The Integral Role of Religion Illustrated in Gabriel...

Religion plays an integral role in The Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia. It is generally considered by most readers that the initial chapters don’t consist of the religious and spiritual makeup of the townspeople but in fact, religion is subliminally present even earlier, within the title of the novel itself. The word Death is integrally and inextricably linked with religious matter. After all, birth and the inevitably of death are the two most important and debatable points in religion. Religion is meant to be a solid force, helping society to bond better and progress in a civilized manner. For the same purpose, religion, with its laws and codes of conduct, monitors peoples’ way of life to ensure that humanity remains†¦show more content†¦First, Marquez underlines, â€Å"Both were exhausted from the barbarous work of death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (49). Marquez exemplifies the way in which some aspects of religion are ignored and some have great emphasis put on them. When Roman finds out that his new bride is not a virgin, he returns her. She is beaten savagely, and her brothers are called from the brothel to come defend the familys honor. The hypocrisy of family is revealed as they consider honor to be a part of the religion and instead of religiously and peacefully solve the manner, the brothers murder Santiago Nasar. The family believes that upholding the honor is righteous, and in doing so the sin of murdering Nasar is downplayed. Furthermore, when the bro thers put down their knives in front of the priest, instead of giving them advice or condemning them, the priest â€Å"recalled the surrender as an act of dignity† (49). This is in total conflict with Catholicism as it is amongst the Ten Commandments that â€Å"Thou shall not kill† and thus it illustrates that even the priest of the town has lost the knowledge of the true religion. Marquez cements the corruption of religion as even father Amador protected the brothers and not only him but â€Å"the lawyer stood by the thesis of homicide in legitimate defense of honor, which was upheld by the court in good faith† (48). Marquez continues to demonstrate that the society was lenient on the brothers due to tradition and thus it illustrates that religion was only a minor