Reading
Guide to Pedro Páramo #1
Be
prepared for: abrupt changes in narrator and narrative modes, unfocalized
flashbacks, stream of consciousness, time shifts, and the predominance of a
supernatural sense of the real.
- p.3 "I came to Comala.."
A. Who is narrating here?
B. To whom is he speaking?
C. Why did he come to Comala?
D. What is the time frame?
E. Comala = ???
- p.3 The scene of the promise: What promise
does he make?
- p.3 What sense we get from Pedro Páramo at
the outset?
- p.3 How does Pedro Páramo's son end up
deciding to visit Comala?
- p.4 When does he go there? What is the
weather like?
- p.4 "but as you arrive it's
downhill" Why downhill?
- p.4 Describe Comala.
- p.4 In whose place is Pedro Páramo's son
coming back to Comala?
- p.4 Whose memories are these?: "Just as you pass the gate of Los Colimotes there's a beautiful view
..." How does this description contrast with what the narrator
sees?
- pp.4-5 "You're going to get some welcome
. . . They'll be happy to see someone after all the years no one's come this
way . . . Whoever you are, they'll be glad to see you". Why?
- p.5 Where did Pedro Páramo's son run into
the burro driver?
- p.5 "Pedro Páramo's my father
too." What type of implications does this suggest on the following
levels:
A. Biological
B. Social
C. Mythical
- p.5 "The stillness seemed to be waiting
for something". For what do you think?
- p.6 The hottest place on earth.
- p.6 "Living bile . . ."
- pp.6-7 The Media Luna
- p.7 Baptism & 2 jokes
- p.7 A deserted town: Where is everybody?
Where is Pedro Páramo?
- p.7 A silent village
- p.8 The woman in the rebozo.
- p.8 "And that if I heard only silence,
it was because I was not accustomed yet to silence - maybe because my head
was still filled with sounds and voices".
- p.8 "How I wished she were here, so I
could say . . ."
- 6-9 Flashback: "So I stayed in Comala .
. ."
- pp.9-10 Eduviges Dyada: "She told me you
would be coming. Today, in fact. That you would be coming today".
- p.10 "So that was why her voice sounded
so weak . . ."
- p.11 "No one knows better than I do how
far heaven is, but I also know all the shortcuts".
A. How far is Heaven anyway?
B. What shortcuts may there exist?
C. What is Heaven like for Catholics?
- p.11 "I wondered if she were
crazy".
- pp.11-12 Change
in narrator and time sequence: flashback
:
A. Contrast: What is the weather like?
B. What is the atmosphere like?
C. What kind of people are speaking?
- p.12 "I was thinking of you, Susana (. .
.) into the green of the earth".
A. Who is speaking here?
B. What is he speaking about?
C. What is the tone of this passage?
- p.12 "I'm thinking"
- p.13 "Hundred of meters above the
clouds. . ."
- p.13 "But with all the money we spent to
bury your grandfather. . ."
A. What is this family's economic situation?
- p.14 "He stopped by the shelf where the
picture of the Sacred Heart stood (. . .) He found a peso. He left the
veinte and took the larger coin".
A. Character trait?
B. Who is this boy?
- pp.14-15 "During the night it began to
rain again (. . .) And every thought I thought was of you, Susana".
- p.15 "As she closed the door her sobs
began; he could hear them for a long time, mixed with the sound of the
rain".
A. Who is crying here? Why?
- p.15 Time
change: Prospective : Back to Eduviges and Dolorita's son:
- pp.15-16 A note on the burro driver, Abundio.
A. What do you make of this?
B. Can Abundio hear?
C. When did he stop talking and why?
D. Is he alive?
- p. 16 Eduviges’s demeanor:
- p.17 Dolores's wedding night and Eduviges's
favor.
- p.18 "Green pastures. Watching the
horizon..." To whom does this voice belong to?
- p.19 Dolores's departure: "And your
mother went."
- p.20 To whom is Eduviges speaking?:
"When will you rest?"
- p.20 Time
change: flashback : Back to where it rains...: "The day you went
away, I knew I would never see you again..."
A. Who is speaking thus?
B. To whom?
- p.20 "You must learn to be
patient". What is young Pedro's reaction to this admonition?
- p.21 Time
change: Prospective : Back to Doña Eduviges and Doloritas's son:
"What was that I just heard, doña Eduviges?"
A. What sort of things can Eduviges hear?
- p.21 Eduviges's sixth sense and the death of
her godchild, Miguel Páramo:
p.22 "'No. Not crazy, Miguel. You must be dead".
A. Attitudes towards death and the dead.
Adapted from
http://www2.ups.edu/faculty/velez/FL380/