Comparason between the autopsy in The House of the Spirits and Chronicles of a Death Foretold

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Death is a universal subject used in many novels to engage the reader. The way death is represented varies greatly between novels and authors. Two examples of differing views can be seen in The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende and Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez. In both novels deaths occur to young characters, in The House of the Spirits the character Rosa, who was young, beautiful and engaged, dies as an accident whereas in Chronicle of a Death Foretold the young character, Santiago Nasar, is murdered. These unexpected deaths both result in autopsies. As seen in the close reading of the autopsies, in The House of the Spirits Rosa’s autopsy reveals family bonds, emotion and care, whereas in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Santiago Nasar’s autopsy shows lacking in emotion and care. The diction in Allende’s extract is emotionally attached, whereas the diction in Márquez’s extract is unemotional and medical. Throughout the extract from The House of the Spirits the diction is somber. The mood is created through using words such as; weeping, fried, upset, etc. Care for Rosa’s body is emphasized by the diction used to describe the way she was handled. The characters performing the autopsy, Dr. Cuevas and his assistant, “gently” set down Rosa’s body and “lifted” her nightgown. On the contrary there was no care for Santiago’s body in the extract from Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The diction in the autopsy of Santiago is medical and doesn’t contain any emotional words. In the third paragraph the diction is strictly medical. This is ironic as the autopsy “[has] no legal standing” and is performed by Father Amador. The diction creates a sense of dehumanization as Santiago is referred to as “the body”. Márquez uses diction to create an unemotional passage while Allende creates a caring passage. Allende creates an emotional passage through

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