Chronicle+Character+-+Placida+Linero

=__Chronicle of a Death Foretold__ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez=

Role in plot:
Placida Linero is Santiago Nasar's mother and an interpreter of dreams. She is also the widow of Ibrahim Nasar, Santiago's deceased father. On the day of her son's death, she did not pay particular attention to the trees in Santiago's dreams and failed to warn him of his impending doom. Instead, she dismissed his dream, as "any dream about birds meant good health" (4).That was the last time she saw her son alive.

Everyday, Placida Linero "would wake up at seven, have her coffee, and come down to give instructions for lunch" (125). On the day of her son's death, however, she did not. The day Santiago was to be murdered, Divina Flor had sworn to Placida Linero that she had seen her son enter the house. When Placida Linero heard that her son was going to be killed, and in an attempt to protect him, she "ran to the door and slammed it shut" (138), thinking he was upstairs in his room. Placida Linero had locked the door moments before Santiago Nasar's death.

After a period of time, she eventually "freed herself from blame" (114), justifying that Divina Flor had not told her the truth about her son being up stairs. "On the other hand, she never forgave herself for having mixed up the magnificent augury of trees with the unlucky one of birds" (115).

**Significance of name in work:**
Placida Linero is portrayed as a calm woman in the novel. Even on the day of her son's murder, she "showed no sign of interest" other than the fact that she did not want her son to get soaked in the rain for fear of catching a cold (7). The name "Placida" is the feminine form of the Latin name //Placidus//, meaning "calm, placid, and tranquil". Placida Linero embodies this calm and peacful trait; she was a woman of "steady nerves" (137), and did not express any sign of alarm, even on the day of her son's murder. However, on the day of Santiago Nasar's autopsy, Placida Linero "just once, lost her grip" (85).

Student's name:
Ai Ting Chan