Thursday, August 29, 2013

Chapter Juan Close Reading

The passage starts with a narrator, later Identified as Juan Preciado, talking about how he came to Comala. The fact that he utilised the word “came”, implies that he is still in Comala. Preciado promises his mother that he will go to see Pedro Paramo. Because he doesn't intend to keep this promise, it reveals an insight into Juan’s character. “I never meant to keep my promise.”(Rulfo 3)
The book begins on a particularly somber note, with Preciado’s mother on her deathbed, and quickly established the motif of death which would be prominent throughout the rest of the book. Preciado does not refer to Paramo as his father, rather, he calls him “the man who had been my mother’s husband.” He resents Paramo just as much as his mother.

1 comment:

  1. You say that it reveals an insight into Juan's character, but you don't say what it is. What is it? Be sure to take time to meditate on the language of the passage. This is what a close reading does.

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