Miguel Páramo Character Analysis

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, and Father Rentería refuses to raise Miguel in the Church, so Pedro makes Damiana Cisneros, who works for him, take care of the boy. Once Miguel comes of age, he is just as manipulative, evil, and misogynistic as his father. He rapes numerous women, including Father Rentería’s niece Ana, and murders others, including Ana’s father. He’s remorseless, and his Pedro denies Miguel’s crimes. Fulgor Sedano even complains that Miguel arrogantly leaves his horse saddled up and waiting outside the Media Luna Ranch. Ultimately, Miguel dies when riding this same horse to his girlfriend’s home in the neighboring town of Contla, but he just sees that everything has turned to smoke and doesn’t even realize that he’s died until he gets back to Comala and talks with Eduviges Dyada. His death creates a moral crisis for Father Rentería, who knows that it is immoral to pray for Miguel to go to heaven but gets a healthy bribe from Pedro to do so. For Pedro, Miguel’s death creates no such crisis: he suspects that he is being punished for his sins but does not feel remorse. Whether it’s the product of genetics or the result of his turbulent childhood, Miguel’s wickedness and total lack of moral sense shows that Pedro Páramo’s evil is contagious.