Examples Of Purgatory In Pedro Páramo

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Purgatory in Pedro Páramo
In the Catholic faith, when a soul is undeserving of heaven or hell, they must go through a middle ground between the two called purgatory in which they cleanse themselves of the sins they have committed. This idea of purgatory resonates throughout the entirety of Pedro Páramo and is intricately tied with different elements of the novel. In Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo, the Catholic belief of purgatory is juxtaposed through the setting of Comala, the characters’ decisions that ultimately lead them to be stuck in said purgatory and how the corruptness of the town’s priest, Father Renteria, and his invalid blessings have lead the inhabitants to remain in the purgatory of Comala. Rulfo’s characterization of Comala and its inhabitants parallels the physical interpretations of the state of purgatory. The physical …show more content…

When Juan’s mother was describing Comala, she described the road and how whenever you “are leaving [Comala], it’s uphill; but as you arrive it’s downhill” (Rulfo 4).This is a direct reference to the purgatory between heaven and hell that a soul enters and leaves. The description given by Juan’s mother symbolizes the journey of a soul entering purgatory and ascending from purgatory into heaven. While giving Juan Preciado a ride to Comala, Abundio warns him to “try to take it easy” because “that town sits on the coals of the earth, at the very mouth of hell” (Rulfo 6). This description of Comala shows how the town is set in a place near hell, like purgatory. Another similarity between Comala and purgatory is how purgatory is filled with souls waiting for their sins to be purified, the town is also filled with imperfections that are waiting to be cleansed. These imperfections are the state of the soil of Comala, which parallels the

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