Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pedro Páramo, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death, Hope, and Despair
Power and Morality
History, Memory, and Narrative
Love and Patriarchy
Summary
Analysis
Fragment 47. On a rainy Sunday, a group of local indigenous people try to sell herbs in the Comala market, but nobody comes because the town’s men are busy irrigating the fields. The town seems empty and ominous. Justina Díaz passes them on her way through town and buys some rosemary before returning to the Media Luna ranch and visiting Susana’s pitch-black room. A voice tells her to leave town, but she insists that she needs to stay to take care of Susana, who is sick. Justina thinks the voice is from Bartolomé, but before finding out, she starts to scream.
This scene again lurches forward, jumping from the time when Susana was considering leaving Bartolomé and going to be with Pedro to a time when she is already living with him as his wife. Although the rain brings life to Comala, it is also a foreboding signal for the local native people who are trying to make a living: now, because of the rain, everyone is doing Pedro Páramo’s bidding by working on his land. It’s significant that the exception is Justina, Susana’s caregiver, because this reflects the way Susana ultimately resists Pedro’s control.
Themes
Susana wakes up and asks what is wrong. She reprimands Justina for screaming, although Justina denies doing it and claims that Susana must have been dreaming. Susana explains that Justina’s cat kept her up all night by leaping around on the bed, all over her body, but Justina says that this, too, must have been a dream: the cat was with her all night. Justina tells Susana that she is hallucinating, and that she is too much work: Justina is quitting and leaving in the morning. Susana says she knows Justina is bluffing, and Justina admits that the two love each other too much to leave one another. After all, Justina raised Susana from infancy—they are inseparable.
Justina and Susana’s miscommunications and disagreements again reflect the way that different realities are all equally present at the same time in Comala: Susana may have been feeling ghosts that Justina did not. Just like Juan Preciado, she is clearly attuned to the echoes and voices that linger in Comala. This suggests that her apparent madness is really some kind of insight into the town’s past and/or its true nature. And Justina agrees to stay with her because, unlike all the other relationships in the novel, Justina and Susana’s is genuinely built on unconditional love, rather than possession and exploitation.
Themes
Fragment 48. Susana wakes up in the middle of the rainy night and then goes back to sleep. In the morning, she calls out for Justina, who immediately shows up and asks what’s wrong. Susana says that the cat is bothering her again, and Justina embraces Susana and cries. She explains that Susana’s father, Bartolomé, has died. But Susana smiles: she realizes that the noise she heard in the night must have been her father visiting her.
Susana’s reaction to hearing that her father died further implies that he is somehow the root cause of her trauma. Susana’s cat also seems to symbolize her father: it jumps around her body at night, making her uncomfortable, which continues to suggest that Bartolomé may have sexually abused her. Her current friendship with Justina seems to be the only relationship she’s been able to find that does not depend on men sexualizing and objectifying her.
Themes
Susana remembers once visiting the Andromeda mine with Bartolomé as a young girl. He lowered her down inside on a rope, until she hit the pitch-black bottom. Her father shone down a light that revealed a skeleton right next to her—he asked her to bring him the bones one by one and look for anything of value. When this memory comes to mind, Susana starts laughing louder and louder, surprising and confusing Justina.
This scene possibly helps explain the trauma and terror that continues to haunt Susana in adulthood. It also represents the way that violence and death become a source of profit for people like Pedro Páramo. Susana picking up the bones of the dead is also clearly analogous to the way Juan Preciado recovers the stories and memories of the dead by going to Comala but also dies of terror as a result. Finally, this scene also clearly suggests that Susana’s relationship with Bartolomé was exploitative and traumatic, even if it was not actually incestuous.
Themes
Get the entire Pedro Páramo LitChart as a printable PDF.
