We can think of Juan Preciado—the narrator of Pedro Páramo—as a kind of Indiana Jones figure, except that instead of trying to get his paws on artifacts, he's trying to get hold of memories. Not his memories, mind you—the nostalgic but inaccurate memories of his dear departed Mommy.
He comes face to face with the reality of the past and (surprise!) it bears almost no resemblance to the memories his mom held on to. Our man Juan finally ends up getting sucked into the past, which is the only way to find out the truth about who he is and where he came from. He discovers that it takes many different people's memories to construct a complete vision of the past.
Questions About Memory and the Past
- We get very few memories that belong directly to Juan Preciado. Why do you think that is? What does it tell us about his relationship to the past?
- How do Pedro Páramo's memories relate to, or contrast with, his actions?
- You could say that the past is not just a time, but also a place in the novel. How does past get so tightly bound to the town of Comala?
Chew on This
The novel shows how, even after an armed revolution, Mexico is trapped by its past.
In Pedro Páramo, the dead people relive their memories over and over because they are all that remain for them. Memory is equated to the soul in the novel.