Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Character Profiles

Father Carmen Amador
Father Carmen Amador is the parish priest, who learns that Santiago is about to be killed, but forgets to mention it to him. He later performs the autopsy on Santiago’s body, as the town doctor is absent.
Colonel Lázaro Aponte
The town mayor, Colonel Lázaro Aponte is notified of the plot to kill Santiago, but fails to take the threat seriously. Rather than arrest Pedro and Pablo, he merely takes away their knives and reprimands them. Later, he fails to stop the murder because he is checking on a domino game.
Clotilde Armenta
Clotilde Armenta is the owner of a milk shop in which the twins, Pedro and Pablo Vicario, wait for three hours before killing Santiago Nasar. Like all the other townspeople, Clotilde knows of the plot to kill Santiago, but fails to stop it. Clotilde’s elderly husband, Don Rogelio de la Flor, dies of shock when he sees the butchered body of Santiago Nasar.
Mercedes Barcha
Mercedes Barcha is the girlfriend and future wife of the narrator (also the name of Gabriel García Márquez’s actual wife).
Cristo Bedoya
The best friend of Santiago Nasar, Cristo Bedoya tries and fails to warn Santiago about his impending murder.
María Alejandrina Cervantes
María Alejandrina Cervantes is the owner of the town brothel and lover of many, including Santiago Nasar and the narrator.
 
Divina Flor
Divina Flor is the teenage daughter of the Nasars’ cook, Victoria Guzmán. In the first bloom of adolescence, she is both frightened and excited by the predatory advances of Santiago Nasar. She seems to know that she is fated to be his lover, just as her mother, Victoria, was once seduced by Santiago’s father, Ibrahim.
Victoria Guzmán
The Nasar family’s cook, Victoria Guzmán was seduced long ago by Santiago Nasar’s father, Ibrahim. She is not fond of Santiago Nasar, and warns him to stay away from her daughter, Divina Flor.
Dr. Dionisio Iguarán
Dr. Dionisio Iguarán is the town doctor, whom the narrator respects as a learned man.
Plácida Linero
Plácida Linero is the mother of Santiago Nasar. Her husband, Ibrahim Nasar, is dead, and Santiago is her only child. Plácida is the last to learn that her son will be killed, and fails to save him from his fate.
Flora Miguel
Flora Miguel is the pretty but rather dull fiancée of Santiago Nasar.
Nahir Miguel
The father of Santiago’s fiancée Flora, Nahir Miguel warns Santiago he is about to be killed, but Santiago is confused and doesn’t understand the warning.
Margot, Jaime, and Luis Enrique
Margot, Jaime, and Luis Enrique are siblings of the narrator (and the real names of three of Gabriel García Márquez’s actual siblings). Margot is the one who invites Santiago to the family’s home for breakfast on the morning of his murder.
Narrator
The narrator is an unnamed reporter and longtime resident of the town where Santiago Nasar was killed. He writes twenty-seven years after the murder, in an attempt to clear up the mystery as to why, if everyone in the town apparently knew of the plot, nobody succeeded in preventing the tragedy from occurring.
Ibrahim Nasar
The father of Santiago Nasar, Ibrahim Nasar was an Arab immigrant who arrived in Colombia at the end of the civil wars. His marriage to Santiago’s mother was one of convenience, and they only had one child, Santiago. At the time of the story, Ibrahim has been dead for three years.
Santiago Nasar
The central character of the novel, Santiago Nasar, aged twenty-one, is a handsome young Spanish-Arab man from a well-off family. Santiago is heir to his father’s cattle ranch, which he administers “with very good judgment but without much luck.” A typical macho man, Santiago enjoys hunting, falconry, and horses, as well as seducing women. When falsely accused of having taken the virginity of Angela Vicario, he meets a brutal death at the hands of Angela’s brothers.
Bayardo San Román
The dashing Bayardo San Román, a railroad engineer, arrived in the town six months before the murder. In search of a woman to marry, he discovers Angela Vicario, and wins her hand by dazzling her family with his wealthy and prominent background. However, he fails to win Angela’s heart. On their wedding night, Bayardo is dismayed to find Angela not a virgin, and sends her back to her parents in disgrace. Many years later, however, the couple is reunited.
General Petronio San Román
General Petronio San Román is the  father of Bayardo San Román and hero of the civil wars. The general cuts an impressive figure when he comes to visit the family of Angela Vicario.
Luisa Santiaga
The mother of the narrator and Santiago’s godmother, Luisa Santiaga tries to warn Santiago’s mother of the plot against his life, but she is too late. Luisa Santiaga is the real name of Gabriel García Márquez’s mother.
Yamil Shaium
Fellow Arab immigrant and friend to Santiago’s late father, Yamil Shaium is alerted to the plot against Santiago, but fails to warn him, preferring to check with Cristo Bedoya first.
Alberta Simonds
Alberta Simonds is the mother of Bayardo San Román, who makes an appearance in the town after her son becomes engaged. Alberta is a mulatto woman from the Caribbean island of Curaçao. In her youth, she was one of the great beauties of the Antilles.
Angela Vicario
The beautiful young bride of Bayardo San Román, Angela Vicario is sent back home in disgrace on her wedding night when her husband finds she is not a virgin. She tells her family that Santiago Nasar is the one who took her virginity, although there is some doubt as to whether she is telling the truth. For years after the disastrous wedding night, Angela continues to send letters of apology to her disappointed groom, until at last he forgives her and returns to her when both are middle aged.
Pedro and Pablo Vicario
Pedro and Pablo Vicario are the twin older brothers of Angela Vicario, pig butchers by trade. Pedro and Pablo kill Santiago Nasar in order to defend their family’s honor after Angela claims that Santiago took her virginity.
Poncio Vicario and Purísima del Carmen
Poncio Vicario and Purísima del Carmen are the parents of Angela Vicario. Poncio is an aged former goldsmith who has gone blind from years of doing fine work in gold to maintain his family’s social position. Purísima is a former schoolteacher whose meek and nunlike appearance belies the strength of her character. She is the one who pushes Angela into a loveless marriage, saying “Love can be learned too.” When Angela is returned to the house in disgrace, Purísima flies into a rage and beats her. Poncio dies some time after the events of what Angela calls “moral pain.”
The Widower Xius
An elderly widower, Xius lives alone in the house he shared for thirty happy years with his late wife. When Bayardo San Román insists on buying the widower’s house, Xius is torn apart. He doesn’t want to sell, but cannot refuse the large sum of money Bayardo offers. Xius dies of grief only two months after selling his home.