Fragment 49. After the rain stops falling in Comala, the harsh winds continue. Susana is lying in bed when someone opens her bedroom door. She asks if it is “Father,” and he says that yes, he is her father. She can only see an ominous, blurry outline of his body behind his candle, which he holds where his heart should be. Susana tells him not to fret too much over Florencio’s death. Susana’s visitor is actually Father Rentería, and she gets up and brings her face up to his candle, nearly burning herself. Father Rentería says he wants to comfort her, but Susana replies that he should leave—she does not need his help. As he leaves the room, she asks, “Why do you come see me, when you are dead?”
Readers can choose to see the conflation between “Father” Rentería and Bartolomé, the man who purports to be Susana’s father, more or less literally. On the surface, it appears that this confusion just points out the way that Rentería has a kind of patriarchal authority over the people in Comala. But it could also be seen as a sign of something more sinister: Father Rentería could be Susana’s real father, which would explain her refusal to recognize Bartolomé as such. Notably, even though the last scene focused on Bartolomé’s death, this one centers two others: the death of Susana’s first husband, Florencio, which happened long before Susana went to Comala, and that of Father Rentería, which happens much later, after Susana’s own death. Accordingly, as it mixes the past, present, and future, this passage more generally represents Susana’s insistence on facing death alone, without some male figure trying to control her.
Themes
Fragment 50. Aman nicknamed “El Tartamudo” (because of his stutter) asks to speak with Pedro at the Media Luna ranch. El Tartamudo reports that Fulgor has just been murdered by a group of self-declared “r-revolutionaries” who ambushed them on the outskirts of town. The men let El Tartamudo live so that he could inform Pedro that these revolutionaries want to take all the land he’s amassed in Comala. Pedro tells El Tartamudo to have the revolutionaries visit him as soon as possible, and then to visit La Consagración ranch and tell El Tilcuate that Pedro wants to talk with him.
The Mexican Revolution inches closer into the foreground of the novel, as it starts threatening Pedro Páramo’s power and the overall security of Comala. In theory, it promises the democracy and equal distribution of land that the residents of Comala need to undo Pedro’s rule. But in practice, it is not so simple. For one, the Revolution helps explain why the town’s population gradually dwindles—people leave either to fight or to get away from the conflict. But Rulfo is also specifically hoping to commemorate the historical conditions of the revolution through his novel. In fact, it’s completely reasonable to read Pedro Páramo’s revolution in Comala as an allegory for the Mexican Revolution as a whole. This would imply that Juan Preciado's attempt to claim his birthright could represent the masses’ attempt to claim the democratic powers they were promised in the Revolution from the elites who actually controlled and benefited from it.
Themes
Pedro does not much mourn Fulgor, whom he thinks served his purpose. Instead, he worries about Susana, who spends all her time in bed, in a constant state of anxiety. He spent all last night in the corner of her room, secretly watching her toss and turn in bed. He wonders what trauma is afflicting her. Even though he doesn’t understand, he is glad to know that he finally has the woman he loves by his side, and that he needs nothing more in the world.
Pedro’s fixation on Susana and indifference toward Fulgor again reveal the emotional imbalance of his personal life. He is totally coldhearted and unempathetic when it comes to anyone but Susana, and even with Susana, he has no moral compass whatsoever. In fact, his inhumanity is precisely what divides him from her in this passage: although he has gone to great lengths to kidnap and control her, he cannot truly be with her because she is escaping her confinement through her thoughts. Indeed, as she writhes around in bed, Susana’s life is looking remarkably like Juan Preciado’s last days in Donis’s house. After all, the similarity in their names (Juan Preciado and Susana San Juan) implies that there is some clear resemblance between the two. For instance, they are foils to one another because their lives are determined by their relationship to Pedro Páramo (and specifically their desire to achieve freedom from his tyrannical power).
Themes
Fragment 51. Back in the present, Dorotea and Juan Preciado listen to Susana talk about swimming naked in the ocean with a man. He did not much enjoy the sea, which gave her an unparalleled sensation of wholeness and purification. The sea caresses her almost erotically. And so she keeps going every morning, but the man does not accompany her.
