Fate In Gabriel Garca M�rquezs Chronicle Of A Death...

For millennia, an idea of fate has driven the actions of countless societies and numerous individuals. Determinism, or a belief in the power of fate to preordain what will happen, has been and continues to be the predominant default behavior for many. Discounting free will, the people who adhere to it (or merely default to it) often rely on the idea of fate to absolve them of duty otherwise required of civility. This is exemplified in Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez’s famous novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, in which most of the characters rely on determinism as justification for their actions—without conscious belief in the power of fate. However, Mà ¡rquez himself rejects common, unconscious, and default belief, instead positing that chance†¦show more content†¦As a matter of fact, this entire scene is repeated later in the plot while the twins retrieve new knives. Not once was the collective faith in determinism tested, but twice. Such a repeat serves to satirize this conspicuous lack of action. Separately, Clotilde Armenta wants someone to act to save Santiago, as long as that someone is not herself. She implores Colonel Aponte to prevent the twins from attempting the murder, â€Å"to spare those poor boys from the terrible duty that’s befallen them† (Mà ¡rquez 57). Despite this, she doesn’t see the irony in failing to act herself, and never ends up directly working to stop them. Armenta later warns Santiago through a note she passes to a beggar (58), instead of knocking on his door and speaking to him directly, or talking the twins out of their supposed duty. An easy solution exists in more decisive action, considering Armenta’s physical and temporal proximity to both the killers and Santiago. However, she seems to simply not care enough to try to prevent the murder herself. This construction of apathy among the townspeople by Mà ¡rquez serves to show the irony in an unconscious belief in determinism. By assuming that Santiago will somehow fi nd out (or that he already knows) about his impending death, everyone in the town ends up allowing his death to occur. While satirizing the unreasonability of Santiago’s death, Mà ¡rquez casts a critical eye