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“Pedro Paramo”

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, is a classic example of “Magic Realism”, a genre of latin literature that straddles the line between reality and fantasy. This novel about Juan Preciado’s mysterious journey to find his father, incorporates various themes and often leaves the reader unable to distinguish physical existence from fantasy. These themes all come together to tell the enigmatic and complicated story of Pedro Paramo’s hometown, Comala a desert town where all of the inhabitants are in fact dead.

One of the most prevalent themes in the novel is death. Rulfo is at times very subtle in the manifestations of death throughout the novel. He uses setting, imagery as well as a mixed narrative style to set the dramatic tone of the novel. As is observed when Juan begins his journey, Comala is placed far below town, the road to Comala continues downward, almost as if he is traveling to the farthest depths of hell, the town is deserted and completely run down. Upon entering Comala, the line between life and death becomes very blurred. Juan meets many people during his time in Comala, all the while not knowing if he is actually speaking to a live being or their wandering spirit. The fact that Juan is unable to distinguish the living from the dead demonstrates that in the town of Comala, death is not an end. Comala represents a sort of purgatory in which the spirits of the townspeople are unable to rest as they are plagued by the events of their lives. The narrative style of the novel is a continual switch between first and third person and seems to mimic the murmuring of spirits all attempting to tell their stories to Juan, the only living person in the town. In a way it seems as though these spirits continue to search for the

salvation that they were promised. In telling their stories to Juan, they hope that it will set them free from the abiding stagnancy that is Comala. In many ways we see Rulfo attempting to answer the great mystery of death, by portraying it as a stagnant event, one that is unable to improve or destroy a person. In the same breath, Rulfo also seems to elicit feelings of opposition against the Catholic Religion. In making Comala the town of purgatory and of perpetual damnation, he contradicts the principle of salvation in exchange for repentance. Although death is the most obvious theme of the novel, there are also strong undertones of hope. On the largest scale, there is a collective hope that the souls of Comala will be saved and not forced to bear the wraths of hell. On a smaller scale however it seems as though the people of Comala, are people whose dreams have been lost and they continue to roam Comala in search for the hopes and dreams they once had. Throughout the novel the reader realizes that the reason for the shattered hopes of Comala is Juan’s father Pedro Paramo. As Juan learns through the stories of the spirits that his father was quite the tyrant, Juan’s hope for having a relationship with his father is shattered, and his hope is gone. However, what Juan is unable to see is the young dreamer that his father was as a boy. The reader is able to see the intimate memories of Pedro’s childhood, how he longed for his love Susana and hoped that one day they could be together. It is in these brief moments of weakness that the reader almost feels pity for Don Pedro. Regardless of his evildoings as a man, at the core he is a boy holding onto hope. One could even say that Don Pedros tough exterior is in many ways to protect himself from loving, therefore protecting himself from being hurt. The fact that Don Pedro’s own hopes have failed him seems to give him reason to take away the hope of the residents of Comala.