Gender Roles | Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Certain traditions and orthodox catholic ideals are strongly rooted in the patriarchal society of Latin America. The novella, “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, perfectly showcases the indigenous cultural practices in the patriarchal society.

The setting of the novella is a male dominated society where it is highly important to reach up to the societal expectations. The code of conduct in this society as portrayed by author is unethical. Social domination plays a major role and affects the plot of the story. The characters live in a very conservative society where men hold the power in a family and women are considered to be of the weaker sex. Suppression and victimization of women is noticed by the readers throughout the novella.

The story revolves around the life of the protagonist, Santiago Nasar. He was accused of being involved in premarital sex with Angela Vicario. Because Angela Vicario was married to Bayardo San Roman, on discovering the fact that she was not a virgin, he returns her to the Vicario family. A man is responsible for protecting his family’s honor. The two men in the Vicario family, known as the “Vicario brothers” in the novella, are forced to take the life of Santiago Nasar in order to save the honor of their family.

In the society, it is unacceptable for a woman to not be pure at the time of her wedding, but, it is acceptable for a man to visit brothels. Gender bias plays a very important role here. The men of the society take pride in having pre-marital sex with prostitutes but the women are expected to be virgin. This violates basic human rights. A woman is not permitted by the society to have any kind of sexual desires before marriage. This clearly showcases the inequality in the patriarchal society. Although women were mistreated, a family’s honor depended on a woman’s actions.

To the readers, this may seem to be injustice because in today’s world, men and women are treated equally and are not required by the society to behave a certain way. The mentality of people may not have changed completely but has improved to a large extent.

The women in the patriarchal society are raised to suffer. While, on the contrary, the men are raised to be violent, aggressive, powerful, and dominant. In a male dominated society, women are only raised to be married to a wealthy man. Women are expected to take care of the house of a man and his family. In the patriarchal society, women are considered to be the property of men and are required by the society to not take any decisions as an individual. A woman could not go against the decisions of a man. Men were considered to be of the superior sex.

Taking under consideration the story of the novella and how the author leaves the readers in suspense, it can be said that injustice may have happened. Angela Vicario blames Santiago Nasar for taking her virginity but the author does not reveal the true story behind Angela losing her virginity. She appears to be deceitful. The author leaves the readers with curiosity. The readers, towards the end of the novella, assume that Angela Vicario may have lied to her brothers. Santiago Nasar was a friend of the Vicario brothers but because of the societal expectations, they were forced to take his life. The role of women in the society affects the plot to a large extent. If the society did not expect women to be pure before marriage, the Vicario brothers may not have been forced to murder Santiago Nasar. Santiago was murdered because of the injustice that was done to the women of the society. The Vicario brothers took the life of Santiago Nasar without any kind of interrogation. There was no evidence to support Angela Vicario’s claim but only because a man was supposed to protect his family honor by taking the life of whoever caused harm to it, the Vicario brothers had to kill their friend.

Another female character in the story was the prostitute, Maria Alejandrina Cervantes. She had sexual relationships with a lot of men in the town. Because she was a prostitute, men used to take pride in being involved in any kind of sexual activities with her. Pre-marital sex with this woman was acceptable by the society. This was believed to increase the social status of a man. She was the owner of a brothel and it was very honorable for a man to visit her. Pre-marital sex, protecting the family’s honor, protecting the family’s women, and being dominant, affected a man’s machismo in the patriarchal society.

Other than the prostitute who was known for having sexual relationships with a lot of men, the servants in the house of Santiago Nasar were victimized; they were harassed sexually and the society accepted it. Santiago Nasar’s father, Ibrahim Nasar, was believed to have had romantic relationship with Victoria Guzman. He eventually decided to make her a servant in his house. She was abandoned by Ibrahim Nasar. Santiago Nasar was sexually attracted to the daughter of Victoria Guzman, Divina Flor. Because Victoria Guzman felt betrayed, she did not want her daughter to be victimized. According to the society, it was acceptable for Ibrahim Nasar to abandon Victoria Guzman. Similarly, it was acceptable for Santiago Nasar to harass Divina Flor. Irrespective of what the women thought about sexual harassment, they were exploited by men because they were believed to have been “raised to suffer in silence.”

