3/26/14
• Bellwork: Answer the
following question in at
least 3-5 sentences on
left side page 80 of your
INB
– What is the relationship
of the past to the
present? How do
historical events inform
us now? Can past events
“haunt” us? Give an
example.
• Agenda:
– Bellwork
– Notes Pedro Paramo
(right side page 81)
– Discussion of text/Let’s
talk/This book is
confusing
– Character chart (page83)
The Ghosts of Comala: Threads
of History in Pedro Paramo
Socio-cultural, socio-political, sociohistorical contextual background
Background – Pedro Paramo
• Published in 1955
– One of the most analyzed
and commented works in
Mexican literature.
• The novel is often seen as
representative of Mexican
modernity
– While traditional Mexico
fades, its presence still
lingers, like the ghosts in
the novel
• Takes place in Comala, a
ghost town created from
the effects of events in
19th and 20th century
Mexican social history
– revolutions, feudal
systems, deruralization)
• Rulfo was inspired by his
own town, which had
become uninhabited,
when he visited it 30
years later
Narrative voices
• The novel weaves the stories of three principal
characters together: Juan Preciado, Susana San Juan
and Pedro Paramo
– The novel begins from Juan’s point of view
• Juan is Pedro’s only legitimate son who searches for identity and
revenge.
– Woven into Juan’s narrative are flashbacks of Pedro’s
biography
• Pedro is the son of landowners who had been falling into debt
• He marries Delores Preciado for her money, although he loves
Susana San Juan, who had moved away.
• Pedro is able to build up his ranch and expand, despite the events
of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)
Fragmented voices
• The textual structure weaves the story lines
through a series of fragments
– In some parts, Juan narrates (and this is where the
novel begins) (1st person)
– In other parts, Pedro’s thoughts are present (1st
person)
• Often, these internal monologues are related to Susana
– There is also a traditional 3rd person omniscient
narrator
– Lastly, there are various lines of dialogue, unidentified
voices of ghosts who haunt the town
Representations of society
• Pedro: his accumulation of land as a rancher relates back to
the events during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz
– His attempts to modernize Mexico allowed for the creation of
places like Media Luna and strong local elite leaders, like Pedro
• Susana: she relates back to the repressed role of women in
a patriarchal order
– Hints of incest with her father
– She is kept almost like a possession
– In Comala, women are used to populate the countryside with
illegitimate children (think of Miguel)
• Do not forget about the peasants, either. (we can talk about
them more later)
Narrative framework
• Time is unclear in this novel
– The presence of multiple narratives and voices at the same time has led some
scholars to discuss “parallel memories”
• Despite the fragmented nature of the text, we do have a sequence of
events
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1) Pedro’s adolescence and love for Susana
2) Pedro’s build up of Media Luna (the birth of his tyranny)
3)Miguel’s life and death
4) The return of Susana and the Mexican Revolution
5) The demise of Comala and Pedro’s death
6) Juan’s search for his father
7) The reawakening of the dead
• The novel begins and ends with Pedro’s sons (Abundio and Juan)
– What can we make of this cyclical sort of structure? What might it say about
the father-son relationship and what happens in between?
Names – Should we read into them?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Comal – a flat pan for cooking corn cakes
Pedro – Stone
Paramo – a wasteland
Preciado – valuable/prized
Abundio – Abundance
Dolores – Pain
Fulgor – Shine/Brilliance
Renteria – productive land or property