The Smell of Santiago Nasar

Who doesn't love an extended poop joke in the middle of high literature? Oh wait, maybe we should start at the beginning.

So where were we? Oh yeah, the lingering smell of Santiago Nasar. It turns out that rather than haunting the town with his spirit, Santiago left behind a rather pungent smell instead. It starts just as the twins are killing him:

Pablo Vicario, who was on his left, then gave him the only stab in the back and a spurt of blood under high pressure soaked his shirt. "It smelled like him," he told me. (5.73)

We're not really sure exactly what that means, but Pablo isn't the only one who notices the smell. The whole town smells like Santiago for what seems like years.

If you've read Shakespeare's Macbeth, you'll be pretty familiar with this phenomenon. Just like the spot of blood that Lady Macbeth is unable to wash out, Pablo and Pedro just can't get rid of this smell. Lucky for them, Pablo and Pedro don't go crazy like Lady Macbeth, but the smell is still a symbol of their guilt, just like the spot of blood.

Oh yeah, about the poop:

They were sitting down to breakfast when they saw Santiago Nasar enter, soaked in blood and carrying the roots of his entrails in his hands. Poncho Lanao told me: "What I'll never forget was the terrible smell of s***." (5.75)

So the smell that Santiago left behind was the smell of poop. We guess even Nobel Prize winners enjoy potty humor sometimes.