The first chapter starts with the death of Dolores. Juan, the one telling the story, is starting with the death to introduce the situation of the novel. This also introduces the major motif of the novel as being death. Dolores had Juan promise that he would go meet his father and take what is his. This sets up the thought of paying for the past and it altering the present and the future.
Juan actually said he had no intention to fulfill the promise he made to his mother and at that point, he seemed to be ignorant, especially at the point that he mention that he would have promised his mother anything. This shows he has no regard for others and the promises he makes are not sincere.Juan doesn't truly have a valid reason that he goes to Comala; he still uses his mother as the reason that he goes and as latter we know he still goes to Comala even after he finds out Pedro is dead. There must have been a selfish desire behind it for him to take part on this journey. This brings up the question if Juan is a truly reliable narrator that the reader can trust. As of this close read Juan seems to me as a reader, that he may not be the most reliable narrator in this novel. He hides things and alters some thoughts, it is just like the human nature to lie. Although his true emotions were hidden from the reader, there is some information that he leaves to his true thoughts to push the reader to read it deeply.
Neha,
ReplyDeleteCount how many times you wrote the word "this." "This shows," "This sets up," etc. Try to avoid it. Substituting the "this" for a more precise word(s) will make for much clearer prose.