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.