With the image of the ocean, Rulfo continues to associate Susana and her rich emotional life with water. This contrasts with Pedro Páramo’s association with stone, barrenness, and emotional frigidity. If the ocean represents freedom and liberation for Susana, then it’s very significant that she initially finds it with Florencio, but then finds a deeper and ever more satisfying version of it totally alone. Accordingly, Rulfo implies women need to liberate themselves from men’s patriarchal control in order to truly live freely.
Themes
Fragment 52. A group of about 20 men visit the Media Luna ranch at nightfall. Pedro Páramo serves them dinner and asks what they are doing in Comala. They marvel at the fact that Pedro owns the whole town and then explain that they’re armed revolutionaries. But they don’t exactly know what they’re fighting for or what they’re supposed to do in Comala—they’re still waiting to receive orders. One of them says that the group is rebelling against landowners and political elites. But Pedro decides to support them: he offers them 100,000 pesos and 300 men. The revolutionaries eagerly agree.
Pedro easily buys off the revolutionaries, who don’t even have an organized political platform. Just like Father Rentería, they are easily corruptible because they need resources. And because Pedro couldn’t care less about morality, he uses power to ensure that the rebels defend his interests. The result is that he inverts the meaning of the revolution: the rebels are protecting his concentration of land, wealth, and power, not trying to more equally distribute them.
Themes
Fragment 53. After the revolutionaries leave, Pedro offers to turn El Tilcuate into the movement’s leader. El Tilcuate just has to find the 300 men, and Pedro will give them a few thousand pesos for necessities (but keep most of the money he’s pledged at Media Luna, for safekeeping). And Pedro will even give El Tilcuate a nearby ranch—his lawyer, Gerardo Trujillo, will handle the paperwork.
El Tilcuate will essentially let Pedro turn the rebels into a private militia. It’s conceivable that he could even use them to seize more land and power for himself. Notably, Pedro is not even giving the rebels the full resources he promised: rather, he understands that it’s more important that the rebels believe resources are coming than that they actually have them. In other words, Pedro is manipulating them into acting out of false hope, rather than supporting them in reality.
Themes
Fragment 54. In the present, Dorotea and Juan Preciado again listen to Susana talk from beyond the grave. Susana talks about her memories: warming her feet between someone’s legs, sleeping cuddled up with him, having sex with him. And then he died. Dorotea and Juan try to figure out who Susana is talking about—he clearly died before her. Susana says that, one night, she fell asleep while reading the newspaper, waiting for him to visit. And then she woke up alone, and someone visited to inform her of her lover’s death. As she recounts all this, her coffin makes creaking sounds.
Although Juan and Dorotea don’t know, the reader can see Susana is talking about her first husband, Florencio. The circumstances of his untimely death are never fully revealed, but it is at least one of the traumatic events that continues to haunt Susana. Much like Juan’s mother, she dwells on fond memories in order to preserve the goodness of the past in the present.
Themes
Fragment 55. Susana dreams about being with Florencio and then learning of his death. When a huge, stoic man visited to tell her, Susana grew furious at God for taking him away. God took Florencio’s soul, but she wanted to be with his body, and without him, she does not know what to do with her own body. While she dreams, Pedro Páramo watches Susana from across the room and asks himself what he can do to heal her. But he soon leaves the room and stops thinking about her. The next day, Father Rentería finds her in her bed, asleep and naked.
It's important to note that, in all of the scenes where Susana reminisces about her past, it’s impossible to tell at first whether she’s alive and in bed or dead and in her grave. More likely, she’s having the same memories in both places, which shows that her experiences while alive are truly indistinguishable from her experiences while dead. In both cases, she lives entirely through the past, which—unlike Juan Preciado and the other ghosts in Comala—she has managed to totally keep alive for herself. For Susana San Juan, death and life are the same, and past and present are unified. Curiously, while Pedro Páramo sees her as mad and tortured, Susana is actually reliving her happiest memories—so what he sees as anguish is actually ecstasy. This further shows the emotional chasm that separates them, which Pedro is unable to bridge merely through power and control—unlike everything else in his life. Susana’s power ultimately resides in her mind and memory.