The victimization of women in the novella appears to have led to victimization of every character in the story. Santiago Nasar was murdered because he was blamed by Angela Vicario for deflowering her. The Vicario brothers were pressurized because of the norms of the society. The two women, Victoria Guzman and Divina Flor, were sexually harassed by the men of the Nasar family and could not raise their voices against it because the society accepted the actions of Santiago Nasar and Ibrahim Nasar. Bayardo San Roman was required by the norms of the society to return Angela Vicario to the Vicario family because she was not a virgin. Even though he loved her a lot, he had live up to societal expectations. It was shameful for a man to be married to a woman who was engaged in pre-marital sex. Flor Miguel, fiancé of Santiago Nasar, lost the man she was going to marry only because society could not allow the Vicario brothers to forgive Santiago for taking the virginity of their sister, Angela Vicario.

After reading and understanding the novella, the readers are likely to compare the patriarchal society to the present day world. The status of women has risen ever since. Although there are a number of stereotypes that still exist in the society, suppression of women has reduced to a large extent. Women are still victimized but there are laws against the victimization of women. Prostitution was not disrespected in the patriarchal society. The society now expects a woman to think about her dignity before performing any kind of act which may bring shame to her as a person at a later point of time in her life. 

My go to makeup products when I'm running late!

Usually, I would start getting ready ahead of time to make sure I'm not running late. But, let's be realistic, there is no way I can be punctual all the time. So here's my go to makeup products when I'm running late.

1. Concealer

Applying the foundation on your face and blending it down to your neck is going to take forever. When running late, make sure you apply concealer to cover up the acne and under-eye circles. Trust me, you do not have to apply foundation when you're running late because blending it in takes a good amount of time.

2. Eyes

Doing eye shadow is not necessary when running late. If you fill in your brows and apply some mascara, it will make such a big difference and also save you a lot of time.

3. Blusher

Contour and highlight takes a lot of time. If you want to add some color to your face, put a small amount of blusher on and it will work wonders.

4. Lipstick

Taking under consideration the fact that we already skipped a lot of steps while doing our makeup, the safest color to use on the lips would be nude.

This makeup routine for when you're running late will help you look presentable and because there is not much product on your face, it will look very natural as well. Now go ahead and look your best even when you're short of time. 

How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? | Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Irrespective of the author’s perspective, a book is interpreted differently by each reader, thus, how it is judged varies from person to person. The readers’ perspective can be easily influenced by their age, gender, culture, nationality, or even by their personal experience to some extent. The readers may also judge a book while relating themselves to one of the characters which largely influences their interpretation of the novel.

A good example to justify the aforementioned statements is the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” The book is majorly based on “honor killing.”The readers might suggest that since the novel is a lot about violence and certain phrases used in the novel are highly unpleasant, it can cause harm to the minds of the juveniles. It exhibits cruelty, which is not appropriate for a young person to read. In addition to this, because the novel is based on honor killing, it may be considered misleading by certain readers who are against such practices. However, some readers may suggest that it was ethical for the Vicario Brothers to kill Santiago Nasar because he was accused of being engaged in premarital sex with their sister, Angela Vicario. The orthodox, patriarchal society in Latin America believes that a family’s honor and social status is diminished if the women of the house are raped or engage in premarital sex, willingly. The society judges a man’s ability to protect his family. Therefore, a man must kill those who damaged the honor of his family. In order to portray their anger towards Santiago Nasar, it was the duty of the Vicario brothers to take his life. However, some readers may suggest that it was wrong for the Vicario brothers to kill Santiago Nasar because he was their friend. They may suggest that the Vicario brothers should have forgiven their friend.

