Mexican Identity Through The Work: Mythical And Thematic

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Mexican identity through the work: mythical and thematic

First, it is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the novel there are characteristic features of the so -called "ghost novel". We observe these attributes when the dead mother of Juan Preciado, protagonist of the first part of the work, appears in the dreams of his son to demand that he travel to Comala to ask his father, Pedro Páramo. Thus, these hallucinations suffered.

Second, we observe that this work is a clear example of "ghost novel", because all the characters that appear along the argument are dead, just like the lands. However, all these secondary characters seem to be alive, but with the development of the novel we can intuit that the interventions of these characters are nothing more than whispers. Also, these subjects are trapped in the town as "ghosts", because they have not obtained the forgiveness of the priest. Thus, the lands are deserted and the "ghosts" that Bagan will not leave the place, because they were not forgiven in life and their souls do not rest in peace. Despite this, we contemplate that the deceased characters are not completely real, but are the result of Juan Preciado’s imagination.

Third, the protagonists of the novel, Juan Preciado and Pedro Páramo, also have a consideration of “ghosts”, since Pedro Páramo, on the one hand, will be dead throughout the work and will be aware of it on his arrival at the cemetery. However, on the other hand, Juan Preciado is alive, but he will die upon hearing the regrets of those who died there.

Mexican identity through the work: mythical and thematic.

When talking about Mexican identity, it can be said that the issues that appear in reading in one way or another are their hospitality, wanting to know their roots, the conservation of the typical language there, the issue of death and religion. On the other hand, it is possible to talk about the subject of the simultaneous abuse of power that can be reflected in the work and that is conceived at that time, also, in Latin America.

Hospitality is embodied in Susana when she welcomes Juan Preciado without knowing him in advance. It is true that he knew his mother very well, but this woman stood out in the town for being the one who welcomed the pilgrims who passed by. It should not be forgotten that he did it in exchange for money, but even so, at that time, he allowed the entry into his home of complete strangers by hospitality.

Another typical thought of Mexicans is wanting to know the place where they come. Juan Preciado is not that he wants to know the roots of his parents as such. He decides to return to his mother’s town because it is his last will. Either for his mother or not, the point is that he will know his ancestors. The characters of the work must face those ancestors “who does not finish leaving, which is always present (symbolized by the people full of dead)“. This idea of not leaving the past behind is a typical trait of Mexican society.

On the other hand, I wanted to talk about the issue of death and witchcraft that are intimately linked. From the beginning of the work you can already perceive the issue of death constantly. An example would be when Juan Preciado arrives at the town of his parents, comala, and passes a flock of black crows. It is a redundancy to say that crows are black, but the author does it for a simple reason and it wants to highlight the idea of death. Crows have always symbolized death, just like black color, so the color and type of animal has clarified. In this work they focus on the issue of death from a different perspective in which death is not conceived as something bad. In addition, the reader gradually realizes that all the people who speak Juan Preciado and who appear in the novel are dead. The people are desert, in fact when Juan sees from afar the town thus defines it, desert. The ghosts that live there is because they cannot leave. Their wings cannot rest, since they failed to be forgiven in life. Being surrounded by the dead, there is no other possibility than waiting for the protagonist to end up dying too.

Mexicans are a very believer society and, therefore, the work is treated in sins: – The rain became breeze. He heard: “The forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the flesh. Amen."In this way, the characters cross the town as cursed, because of the sins.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the historical context of the work, since it greatly influences the succession of the facts of Pedro Páramo. The Cristero war marked in the work, since there was an anticlerical president who cut the privileges of the church. That caused a lot of tension between bishops and governments. The ancient military put themselves in front of a war that lasted about 3 years. This war influences the author because he makes him a shy, retracted and lonely person. And, all this is reflected in the work because before it came to power everything was different. People manifested against Pedro Páramo from anonymity for fear of what the tyrant could do. The protest against Pedro Páramo’s authority becomes increasingly acute as the narrative progresses. Like the countries of America, the people of Comala suffered many abuses from their rulers and Juan Rulfo wanted to reflect in his work that constant abuse committed by the rulers of Latin America.

Psychological profile of the female characters that are on the path of Juan Preciado. 

The work Pedro Páramo aims to reflect the female ideology of the time from the female characters of Preciado Dolores, mother of Pedro Páramo, Eduviges Dyada, Dorotea, Justina Díaz and Damiana Cisneros. The intention is to present two types of women who represent female sexual repression.

Women, throughout the work, are characterized by Celestina, Mendigas and Locas. They do not express their femininity, but are limited to following the social status based on machismo and that is full of prejudices. We must highlight the character of Susana San Juan as one of the key and referents of the female figure.

First, a female group that will represent the "good" and obedient woman will be shown. It will be one that will fulfill the role of mother, wife and protector of the home and her children. Because its objective is to procreate and satisfy the male desire. This ideology corresponds to the patriarchal mentality. This role is carried out through characters such as Preciado Dolores and Pedro Páramo’s mother.

On the other hand, the second group will not coincide with the female canon of the right woman’s role. Because it is composed of mothers without vocation and women who carry out extramarital relationships. Eduviges Dyada, Dorotea, Justina Díaz and Damiana Cisneros represent role of sinful, fatal and easy woman. This woman agrees to pleasure with several men without adjusting to the patriarchal ideology that goes into the marriage relationship of mother and wife.

In conclusion, throughout the work, Juan Preciado meets a series of female characters who are subject to fulfilling the figure of women as a mother and wife;A woman sent and without decisive power, who lives in a macho and patriotic society.

Interpretation of the novel and personal opinion

On the one hand, the novel Pedro Páramo has as an essential theme the death, which will mean a very important element because of the author’s experiences, since his parents died when he was very young. In addition, Rulfo shows us how death is a component that is present in our lives from childhood, although we are not aware. This causes it to be difficult to differentiate between life and death, which torments the reader, since there is great confusion of where borders are established. Likewise, this issue is adopted by the author of the Mexican popular tradition, since it is usual to find in this culture the issue of souls condemned to revive their past without ever resting in peace.

On the other hand, in my opinion, it is a slow and difficult work to understand from the beginning, because numerous characters appear that we will not detect that the argument will be dead until well advanced. In addition, the main character will not finally be Juan Preciado or Pedro Páramo, but death, since he comes alive in the work and will even obtain consideration of the protagonist.

Finally, we observe that the objective that the work initially has is an impossible goal, since the starting point of the adventure is dead, precious pain, and the final purpose, Juan Páramo, also. This causes the plot of the work to become very interesting, but, in turn, it makes reading more complicated and confusing.    

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