the plot?
Every -- little -- darn -- thing about this book is a ritual. Bayardo's wooing, Nasar's perversion for his helper's daughter and repeating his father's rapist pattern; the wedding itself; the murder itself; the visit of the Bishop; Angela sending letters; the entire story as a reenactment of the murder without any conclusions or takeaways.