Dom Casmurro by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, and Chronicle of A Deat

Dom Casmurro by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, and Chronicle of A Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez Works Cited Not Included Religion is supremacy, perfection and spirituality. A typical Latin American religious community heavily relies on religion to provide a moral framework to guide and protect its citizens. However, projecting religion in the light of perfection is superficial. In actuality, it often contains flaws underneath its idealistic teachings. The inadequacy in maintaining the idealistic doctrines is deeply rooted in society. Such notion is reflected and commented upon in the novels Dom Casmurro by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and Chronicle of A Death Foretold by Gabriel Garci ­a Marquez. In both novels, the authors effectively criticize religion through their satiric portrayal of religious authorities and other characters' attitudes towards religion. The two novels reveal the practical result of religion in a critical light. The ideal doctrine of religion adjusts itself to the imperfect world in ways that some times do not command respect. The actual practice of the doctrine allows flexibility, which is often abused. In Dom Casmurro, Bento and Jose Dias imagine that a journey to see the Pope will undo Dona Gloria's promise to God. Eventually they settle the matter much more conveniently by resorting to the local church. As shown in Escobar's speech, the characters are constantly manipulating with the power of the religious authorities: "Consult the protonotary about it and if he hesitates, we'll speak to the bishop" (171). This implies that the people often seek and take advantages of the plot holes in religion. The concept of religion as an obligation becomes obvious through... ...o to mirror the Church's failure to uphold high moral standards and use their authority effectively and seriously. Through the subtle and detailed portrayals of the characters in the novels Chronicle of A Death Foretold and Dom Casmurro shed a criticizing light on the hypocritical Church present in the community. Bento's repulsion to be religiously devoted bluntly reveals the blemishes in the practical result of religion hidden underneath seemingly deep devotion. The tragedy of Santiago Nasar explores the other defects of religion, one that is present in the Church itself, and how failure to uphold moral standards in Church upsets the community. Of course the authors do not write solely to condemn religion, they also bring forth the concept that people must adjust their attitudes toward religion and then irrational, old values set by the past Church.