Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Santiago Nasar wakes up early on the day that he will be killed. He rises early to wait for the arrival of a boat; onboard is the bishop. The previous night, Santiago dreamed about “a grove of timber trees” (1). Now, he is nursing a headache as he slept “little and poorly” (2). People will not quite remember whether the weather is cloudy or fine on the morning of Nasar’s murder. They will all agree that he was in a good mood. Santiago is dressed in white linen clothes. He wore the same outfit to a wedding the previous day.

Santiago visits Plácida Linero, his mother, to ask for aspirin. He is a pale, slim man and an only child. His parents married for convenience rather than love. From his mother, he is said to have inherited a sixth sense. From his father, he inherited a love for guns, horses, and falcons. Like his father, he typically sleeps with his gun “hidden in his pillowcase” (3), but on this particular morning he removes the bullets and leaves the gun on his nightstand. Santiago’s father had Arab ancestry; he and his father would speak in Arabic to one another.