Response: "What is wrong with the title 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold'?"

At first glance, the title "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" seems to be contradictory, as the word chronicle generally refers to a chronological account of an event which already happened, while 'foretold' seems to suggest that the event hasn't happened yet as the word refers to the predicting of the future. However, the title could easily be interpreted as meaning a chronicle of how a death was foretold or, alternately, a chronicle of a death which had been foretold. If this is to be the case, the confusion presented through the title is merely a result of lack of clarification, as either possibility named above is logically sound on its own. However, in the context of the book itself there is still an issue with either interpretation, as the events within the book are not presented in chronological order. 'Chronicle' can sometimes be used less formally to simply mean a detailed record of events, though, so the issue is a minor one.

Despite the fact that the contradictions present in the title can be cleared up by simply using a different interpretation, there is still the issue of why such an easily misinterpreted and confusing title was chosen in the first place. Most likely, this was used to generate interest in the book, as the contradictory title catches one's eye and makes one curious about what the title could possibly mean and what the book could be about. In addition, the title is quite in line with the apparent nature of literature from the Latin American Boom, as the deconstruction of traditional narratives, which often involves messing with chronological order, is a common theme.