Blog #6 - Pedro Páramo
When I first began reading Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo I felt a wave of relief that I was able to easily follow the first bit of the book. That relief soon turned to slight confusion as I found myself rereading passages and struggling to decipher between who was narrating, and whom about, but maybe that is all part of the “game”. I also feel as though there exists a "magic circle" around the small town of Comala, where the rules surrounding life, death, and everything in-between are very different from anywhere else.
I found Pedro Páramo to be very intriguing and I found myself having a hard time putting the book down. Through Rulfo I have discovered that I quite enjoy reading books in the genre of magical realism. In terms of the question from the lecture, I think the text is telling us that the relationship between life and death is more fluid than is traditionally seen. I had a hard time knowing exactly who is alive, who is dying, and who is dead, especially given that everyone in any of these states can communicate between each other. It also made me toss around the idea that sins, memories, thoughts, do not die with the body, and I felt grief for the souls being tormented by their traumas spinning endlessly on a broken record.
This text, with the constant visualization of shadows, the meshing of dialectics, and epecially the anti-climatic way that Pedro Páramo ends up dying reminds me of a poem written by T.S. Eliot titled “The Hollow Men”. The death of Pedro Páramo specifically made me think of the concluding lines:
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper”
I am taking a Jewish Information Course right now, and I've learned that there is a Jewish saying regarding death that is along the lines of: "You die twice. You die once, when you do die, but the second time you die is when your name isn't spoken anymore". I believe that most (if not all) of the characters in this text have died once, but they refuse to die that second time, yearning to hold on a bit longer to the weak grasp they have left on life.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think I will reread sometime in the future to better understand it, or to get a fresh perspective on it.
My question for discussion: If the story were to continue, do you think that Comala would exist has a sort of never-ending purgatory, or do you think that the souls will eventually figure out how to "leave"?
I liked the reference to Eliot, thanks for sharing the verses of the poem. Rulfo himself was a great reader of poetry, and although I don't have the quote at hand to confirm it, I'm sure he must have read that poem. This novel is an essay on resonances, among other things. Not only of the voices that roam the streets of the town of Comala, or of the effect of those voices among the characters, but of literary themes... or even theological ones. We will continue commenting on this class.
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence, I found your observation about the "magic circle" around Comala to be very interesting as I have never thought of "magic circle" when I was reading the book! However, I do think this might be the effect of "magical realism" that the rules surrounding life and death in Comala seems to be "surreal" in an otherwise realistic world. As for your question about the continuation of the story, it's hard to say what might happen to Comala and its inhabitants. Given the cyclical nature of the book, it's possible that the souls will continue to be trapped in their purgatory. On the other hand, perhaps there is "hope" for them to eventually find peace and move on to a different realm with the doom of the town.
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence! Your blog post was really interesting and it made me view the book a bit differently. I liked how you brought up the idea that the townspeople have only died "once" and that until they let go of their names, their identity, they will continue to "exist". That perspective makes the story seem even sadder to me and changes how I initially perceived the characters. To answer your question, I viewed the town as "cursed" in a way, so in my mind I don't think the souls would ever figure out how to "leave" (as sad as that sounds).
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence, I really enjoyed about your analysis on this "magic circle" and although we as readers find this impossible, I loved how Rulfo is able to take this extraordinary circumstances and apply them in "reality". To answer your question, I think that the town Comala will remain as this "purgatory" where the souls will not be able to leave because of the "routine" Rulfo portrayed they had in the novel.
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence, I also struggled with the formatting at the beginning and trying to figure out exactly what was happening. You brought up how the text explores the idea that death isn't exactly what we think it is and I found that an interesting interpretation. The exploration of life and death and their relation to each other added another layer of intrigue to the story. I think your interpretation helps explain the purpose of the non-linear storytelling and why those elements were included when they weren't necessarily mandatory to tell the story about Pedro. To answer your question, I'm not really sure. But I think they would exist in the "purgatory" and never leave the endless loop they seem to live (live is probably not the right word) in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for including your insights into Pedro Paramo and especially including the little poem from Eliot! The fate of the souls in Comala is a great question, I think that in a way that the "ghosts" that live there, are there because they choose to continue to "live" in the town even after death, and ultimately they can choose to leave whenever they want to.
ReplyDeleteHello! I really enjoyed your interpretation on Pedro Pramo. To asnwer your question, in my head it makes sense tha comalla would continue to exist as a sort of "purgatory" since it was there before Juan arrived and it would make sense that it wouldnt just banish. It is rather cruel to be stuck in an afterlife, but I supose that is the appeal.
ReplyDeleteI think your comment about the "magic circle" around Comala is so astute and well-put. It was beautiful and strange to observe how Juan's approach to Comala gradually unravelled his "simple," linear narrative into a crowded spiral of voices and timelines. The lines between reality and imagination were heavily blurred, as were those between life and death. And I imagine that this is uniquely experienced by the inhabitants of Comala, like you suggest.
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