Santiago is the protagonist of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. His actions and his death are the central events in the story as it is pieced together by the narrator many years later.

Despite his centrality to the story, Santiago remains an elusive figure. Many important questions about his life and death remain unanswered. Given that the narrator infuses the story with so many opinions and perspectives, the version of the protagonist that emerges is a nuanced, complex demonstration of how Santiago is a different person to different people. To his fiancé, he is a rich, high-status partner who represents a respectable marriage right up until Angela’s confession. To the chef Victoria Guzmán, Santiago is a continuation of his father’s sexual proclivities and a threat to the “honor” of her daughter. To Victoria’s daughter, Divina Flor, Santiago is a harasser and an abuser, as well as her employer. To the narrator, he is a close friend. To the townspeople, however, Santiago becomes a sensation whose death is a spectacle and a shame.

These various interpretations of Santiago’s character show the complexities and subjectivity of social interaction. From these fragments of characterization, the