Machismo Themes in Chronicle
- In Chronicle of a Death Foretold the machismo theme can be seen in the male pride throughout the book.
- An example of this is how the men take pride in visiting Maria Cervantes's brothel to get with the women. Society endorses these actions for men but when women lose their virginity they became soiled unless they are prostitutes who are respected.
- The Machismo theme is seen in the Vicario twins when they are pressured to kill Santiago Nasar. Honor is valued in society and it is because of this that the Vicario brothers are compelled to go through with the murder. If they backed out of it they would be shamed and it would diminish their masculinity.
- We see a strong example of machismo when Santiago is dying and is carrying his intestines in his hands. He wants to die like a man; this gives the image of not only machismo but also honor.
Marianismo in Our Society
Marianismo
Honor
- There's no doubt that in the Colombian town, honor is taken very seriously
- In fact if one did not exhibit this, they would be considered as weak/ a reject bringing dishonor to themselves and their families
- Angela Vicario having sex before marriage
- The Vicario brothers murdered Santi to restore honor
- Though almost all knew of the foretold death, honor > someone's life so no one warned him directly.
- Bayardo is affected the most, according to the townspeople, because he lets his health and life overall deteriorate.
Machismo
What is Machismo?
Honor
Marianismo in Chronicle
- "The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married"
- "It was Angela Vicario who didn't want to marry him."
- The narrators sister - "my sister the nun"
- Male dominance over women
- Defending male pride and honor
- Strong masculine pride
- Honor
- high moral standards of behavior
- good reputation
- Honor killings, as in Chronicles of a Death Foretold, are about cultures who view honor as their top priority and will do anything to obtain it.
- If women disobey the laws of men they will be threatened with death or abuse.
- Today, there are still "honor killings".
- A father (Yaser Said) murdered his two daughters, Amina and Sarah for not going along with his arranged marriages for them. ("The Price of Honor")
- The killers see "honor killings" as a way of bringing honor back to the family.
- Marianismo is the female aspect of a machismo society
- It explains the women's role
- According to marianismo women should be modest, virtuous, and pure.
- Modeled after the Virgin Mary
Latin American Cultural Themes
Instructions
- We will play a game called HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
- There are 2 HONOR cards, 15 MACHISMO, and 15 MARIANISMO
- Everyone, after they know who they are, puts their heads down
- The 2 HONOR cards look up when they hear "The bishop is gone"
- The 2 HONOR cards decide who to "murder"; this can be anybody in the room
- Then they put their back heads down
- When everyone hears "The deed is done" then everyone can look up.
- Those 15 with the MACHISMO cards must now decide:
- who they believe is the killer
- what their punishment (if any) should be
- If the 15 MACHISMO cards correctly identify the killer, they will be awarded
- In this society, women don't get to do much so sorry for the 15 MARIANISMOS if you wanted to participate
Stefan Andersen, Gianni Bastien, Megan Cooper, Philippe Stengel, Sena Tamaklo, and Fatih Torcuator