Themes
Fragment 56. The lawyer Gerardo Trujillo informs Pedro Páramo that El Tilcuate died the night before in a shootout between the revolutionaries and a group called the Villistas. With the situation worsening, Gerardo is leaving town. He won’t be able to work for Pedro anymore, so he offers to give Pedro all his papers. Pedro agrees and says he’ll burn them, since nobody will challenge his land holdings anyway. Gerardo leaves slowly because he expects Pedro to give him some kind of gift or reward for his years of loyal service. Earlier that day, his wife told him not to expect one, and surely enough, Pedro doesn’t offer him anything at all.
Like Fulgor Sedano, El Tilcuate dies unceremoniously in the Revolution, which readers should remember is a prolonged armed conflict lasting many years. Gerardo Trujillo’s departure likely reflects a broader pattern of middle-class professionals abandoning towns like Comala for larger cities because of the dangers of the war. While Gerardo has been helping Pedro manipulate the legal system in order to steal others’ land, now Pedro recognizes that his power is so great that he does not even need to pretend to have the law on his side anymore. (Not to mention that the law is not functioning well during the Revolution.) This breakdown in law poses problems for Gerardo, whose services become far less valuable by implication.
Themes
Fragment 57. After only a few minutes, Gerardo Trujillo returns to Pedro and says that he does want to keep working for him, after all. He just needs a little cash upfront. He asks for 5,000 pesos, but Pedro offers him 1,000. Gerardo recalls that Lucas Páramo never fully paid his bills, and Miguel Páramo was constantly ending up in jail, like after he murdered Father Rentería’s brother. Gerardo realized that he saved the Páramos so much money—if only they were more grateful.
Gerardo’s desperation suggests that he does not have enough money to make the move on his own. While Gerardo assumes that his relationship with Pedro should be based on reciprocity and fairness, here he realizes that Pedro’s willing to cheat him, just like he employed him to cheat so many other people in Comala.
Themes
Fragment 58. At night, Damiana Cisneros hears bulls bellowing and then someone knocking on the wall. She thinks it might be a sign from one of the saints but then realizes that it is Pedro Páramo visiting another girl, Margarita. Damiana wonders what is happening but goes back to sleep. Later, she hears Pedro yelling her name. She says she’s asleep, and she hears him storming off. Damiana sleeps naked the next night and leaves her door open for Pedro, but he does not come. She envies Margarita. There is another knock at the door—Damiana feels a sense of foreboding and catches a glimpse of a group of several men. But she decides that this is none of her business and decides to go back to sleep.
By treating Damiana and Margarita as essentially interchangeable, Pedro again shows that he treats women like sexual objects, who exist for his own control and pleasure. His impatience and refusal to directly communicate with Damiana further show that his evil erodes his humanity and regard for others. He leaves Damiana waiting in the dark, hopeful that he will visit but bound to be disappointed. Ultimately, the end of the novel shows that Damiana cares for Pedro when he grows old: she continues to sacrifice herself for him, no matter how poorly he treats her.
Themes
Fragment 59. Pedro asks Damasio (El Tilcuate) about the battle he lost, but Damasio insists that his men just got rowdy and started shooting at men who later turned out to be part of the Villistas’ army. Knowing he was beat, Damasio joined the Villistas, but now his militia is broke and needs funding from Pedro. Pedro says he’s already helped Damasio enough—he suggests Damasio go pillage Contla or some other nearby town. Damasio agrees and leads his army off into the night. Meanwhile, Pedro mourns Susana and realizes that the young girl he has since taken in as a lover will never measure up to her.
Set before the previous scenes with Gerardo Trujillo, but after Susana’s death, this fragment shows that Pedro swindled El Tilcuate, too—just like he did to the militia, Gerardo, and virtually everyone else in Comala. With his militia penniless and hungry, El Tilcuate is basically fighting at random, shooting just because he can. If Rulfo is saying something about the Mexican Revolution as a whole here, it’s that its violence was random, unnecessary, and ultimately completely meaningless. The people who fought in the revolution, it seems, put their lives on the line (and lost their lives) for no good reason at all.
Themes
