In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes Bayardo San Roman as the son of a conservative general. The conservatives in Colombia at the time favored traditional influences on the country—Spain, the Catholic Church, etc.
Marquez often portrays characters identified as conservative as wealthy. When Bayardo arrives in town, the narrator describes him having "saddlebags decorated with silver that matched the buckle of his belt and the rings on his boots." In addition, Bayardo "had the waist of a novice bullfighter, golden eyes, and a skin slowly roasted by saltpeter" and is "swimming in gold."
While the townspeople found him attractive ("He looked like a fairy"), they were also repulsed by him. The narrator's mother said, "He reminded me of the devil" and caused her to "shudder" in fear.
Throughout the novel, this dichotomy between the townspeople's awe of Bayardo and their fear or disgust of him plays out. This conflict is important because it represents the era in which the liberals and conservatives in Colombia were literally fighting for the loyalty of the masses.
Finally, while the wealthy Bayardo chose a poor girl, Angela Vicario, to marry, he discarded her without concern. I wonder if he would have acted the same if Angela was from his social class.
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