When a tragedy occurs, people always find somebody to blame, whether it be themselves or an entire group of people. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez presents the reader with a tragic situation, and allows the reader to develop his own ideas about the murder of Santiago Nasar. Garcia Marquez demonstrates how the townspeople are most to blame for Santiago Nasar’s death through the people’s tendency to assume, people acting as observers rather than actors, and the depiction of honor.

The first idea Garcia Marquez constantly addresses is the idea that people constantly assume things to justify their failure to take action. The first prominent example of this occurs in chapter one, when the narrator is speaking with Father Carmen Amador.  “’I had my own very real reasons for believing he wasn’t in danger anymore,’ he told me. ‘When I saw him safe and sound I thought it had all been a fib,’ he told me. No one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar had been warned, because it seemed impossible that he hadn’t.” (22) In this passage, Garcia Marquez demonstrates how because townspeople like Father Carmen Amador automatically assumed that someone had already warned Santiago of his impeding murder, they felt they did not need to get involved. Another instance in which Garcia Marquez develops this idea is in chapter three, when Faustino Santos tells the narrator his own excuse for not intervening. “’I thought they were so drunk,’ Faustino Santos told me, ‘that not only had they forgotten what time it was, but what day it was too.’” (59) Through this quote, the author demonstrates how various townspeople had different excuses for their inaction. In this case, Santos believed the Vicario brothers were too drunk to know what they were talking about, and therefore they would not really murder Santiago Nasar. Finally, Garcia Marquez strengthens his idea even further on the next page, when he writes about how though everyone knew about the murder, yet everyone assumed it would not take place. “The Vicario Brothers had told their plans to more than a dozen people who had gone to buy milk, and these had spread the news everywhere before six o’ clock. It seemed impossible to Clotilde Armenta that they didn’t know in the house across the way.” (60) In this quote, the reader catches a glimpse of how many townspeople were aware of what the Vicario Brothers intended to do, yet everyone assumed that the news had already reached Santiago himself. This is especially apparent when the narrator mentions how Clotilde Armenta thought it was “impossible” that Santiago Nasar’s household had not heard the news. Because of the depiction of townspeople’s habit of assumption, it is clear that the author intends to demonstrate to the reader that the townspeople are most to blame for the murder of Santiago Nasar.

Throughout the book, Garcia Marquez also provides details about how people tend to play the role of the observer rather than that of the actor. This is particularly apparent in chapter one, when Jaime describes the scene of the townspeople rushing to witness the murder.  “The only thing I can remember is that in the distance you could hear the noise of a lot of people, as if the wedding party had started up again, and everybody was running toward the square.” (26) Here, the author tries to demonstrate to the reader how the people of the town would rather watch the murder than help prevent it from happening. Instead of rushing to the aid of Santiago Nasar, the townspeople play the role of observer and watch the tragedy take place. Another example of when the author develops this idea is the scene in the coffee shop with the Vicario Brothers and Clotilde Armenta.  “‘They looked like two children,’ she told me. And that thought frightened her, because she’d always felt that only children are capable of everything. So she finally finished getting the jug of milk ready and went to wake her husband to tell him what was going on in the shop. Don Rogelio de la Flor listened to her half-awake. ‘Don’t be silly,’ he said to her. ‘Those two aren’t about to kill anybody, much less someone rich.’” (63) Through this quote, Garcia Marquez exhibits how Clotilde Armenta only observes the Vicario brothers, and makes very little attempt to stop them. Even the small action she does take by telling her husband is void due to his assumption that the murder would not take place. Finally, the author even further expresses his idea when the murderers came to sharpen their knives for a second time. “Faustino Santos couldn’t understand what had happened. ‘They came to sharpen their knives a second time,’ he told me, ‘and once more they shouted for people to hear that they were going to cut Santiago Nasar’s guts out, so I believed they were kidding around, especially since I didn’t pay attention to the knives and thought they were the same ones.’” (68) Garcia Marquez makes it clear that it was widely understood by the townspeople that the Vicario twins wanted to kill Santiago Nasar. Though the twins shouted the news numerous times for the different observers to hear, not a soul was prepared to take action, especially since they had previously assumed that the murder would not take place. Through Garcia Marquez’s numerous demonstrations on how people tend to be observers rather than actors, it is clear that the townspeople are at fault for Santiago’s murder.

Finally, Garcia Marquez makes it clear that the townspeople are to blame for the murder through his depiction of honor. The first prominent instance in which he develops the concept of honor is when the Vicario brothers’ mother recalls them preparing to kill Santiago Nasar. “’We’ll leave it for later,’ Pablo Vicario said. ‘We’re in a hurry now.’ ‘I can imagine, my sons,’ she said. ‘Honor doesn’t wait.’” (71) This quote demonstrates how in South American society, particularly in this town, honor is the first priority. Since honor is in such high esteem in the Vicario family, society would deem it wrong for the brothers not to take action after someone other than her betrothed potentially deflowered their sister. On the next page, Garcia Marquez furthers the idea of how the concept of honor affects the family internally. “While they were drinking their coffee, Prudencia Cotes came into the kitchen in all her adolescent bloom, carrying a roll of old newspapers to revive the fire in the stove. ‘I knew what they were up to,’ she told me, ‘and I didn’t only agree, I never would have married him if he hadn’t done what a man should do.’” (72) Here, the author clearly shows how people hold honor in such high regard, that if it is not upheld, one can lose everything he has. In this case, Prudencia Cotes tells the narrator that if her fiancée did not follow through with the murder, she would not be with him. Finally, Garcia Marquez suggests that honor, a standard enforced by the townspeople, is what initially forced the Vicario twins to murder Santiago Nasar. “‘…they shouted for people to hear that they were going to cut Santiago Nasar’s guts out, so I believed they were kidding around, especially since I didn’t pay attention to the knives and thought they were the same ones.’” (68) The author makes it clear to the reader that the Vicario brothers wanted someone to stop them. Honor had obligated them to kill someone they were not sure to be guilty, and they desired someone to excuse them from this burden. Clearly, by demonstrating how high the townspeople held honor, Garcia Marquez shows that the death of Santiago Nasar is the fault of the townspeople.

Garcia Marquez purposefully identifies the townspeople for being at fault for the death of Santiago Nasar through his ideas on peoples’ assumptions, their failure to act, and his depiction of honor. By doing this, Gabriel Garcia Marquez exemplifies how flawed standards of society combined with a people’s failure to act can obstruct the justice that that very society strives to create.