Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Marquez allows for multiple interpretations of his title "Chronicle of a Death Foretold." If one isolates the first few pages of this novel, hence assuming the perception that Marquez's novel is a chronicle of a fated death, then the title contradicts itself in that the first page begins at the end. A chronicle must document events in precise chronological order, a rule that Marquez ignores in the first sentence of his novel. Before even opening the cover, however, the title appears inherently amiss. The first word, 'chronicle', defies the final 'foretold'. If the reader is to know that an event is fated, they must know this from the start of a novel, before the commencing the plot that will explain the event. Because a chronicle is restricted to time's logical progression, a book is not a chronicle if it begins with the ultimate conclusion of a tale.