that someone has ôruinedö their sister. They force their sister to tell them who has done what is an unpardonable crime in their eyes. Even though he is not the man, Angela tells her brothers that the person responsible for her condition is Santiago Nasar. With the mention of his name, Angela seals SantiagoÆs fate. However, even though everyone knows he will die, nobody in the town says anything to Santiago about the plans of Pablo and Pedro. Garcia Marquez based his story loosely on an actual event that took place in a Colombian town. As Sims (1992) explains, ôThe novel is based on the murder of Cayetano Gentile Chimento on January 22, 1951, in the Department of Sucre in Colombia. Margarita Chica, who was returned to her family by her new husband, Miguel Reyes Palecnia, because she was not a virgin, accused Cayetano of deflowering her. To avenge her dishonor, the Chica brothers, who were not twins, killed himö (24).
The distinctions of class in Chronicle of a Death Foretold play a significant part in practically all of the events that occur within the story. This is true from the way women are treated to the motivation of the brothers for murdering Santiago. Both Santiago and Bayardo are victims in the story. However, Bayardo is wealthy and can purchase for marriage anyone he so pleases, even if his intended protests. Santiago, in contrast, can deflower any woman in or out of his class, but he is poor. The family of Angela is outraged over SantiagoÆs alleged actions, because she is now ôspoiledö and cannot marry with honor or respect, particularly to someone wealthy. Despite Santiago being murdered for something he did not do, the others view the incident as having only one victim. As Garcia Marquez (1984) writes:
For the immense majority of people there was only one victim: Bayardo San Roman. They took it for granted that the other actors in the tragedy had been fulfilling with dignity, and even with
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