In the novel, the Vicario brothers have been obligated by the rules set by the society to kill their friend, Santiago Nasar. The two men, however, did not want to take his life. The readers may suggest that if the Vicario brothers were not willing to murder anyone, they should not have been so conservative. Instead, they should have forgiven their friend. Also, Santiago Nasar was murdered without himactually understanding the reason behind such cruelty. The readers may believe that Santiago Nasar should have been interrogated before concluding anything. It is possible that Angela Vicario was dishonest with her family and blamed Santiago assuming that the Vicario brothers would not take an action against their friend. Santiago Nasar was shocked when he was murdered, as portrayed by the author in the novel. If Santiago Nasar was not innocent, he would have known that he was going to be assaulted. The fact that the man was confused when he was killed forces the readers to question Angela Vicario’s confession to her family. When Santiago Nasar was informed that he was going to be killed by the Vicario brothers, “he turned pale and lost control in such a way that it was impossible to think that he was pretending.” (Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicle of a Death Foretold- Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Bogota, Colombia: Editorial La Oveja Negra Ltda, 1981. Print.) This statement mentioned in the novel shows that Santiago Nasar may have been accused of something he did not do. “I don’t understand a Goddamned thing,” (Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicle of a Death Foretold- Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Bogota, Colombia: Editorial La Oveja Negra Ltda, 1981. Print.) said Santiago Nasar. If he was the man who took the virginity of Angela Vicario, he would have known what he was being killed for. The readers may agree with the statement mentioned by the author in the novel, “he died without understanding his death.” (Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicle of a Death Foretold- Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Bogota, Colombia: Editorial La Oveja Negra Ltda, 1981. Print.) Therefore, the readers may suggest that the characters in the novel reacted hurriedly in certain situations.

Honor killing was not just happening in the patriarchal society. Even today, such cases are reported nearly every day. For example, in the year 2014, a 14 year old girl was murdered by her fiancé, in Pakistan. She was accused of having premarital relations. The man believed this to have caused harm to the honor of his family. He could not bear such a dishonorable act and thus, he decided to take her life. He believed that this was a disgrace to the family’s honor and in order to protect his family’s honor, he had to kill her. What is even more saddening is the fact that it is very easy for the offenders to safely exit the case of honor killing.

Women are expected to remain pure, obedient and virginal at marriage. However, the male members of the society are not bound with any such rules. Some readers may suggest that society’s gender biased opinion regarding premarital sex violates basic human rights- rights to live. They may suggest that honor killing is brutal abuse of human rights. Readers who are against such practices are likely to believe that death penalty should be for more serious crimes. The society has different rules set for different genders which may not be acceptable by certain readers. People can’t murder others in the name of “culture”, “religion”, or “tradition.” Culture and religion are being misused. One’s culture may be similar to the culture of a group of other individuals but the idea of “honor killing” is always subjective. 

Evolution of Persuasive Language in Political Speeches

Political Speeches are no longer beneficial to the general public. The foremost objective of the political speeches is now convincing the electorates into believing in the politician’s adequacy. Whereas, the initial purpose of the political speeches eons ago was to create awareness and promote togetherness.

Radically, the politicians started speaking directly to the largest possible population of the country in order to throw light upon the strategies framed by them and how they planned to implement their policies. Not only this, but also, they made attempts to re-unite the nation by mentioning all the conflicts they were aware of, and how certain issues could be resolved. The reason their attempts were impactful was because they aspired to help people and confederate the nation. On the other hand, politicians today do talk about the aforementioned tactics, but at the same time have a self-centered motive behind it. In order to convince their audience, they make use of persuasive language. What they say may not be substantial for the listeners, but their use of language persuades the audience into believing that the speaker’s words are of great significance.

The politicians use assumptive adverb openers in order to trick the listeners into agreeing with the speaker. They start with talking about a fact that is easily acceptable, followed by a statement that they desire to be accepted, or vice versa. Use of words like “obviously” and “naturally” is a good example to support the above-mentioned statements. Also, by claiming that only a stupid person would be likely to disagree with the speaker, the politicians effectively prevent the listeners from disagreeing. Other than this, the politicians use pauses in their speeches to make an impact on the listeners’ minds. This increases tension and creates a sense of drama. However, if this isn’t used in the right manner, it creates disillusionment. Use of body language is also an effective way of emphasizing on the pauses. Making eye contact with the audience while making a pause is also, very effective.

