Religion in Chronicle of a Death Foretold : Catholicism Religion is very important to the plot men in power Premarital sex not allowed- but this isn’t a dishonour for men Honour killing is condoned by Father Amador, who says they are ‘perhaps’ innocent ‘before God’ if not men and the law After the murder, Angela Vicario is again in ‘possession of her honour’
Religious figures The Bishop – The priest and Santiago dress up smartly for him, but Angela thinks he is wasteful to ‘throw the rest of the rooster in the garbage’ and only eat the comb soup, and he ‘hates this town’ Father Amador : the doctor says ‘only a priest could be so dumb’ and doesn’t warn Santiago
marriage Santiago’s mother’s ‘marriage of convenience’ without ‘ a single instance of happiness’ Bayardo’s ‘contract of love’ with Angela Angela is forced to marry ‘a man she had barely seen’ Bayardo and Angelo both have an ‘illusion’ of marriage
Other religious ceremonies Santiago was Christened The atmosphere was ‘funereal’ and there were enough flowers for ‘14 1 st class funerals’ The Vicarios are in ‘rigorous’ mourning for their daughter but it is ‘relaxed inside the house’ suggesting it is just an act Bayardo is disrespectful of their mourning and of the Widower Xius
Bayardo ‘helped with’ the mass in latin The narrator’s mother doesn’t go to mass + ‘associates the distant uproar’ of the bishop's arrival with the wedding party ‘The Vicario brothers crossed themselves when they saw’ father Amador and the altar being carried Pura Vicario ‘looked like a nun’ who ‘devoted herself with such spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband’ Narrator’s sister ‘the nun’ – but she ‘wasn’t going to wait for the bishop because she had a hangover’
superstition Santiago’s dreams are an ‘omen’ ‘sick people in the archways to receive God’s medecine’ Belief in ghosts – pura vicario says ‘answer me if you’re still of this world’ Also used in speech as an exclamation eg. ‘good heavens’ ‘for the love of God’ and ‘holy mother of God’
Murder Treated as a religious sacrifice with ‘sacrificial tools’ The cut on santiagos’ hand ‘looked like a stigma of the crucified christ’