Being able to understand the personas of characters greatly aids the process of analyzing and comprehending the storyline of a novel. Factors like the upbringing of a character, the time and place, and the environments a character is exposed to, are usually seen as being the most important ones. Many individuals fail to notice other factors that are neglected by some due to the believe that these factors do not reveal essential details about characters that could help the reader grasp the main themes that are trying to be conveyed in the book. The way people dress themselves can reveal numerous details about their personality, starting from their likes and dislikes to what place in society they see themselves in. The articles of clothing, including jewelry that the characters in Dom Casmurro and Chronicle of a Death Foretold wear assist the narrator in revealing the characters' personalities and in explaining the characters' actions throughout the two novels. .
When reading both these novels, most readers usually do not first pay attention to the details of the clothing that the characters in these two novels wear. However, the articles of clothing that are mentioned in the books do play a vital role in illustrating the symbolical meanings that help explain the personalities of the characters introduced in the books. One interesting pair of characters, about whose sense of fashion we are informed of, is José Dias and Santiago Nasar. Santiago Nasar, arguably the victim of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, is a wealthy twenty-one year old man who can afford to wear whatever he likes. José Dias, on the other hand, is referred to as "the dependant- by the narrator of Dom Casmurro. By having to live with another family, José Dias learns to be satisfied with what he has and tries to only ask for the bare minimum from Bento's family. He is a man with simple desires and one who is pleased with the support he gets from his host family.
