Colombian society in the 1950s had imposed many different gender roles on the men and women who lived there, and the characters in the short story “Chronicle of a death foretold” do not experience a different fate. Men were expected to be macho men - to take care of the family and ensure its dignity and honor - while women were expected to be gentle and submissive in nature - to be perfect wives , caregivers and that they maintain the home. Marquez explores these roles in his short story through the use of different characters employed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The Vicario family is repeatedly used as an example to explore the different gender roles imposed on men and women. The twins Pablo and Pedro are a good example. The twins were expected to defend the family's honor after Angela was fired for supposedly not being a virgin, and once she named her attacker, Santiago Nasar, everyone expected the twins to kill him to bring honor back to the family. Even though the twins were raised in the same culture and raised in the same way, they experienced the ordeal differently, showing the different thoughts the community may have had about the whole scenario - Pedro Vicario, "the most energetic brothers", almost refuses to carry out the plan to assassinate Santiago, and the twins even had their first pair of knives confiscated by the mayor (which, in Pedro's eyes, was a sufficient sign to not not carry out the plan). murder), however, Pablo intervenes and convinces his brother to follow the plan, almost dragging him forward to do so. They even revealed their plan to almost 22 people - but no one really stopped them, showing that everyone, while of course refuting the murder, hoped that the twins would bring honor back to the Vicario family. This inner struggle raises another role imposed on men. - machismo. Men were expected to be "macho men" - aggressive, violent, ready to defend honor at all costs, strong and of course sexually aggressive - however, for this reason they were not expected to show "soft" emotions (such as remorse, regret, love), in itself, and so this struggle between the twins and their feelings shows the gender roles of men in this community at that time, and how the Men were expected to act despite their own inner struggles and maintain a certain image, otherwise they would not be accepted. Despite their inner struggles, defending their sister's honor was important, and it was not considered "murder" by them, because after killing Nasar, they immediately went to the church to confess, and thought that they were innocent “before God and before men” because the murder was a “matter of honor.” The Vicarios primarily care about matters of family reputation, while Pablo's fiancée and other members of the community care about being associated with them, showing that cultural norms preceded the twins' emotional well-being, and Prudencia Cotes (Pablo's fiancée) even declares that she "would never have married him if he had not done what a man should do", because after all, it was their role to bring honor to the family. Additionally, the role of machismo in men speaks to another role - how men were expected to be dominant (and therefore "keep women in their place"). An example of this would be Bayardo San Roman - although the booknever really deepens his character, it is shown that he decides to marry Angela based on her looks (as in based on his conversations with different characters - "remind me to marry when I wake up" and also how (he reveals that he was traveling from town to town, looking for someone to marry). He buys her many gifts, and when the twins go to return the music box he had given her, they return. the next day with the box and him in tow The Vicario family had been so charmed by him that they agreed to let Angela marry him (and since he was from a rich, or at least "known" family, they were grateful. that such a high-ranking person "chose" their daughter), which highlights the role of domination expected of men since Bayardo expects Angela herself to be flattered (even if he was "too much of a man" for her ) and expects her to marry him based on all these gifts and his money, looks and societal status. After all, as Pura Vicario says, love is learned – and that's exactly what the family expected from Angela. This highlights the dominant role expected of men, as the Vicario family (or anyone in the community, really) doesn't think this behavior is out of the norm (aside from the fact that a person such a high-ranking person would like to get married). someone from a middle-class family) and on the contrary almost encourages it to a certain extent - as seen when Pura Vicario states that the girls had been raised to marry. Another character who encompasses the role of machismo is none other than Santiago Nasar. Although it is never revealed whether Nasar is actually guilty of deflowering Angela, his reputation in the town doesn't help: he is known for making sexual advances toward young women, including Divina Flor, a girl of Victoria Guzmán (her servant). Divina's name symbolizes her "purity", juxtaposing with Santiago Nasar's aggressive sexuality, and Santiago Nasar can be said to embrace the sexual aggressiveness that was believed to be displayed by men during this era - and he also demonstrates dual roles different from men. and women in society: how men were almost expected to use women as objects (which ties back to the previous role described in which men were expected to be dominant), and how women were then expected to be submissive by nature and the accept. all with a smile and more. The women of the Vicario family also bring out some important gender roles that were portrayed in the short story and an example of this would be Angela Vicario. Her name literally translates to "angel" - and although many claim this was against her nature since they say she was the one who sent Santiago Nasar to his death (but she could be an angel of death) - and it was an expected role of women - that they be angelic in nature, implying that they were expected to be "pure", "good wives" and, above all, "virgin". Purity and angelic qualities were mainly related to how women were raised to be good wives and also whether or not they were virgins - for after all, it was one of the most important qualities that a woman can have. at that time, especially if she was not married. This therefore brings another role expected of women: marriage. Women were expected to marry and leave their jobs after marriage (Angela's mother is a perfect example: she left her job as a schoolteacher right after she got married), because in this society, the A woman's role was to be a caregiver and be the best wife possible. Furthermore, marriage was held in such high esteem that if a)).