Back then, if the public was promised of any sort of service to be provided, they did not have to question the speaker, customarily. The politicians most often did not fail to do what they said, and so people could see the authenticity in their words. But, on the contrary, the promises that are made today are frequently broken. Yet, some people are entirely convinced by the tales of the politicians. Although, they may be aware of the fact that the same person giving the speech has failed to reach up to the people’s expectations in the past, yet, they are somehow indoctrinated by the persuasive language of the speaker. The politicians make use of future language in order to draw the attention of the listeners away from the past or the present. The audience is forced to imagine their future for a short period of time in order to reduce the effect of their previous thinking. The politicians use words like “just” and “suppose” in order to make the audience think about the future, from a different point of view.

Another way of convincing the crowd into having faith in the speaker is to showcase the negative qualities of the opposing politicians. The politicians repeatedly take advantage of the fact that everyone commits mistakes and talk for hours about how incapable the other candidates are, only to show the audience that they are concerned about it and that they would do anything and everything to fix it. However, the politicians back then did not take advantage of any such situations, but mostly tried to help fix the problem before commenting on it or giving their personal opinion about the other candidates. The politicians make use of perceptual language in order to avoid situations where their comments about other politicians are questioned. They do not claim to have the most accurate judgment because they are aware of the fact that it may cause conflicts at a later point in time. Instead, they use words and phrases such as “it seems like” or “appears” in order to make sure that the listeners know that the speaker is talking about his perception only.

In addition to this, the politicians try to prove their point by vocalizing confidently. This creates an impression of the speaker being highly positive about his speech and that he is dauntless. The tone of the speaker does affect the listener’s judgment and hypothesis. A clever politician always tries to impress the audience with his confidence and his aggression towards what according to his audience is wrong. Confidence while having a conversation with one person, or more than one person plays a very important role in portraying how the speaker feels about his speech and how sure he is about his point and himself. Confidence, accompanied by aggression towards the negative concern is highly appreciated by the electorates. His tone when he talks about such things is that of anger and he speaks loudly in order to emphasize his point. The listeners look for the mutual understanding and once they recognize the fact that the speaker is supporting their perspective, they feel connected and are tempted to support him back. Even though the politician doesn’t always agree with the general public’s opinion, he needs to show that he does comprehend their speech and tries to make use of his power of persuasion to make them believe that he will help them end the crisis. He tries to be the voice of his audience and convince them into believing that he is the only deserving leader for them. All the candidates make use of the public’s opinion regarding certain issues and confidently give back the kind of response they know their listeners would want to receive.

The bottom line is that the role of persuasive language in political speeches is highly substantial and affects the audience’s conceptions, extensively.

7 things I wish I knew before High School!

1. High School is only four years of your life

Although High School plays a fundamental role in our lives, we must remember that High School is only four years long. If things go wrong, you must not feel like it is the end of everything. It is very important to always remember that everything that does happen in high school is temporary and that you won’t remember any of that once you’re in college.

2. People are not there to satisfy you

Everyone in high school is so busy with their own life that they will barely find time to help you shape yours. People are not there to satisfy you. It is absolutely illogical to have unrealistic expectations. You must not entirely be dependent on other people for anything. 

3. It is not okay to skip classes

You must not forget that your parents are paying thousand of dollars for your education. The least you can do for them is to attend all your classes. If you decide to skip a class, you can end up in a situation where you’ll have to stay back after school for detention or you may even miss a test. It is not okay to skip classes because everything that is being discussed inside that classroom is important and you can never get straight A’s using only sparknotes. 

4. Do not get caught up in relationships 

In high school, you meet a lot of people and build all kinds of relationships with them. Socializing is important but you must also remember that you can’t focus entirely on people. This applies to all kinds of relationships, like dating or having best friends. You will face problems and so does everyone else but do not get caught up in relationships because that is only going to distract you from your actual goals. 

