Comparing Juan Preciado and Father Renteria in Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo

In every influential novel, there are definite characters that apply certain aspects to the narrative to show importance of key aspects of the story. In Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo, the case is no different in that specific characters carry an importance to the entire aspect of the story. The characters in the novel that have great importance are Juan Preciado and Father Renteria. These two characters symbolize greater things that cannot just be plainly noticed. Juan Preciado is majorly important for the fact of that he is the first character introduced in the novel and he is the character that at first doesn’t realize he is dead. Also, Juan Preciado is like that of the reader in that he is in no place to identify his position in his life or in the readers case, the story. Father Renteria is a character that the people of Comala look to for wisdom and forgiveness because he is the God like figure in the novel Pedro Paramo.

The character Juan Preciado is the first character the reader comes upon while reading the novel. Juan Preciado is the son of Pedro Paramo and has just come to the land of the dead otherwise known as Comala in the novel Pedro Paramo. “I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Paramo, lived there” (3). Juan Rulfo uses Juan Preciado in the same way the reader is unfamiliar with the text of the narrative. Juan Preciado’s relationship to Comala is the same to the readers’ relationship to the text for the reason being that the story is a journey in which both reader and character are constantly off balance. Juan Preciado and the reader don’t understand in the beginning that Comala is a town filled with dead souls but eventually, clues arise that lead to the conclusion that e...

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...s. Father Renteria had lost all faith in his religion and himself. As if he had failed a test, he says, "Alright Lord, you win"(26). Father Renteria represents the constant struggle a person has to maintain personal integrity against outside corruption and personal vices which means that he is constantly tempted to do wrong things and sometimes falls for them. Juan Rulfo makes Father Renteria a necessary asset to Pedro Paramo because in Comala everyone is dead and they are all waiting to either receive forgiveness to go to heaven or take the opposite route and Father Renteria is a deciding factor for the people of Comala.

To conclude, Juan Preciado and Father Renteria have significant roles in the novel Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo. They are necessary assets to the narrative in that Preciado is much like the reader and Renteria is the God like figure in Comala.