Minor Characters In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Character descriptions in Chronicle of a Death Foretold serve important literary functions: they elucidate themes, establish motifs, and drive the plot forwards. The descriptions of minor characters are particularly important - because they do not serve major functions in the plot, their descriptions are often the only vehicle through which the author conveys the character’s literary function. Minor characters with particularly interesting and meaningful descriptions include Santiago Nasar’s fiancee Flora Miguel and the prostitute Maria Alejandrina Cervantes. Examining the character descriptions of Flora Miguel and Maria Alejandrina Cervantes allows the reader to deepen their understanding of the messages that Garcia-Marquez creates about
“Apostolic lap of Maria Alejandrina Cervantes” (pg. 5) She’s a prostitute, and she is described several times with animal imagery, including being called a ‘beast of love’ (71). This connects her with the animal imagery that occurs throughout the novel, including descriptions of the pigs that the Vicario twins slaughter for a living and the bird imagery used to describe Santiago Nasar. The effect of the animal imagery attached to Maria is to connect her to a sensual side of human nature. The animal imagery isn’t degrading; Maria is never described as dirty, impure, or stupid. Garcia-Marquez uses the character of Maria Alejandrina Cervantes to provide a counterpoint to the majority of the town, who are honor-obsessed, suggesting that sensualness is a natural part of the human experience. A particularly interesting character description of Maria (as well as setting description of her surroundings) occurs on page 77, when Maria is described as sitting naked in her room “like a Turkish houri”, indulging in excessive eating as her way of grieving Santiago Nasar’s death. An houri is a beautiful young woman who accompanies the Muslim faithful in heaven; given Santiago Nasar’s Arabic cultural background and consequent association with the religion of Islam, this imagery serves to associate Maria with Santiago, perhaps suggesting their shared role as societal outcasts. Royal imagery is used to describe Maria here, reinforcing the idea that despite the uncleanliness of her profession, she is not an unclean character in the book. By contrast, she’s associated with the higher rungs of the social hierarchy. This could constitute a criticism of the social structure - perhaps by bringing genuinely high-class people like Bayardo’s family down to the level of a prostitute - or a commentary on the role of sex in the novel. The role