Vicario Brothers

Learning about the law and order system helped me understand why the Vicario brothers had were so motivated to kill Santiago, even though there were multiple obstacles hindering their objective. In the Colombian law and order system of this time, there were few repercussions for most crimes, even capital offences. For example, the Vicario brothers faced only a few years in jail, and later the brothers had the opportunity to do what they wanted to: Pedro “reenlisted in the armed force” and Pablo became an “elegant goldsmith” (Marquez 83). This shows that even though the brothers committed such an atrocious crime, they were free to do what they wanted to after jail. Pablo also got married to his fiance which shows that he still has a good social standing within his community. If Pablo had not been viewed as a socially acceptable male, he would not have been married. The reason that Pablo still has this good standing within his community is because the killing of Santiago Nasar was an honor killing.
They are in fact encouraged. This further provides evidence as to why the Vicario brothers had to kill Santiago. If they had left Santiago alone this would have been frowned upon. Prudencia Cotes, Pablo’s fiance, mentions that she would have never married Pablo if he had not done “what a man should do,” which is killing Santiago (Marquez 62). She also says that she waited for Pablo to marry her without “a moment of discouragement” (Marquez 63). Honor killings were promoted. This is why the brothers do not stop trying to kill Santiago after their knifes were taken away. They were looking to finish the job they thought what they were doing is right. They were looking to uphold their family’s name which is