Chronicle of a Death Foretold Fate and Free Will Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

On the upper floor, where the customs offices had been before, he built two large bedrooms and five cubbyholes for the many children he intended having, and he constructed a wooden balcony that overlooked the almond trees on the square, where Plácida Linero would sit on March afternoons to console herself for her solitude. (1.18)

From the very beginning, it is suggested that Santiago's death was destiny. This quote even makes it seem like it was predestined before he was even born, since his father built a house with a balcony for Plácida Linero to sit on while she's lonely—in other words, when neither Santiago nor his father are alive anymore.

Quote #2

Nevertheless, no sooner had she heard the news than she put on her high-heeled shoes and the church shawl she only wore for visits of condolence. My father, who had heard everything from his bed, appeared in the dining room in his pajamas and asked in alarm where she was going. "To warn my dear friend Plácida," she answered. "It isn't right that everybody should know that they're going to kill her son and she the only one who doesn't." "We've got the same ties to the Vicario's that we do with her," my father said. "You always have to take the side of the dead," she said. (1.42)

Although the narrator's mother is trying to help here, even she has given in to the idea that Santiago is done for. Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to warn Santiago, instead of his mom?

Quote #3

My mother was the only one who appreciated as an act of courage the fact that she had played out her marked cards to the final consequences. "In those days," she explained to me, "God understood such things." (2.43)

This quote is talking about what the bravery the narrator's mom sees in Angela's decision to go through with the wedding even though she wasn't a virgin. Why you think she sees it as an act of courage? What does she mean by "God understood such things?"