Chronicle of a Death Foretold characters

Appears from the start

A twenty-one-year-old man of Arab descent who runs his late father's ranch and lives with his mother. Sociable, wealthy by the town's standards, and fond of horses and weapons, he begins the morning after a large wedding expecting to see the bishop's visit. He does not know that the Vicario twins have publicly announced their intention to kill him.

Appears from the start

A young woman from a modest, strictly raised family who has just married the wealthy newcomer Bayardo San Román. When her husband returns her to her parents on the wedding night, she names Santiago Nasar as the man responsible for her loss of honor, setting her brothers' fatal plan in motion.

Appears from the start

Angela's identical twin brother, recently returned from military service. He and Pablo are known locally as pig butchers, and on the morning after the wedding they openly announce that they intend to kill Santiago in defense of their family's honor.

Appears from the start

Angela's identical twin brother and Pedro's partner in the family's pig-butchering work. The two wait for Santiago with their knives visible and repeatedly state what they intend to do, making the threatened killing public knowledge.

Appears from the start

A wealthy, confident stranger who arrives in town looking for a wife and chooses Angela Vicario. His family connections, lavish spending, and determination impress the townspeople, but little is known about his inner life or why he fixes so quickly on Angela.

Appears from the start

An unnamed friend of Santiago and relative of several people involved, reconstructing the killing decades later from memories, records, and conflicting testimony. He was home for the wedding but failed, like much of the town, to grasp the danger in time.

Appears from the start

Santiago's mother, noted for interpreting dreams when told them before breakfast. On the morning of his death she misses the warning in his dream and remains at home after he leaves to watch for the bishop.

Appears from the start

The Nasar household's cook and a former lover of Santiago's father. She prepares rabbits in the kitchen on the morning of the threatened killing and treats Santiago with open hostility, partly because she fears he will repeat his father's conduct toward her daughter.

Appears from the start

Victoria Guzmán's adolescent daughter, who serves in Santiago's house. She is frightened by Santiago's attention and by her mother's warning about men like him, while the morning's danger gathers around a household that has not yet understood it.

Appears from the start

The proprietor of the milk shop where the Vicario twins wait with their knives in view. Alarmed by their stated purpose, she becomes one of the first people to treat the threat as an immediate danger rather than drunken talk.

Appears from the start

The town's mayor, a retired military officer responsible for maintaining order. He is among the authorities to whom news of the twins' declared plan is carried on the morning of the bishop's visit.

Appears from the start

The parish priest, preoccupied on the morning of the killing with preparations for the bishop's brief visit. His religious duties place him at the center of a town already distracted by ceremony and the previous night's wedding.

Appears from the start

A medical student and close friend of Santiago who accompanied him during the wedding festivities. He walks with Santiago on the morning after the celebration and is one of the people most familiar with his plans and movements.

Appears from the start

The narrator's mother and Santiago's godmother, closely connected to the town's families and unusually alert to their news. Once she learns of the plot, she sets out to warn Plácida Linero, only to discover how far events have already advanced.

Also known as Pura Vicario

First appears in chapter 2

Angela's strict mother, who has trained her daughters for marriage and regards family honor as an unquestionable duty. When Bayardo brings Angela home, she responds with violence and summons her sons, demanding the name of the man involved.

First appears in chapter 5

Santiago's fiancée, who learns on the morning of the killing that Angela has accused him. Hurt and furious, she confronts Santiago when he comes to her house and rejects the letters he had sent during their engagement.