5. Everything that you do in High School matters

After four years of high school, you will be going to a university for your further education. What is important for you to remember is that you are being watched from the very first day to your last. You may feel like your freshman year is unimportant but that is not true. When you do apply to universities, your transcripts will be sent to the universities which include everything you’ve done from your freshman year to your senior year. Therefore, it is very important to keep in mind that everything that you do in high school matters and it is going to affect your college application. 

6. Back to school shopping is a scam

Everyone goes back to school shopping. Students buy all sorts of new pens and notebooks hoping that it would help them get straight A’s at school. The truth is that school supplies with not improve your grades, studying will. Back to school shopping is a scam because stores put up all the beautiful new school supplies on the shelves and after four years of high school you end up with 50 empty compass boxes and bad grades. 

7. The key is to avoid procrastination as much as possible 

It is absolutely normal to come home from school not wanting to finish your homework. But, you do not want to wait until last minute to finish a 10 page paper. If you wait until the last minute to finish your homework, you will not be able to ask for your teacher’s guidance before turning it in. The key is to avoid procrastination as much as you can because that too can become a habit and you’ll end up delaying everything.

Are you tired of dealing with acne?

Don't you just hate it when you have a big event coming up and you do not have clear skin? Well, it will never happen again. Below are some tips and tricks that will definitely help you get rid of acne in less than 10 days. 

1. Washing your face

You must wash your face no more than 2 times a day. It is important to wash your face in the morning with cold water because that is going to wake you up and make you look healthier. After a long day at school or work, there are a lot of impurities on your skin and therefore it is absolutely necessary to wash your face at night before going to bed. This will keep your skin clean and because you are not washing your face too often, it is not going to eliminate the natural oils on your skin.

2. Staying hydrated 

You must be tired of people telling you that you should drink water if you want clear skin. I'm sure you must have tried doing it as well, but failed miserably. Here is something you need to know. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day keeps your skin hydrated which is great because it helps eliminate acne and other signs of ageing such as dark circles and under eye bags. If you don't want to make jokes about your under eye bags being Gucci or Chanel then you must stay hydrated. 

3. Ditch the Spoon

You must have read a ton of articles about using frozen spoons to get rid of under eye bags and dark circles. Actually, there is a better alternative to this. If you take two big ice cubes, wrap them in a towel and apply them on the affected area, it is guaranteed to show results faster. Also, the ice cubes lower the temperature of the area around your eyes making your eyes feel a bit more relaxed than usual. 

4. Buy yourself a new beauty product

Before I mention anything about the product, I would just like to make it very clear that this post is not sponsored at all and this is my recommendation to you because I am actually using this product and it works wonders. Biotique Bio Papaya Smoothing & Revitalizing Scrub is one product that I cannot live a day without. Basically, you scrub your face using the product and then leave it on for 15 minutes. When you wash it off with cold water, your skin will feel super soft and smooth. I purchased this from Amazon but I'm sure you can find it on other websites as well. 

5. Have a schedule 

Going to sleep at 3 AM while scrolling through Tumblr or watching YouTube videos is a punishment for your body. It is a scientifically proven fact that if you go to sleep before 12 AM and get 6 to 8 hours of sleep, you will be healthier and so will your skin. Do not drink a lot of water before going to bed because that will keep you awake and ruin your sleep schedule. You body actually does the entire detoxification process while you sleep at night which is very important for a normal human being. If you do not believe me, Google it. 

6. Drugs will not harm you

I was absolutely terrified to take medications for having clear skin. Turns out that I was completely wrong. There are actually a bunch of over the counter drugs that you can purchase to have acne free skin if your skin type is "very sensitive." I have been taking medications for about 5 years now and I have not noticed any kind of side effects, which means that this will not harm your body in any way. But, I would definitely recommend speaking to your family doctor before taking any medicines because you may be allergic to the salts used in the medicine and that may lead to situations you absolutely do not want to be in. 

Using these few simple tricks, I was able to get acne free skin. You should too.