Pedro Páramo Characters

Juan Preciado is one of the novel’s three main protagonists, along with Pedro Páramo and Susana San Juan. His narrative voice dominates the first part of the novel, until his death around halfway through… read analysis of Juan Preciado

Pedro Páramo is one of the three protagonists of the novel along with Juan Preciado (Pedro’s son) and Susana San Juan (Pedro’s childhood sweetheart). He can alternately be viewed as a villainous embodiment of pure… read analysis of Pedro Páramo

Susana San Juan is one of the novel’s central characters along with Pedro Páramo (her second husband) and Juan Preciado (one of Pedro’s many illegitimate sons). Her return to Comala and marriage to Pedro Páramo… read analysis of Susana San Juan

Dolores is Juan Preciado’s mother, who dies in the novel’s opening paragraph. On her deathbed, she urges Juan return to her hometown and his birthplace, Comala, and claim his rightful inheritance from his father… read analysis of Dolores Preciado (Juan’s Mother)

Eduviges is an old friend of Dolores Preciado and her ghost takes in Juan Preciado when he arrives in Comala. In her life, Eduviges is generous and loving. Several men in Comala (like Miguel Páramo… read analysis of Eduviges Dyada

Miguel is Pedro Páramo’s malicious, criminal son, and he is the only of Pedro’s countless illegitimate children whom he actually treats as his own. This was never Pedro’s intent; Miguel’s mother dies in childbirth… read analysis of Miguel Páramo

Lucas is Pedro Páramo’s father, who lives and dies deep in debt, despite his honesty and dedication to his Media Luna Ranch. He worries that Pedro is too lazy and dishonest to keep the… read analysis of Lucas Páramo

Father Rentería is Comala’s priest, who faces a grave moral dilemma—and chooses wrongly—after Miguel Páramo’s death. Father Rentería not only understands that Miguel was a vicious criminal; he also personally suffered from the man’s… read analysis of Father Rentería

Ana is Father Rentería’s niece. After Miguel Páramo kills Ana’s father, he visits her under the pretext of apologizing. But instead of issuing her an apology, he climbs through her window and brutally rapes… read analysis of Ana

Pedro Páramo’s right-hand man, Fulgor runs the Media Luna Ranch and does Pedro’s dirty work for much of the book. Fulgor initially works for Pedro’s father, don Lucas Páramo, to whom he is… read analysis of Fulgor Sedano

Bartolomé is Susana San Juan’s father. After Susana’s mother dies, Bartolomé takes the young Susana from Comala to the Andromeda mine in a remote area in the surrounding mountains. When violence breaks out in… read analysis of Bartolomé San Juan

Damiana is a woman in Comala who works faithfully for Pedro Páramo throughout her life. She briefly has an affair for him, works in the kitchen at the Media Luna Ranch, and raises his son… read analysis of Damiana Cisneros

Toribio is Pedro Páramo’s first unsuspecting victim, a landowner whose property borders the Media Luna Ranch. When Toribio starts putting up fences around his land, Pedro Páramo falsely accuses him of misrepresenting his property… read analysis of Toribio Aldrete

Damascio is a local man whom Pedro Páramo hires to lead a militia in Comala and protect his interests by fighting for various armed groups during the Mexican Revolution and Cristero War. Damasio’s nickname… read analysis of Damasio (“El Tilcuate”)

Dorotea is a destitute beggar woman who lives her life in Comala, searching for the son she falsely imagines she had (but who never really existed). Later, Miguel Páramo starts paying her to seduce local… read analysis of Dorotea

Donis is one of the two naked people living in an abandoned house in Comala whom Juan Preciado meets in the middle of the novel, shortly before his death. Donis is matter-of-fact and unsentimental; while… read analysis of Donis

She is a nameless woman who lives with Donis, who is both her brother and her husband, in an abandoned house in Comala. Juan Preciado encounters Donis and his sister almost at random after… read analysis of Donis’s Sister/Wife

Angeles is an elderly woman who, along with her friend Fausta, sees Susana San Juan’s light go off in the distance on the night of her death. Fausta and Angeles were busy decorating… read analysis of Angeles

Along with Angeles, Fausta is one of the two elderly women who sees Susana San Juan’s light go off in the distance while decorating Comala’s church for Christmas. Unlike Angeles, whose name represents… read analysis of Fausta

Justina is Susana San Juan’s maid and dear friend, who takes care of her from infancy to the days leading up to her death. Justina is unfailingly loyal, even though Susana occasionally mistreats her… read analysis of Justina Díaz

Gerardo Trujillo is the Páramo family’s lawyer, who helps Pedro forge legal documents in order to snatch up land in Comala. Along with the rest of the town’s middle class, Gerardo nearly leaves Comala during… read analysis of Gerardo Trujillo

Inés is the owner of a small local store in Comala, who appears at the very beginning and very end of the book. At the beginning, she extends credit to the destitute Páramo family so… read analysis of Inés Villalpando

He is the priest in the town of Contla, which neighbors Comala. After accepting a bribe and pardoning Miguel Páramo’s soul even though he knows it’s immoral to do so, Father Rentería visits Contla’s… read analysis of Contla’s Priest