Summary:
In the culminating pages of the book, readers learn of the details of the day in which Santiago was assassinated. The brothers were still somewhat hesitant to continue with the job, but in conclusion, they got drunk and ended up agreeing it would continue. Everyone in town eventually learned of what was going to happen to Santiago Nasar because the brothers kept announcing that they were going to kill him. Although some believed they were clearly only drunk and would not be doing anything, others did take them seriously, especially the wife of the owner of the butcher shop. Eventually, the police and the mayor heard of what they were planning, but they did very little, claiming they had done what they could.
Little can actually be done to prove of what happened that exact day Santiago Nasar was killed. The mayor and police officer claim that they had sent them home, but that does not mean they will not go back and continue on with their plan. Neighbors don't have an exact idea of where he was going, because while some claim he was going home, others claim that he went to his fiance's house. Santiago's mother felt extremely guilty in the end when she could have prevented her son from getting killed by waiting a few seconds until he got in the house. Even so, he was still killed, and the entire time she thought he was already inside his house making the twins go away. She did not even look outside until her son was practically death right at the door of his own home, and he had tried to call his mother several times. In the end, when Santiago found out he was going to be killed, he was paralyzed, and his mental shock could have also contributed to him not having much emotion as he was continuously being stabbed. At least he was able to live for a little bit longer and died inside his home.
Quote:
"During the trial, which lasted only three days. the representative of the people put his greatest effort into the weakness of that charge. Such was the perplexity of the investigating magistrate that his good work at times seemed ruined by disillusionment" (Marquez 100).
Reaction:
Upon completion of this book, it is fair to say that the reader ends up annoyed and frustrated of the events that led up to the assassination of Santiago Nasar. Since the actual day of his murder, everybody knew who was going to do it and how, yet everyone managed to find an excuse in how they could not be blamed. Some claim that they did warn others ahead of time, but even so, they could have mislead Santiago somehow so he would not have ended up going home. However, that was not the case, especially having to do with the mayor, because he overall did not care. It was an upsetting end that makes readers wish they could have intervened to stop Santiago from dying while being innocent.
I chose this quote because it can really make a reader stop to think. It makes people want to put the book down because of the frustration one immediately feels. If it is more than obvious that Santiago Nasar is innocent in this entire thing, then why did Angela Vicario keep accusing him? What was the purpose of her doing that if it was her own husband who had done her harm? This quote, to me, greatly reflected the annoyance of the people and even the lawyer, who knew that his death wasn't right, and yet the entire case was so complicating that it was hard to prove his case. This quote also shows a reader's frustration because, at this point, Santiago Nasar was innocent the entire time, and people that knew that he was going to get killed claimed they did what they could to stop it, when in reality, they did nothing when it could have been prevented in a thousand different ways.
