A look at the absurdity of society's values when justice is based on prejudice in Albert Camus' "The Stranger- and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Chronicle of a Death Foretold."".
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Both "Chronicle of a Death Foretold- by Gabriel Garcí Marquez and "The Stranger- by Albert Camus depict the ritualistic death of a character in order to portray the absurdity of society's values through the use of unconventional justice. Garcí Marquez's character Santiago Nasar, a rich and powerful man, is wrongfully accused of raping a newly married girl named Angela Vicario. In a ritualistic fashion, that mirrors the crucification of Jesus Christ, the Vicario brothers murder Santiago in order to reclaim their family s lost honor. Albert Camus' character Meursault is put through a prejudiced trial after he commits the murder of an Arab man. Garcí Marquez and Camus' both show that society's prejudice plays a strong role in the prosecution of the individual.
In "Chronicle of a Death Foretold,"" author Gabriel Garcí Marquez portrays the irrationality of society's morals through the public s reaction to the horrific murder of Santiago Nasar. Some townspeople, most significantly Father Amador, claimed they were too busy or preoccupied to help warn Santiago. Father Amador explains to the narrator, " The truth is I didn't know what to do My first thought as that it wasn't any business of mine but something for the civil authorities'- (Garcí Marquez 80-81). The father believed that it wasn't his problem and even though he had the chance to do something to stop the murder he chose not to. This portrays the church's confusion of values because the father would rather impress the bishop than save a innocent man from death and two people from making a grave mistake. .
The townspeople accept the Vicario brother's killing of the presumably innocent Santiago Nasar as a matter of honor, a recurring theme throughout the novel.