In Juan Rulfo's novel Pedro Paramo, aspects of the setting, namely time and place, emphasize the novel's magical realism and help convey the Rulfo's idea that Mexico is in serious trouble regarding Mexican politics and the Church. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the novel Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, aspects of the setting, namely time and place, emphasize magical realism. Through the choice of time and place, Rulfo establishes a symbolic allegorical mock reality of purgatory through which Rulfo is able to make a statement about the political and religious turmoil of Mexico during the period in which the novel is set. By describing Comala as purgatory, Rulfo is communicating that Mexico is suffering due to the sinful and wrong actions of both the Church, which Rulfo represented allegorically through the character Father Renteria and his sins, and Mexican politics, which Rulfo represented allegorically through the character Pedro Párramo and his manipulative and corrupt power in Comala. Magical realism allows Rulfo to subtly allude to church and government corruption and its consequences through his character living in purgatory. Juan Rulfo decided to set his novel in Comala, Mexico. In the novel's exposition, Rulfo incorporates hyperbolic descriptions of Comala's intense heat. Furthermore, Rulfo highlights the fact that Juan Rulfo will enter Comala in August. Historically, August is one of the hottest months in this region of Mexico. For example, Rulfo writes: "It was the dog days, the season in which the hot August wind blows, poisonous due to the smell of soapwort flowers." Shortly after this description Comala decided to reiterate what month it was and express the overwhelming heat by including "Their sleepy eyes were bulging from the August heat." The description of intense heat parallels common horrific descriptions of hell. Through diction with terrifying connotations such as “stink,” “poisonous,” and “the eyes were bulging,” Rulfo paints a horrible picture that coincides with hellish images. Repeating the month of August, the hottest summer month of the year, Rulfo hints at the intensity of the heat as Juan Preciado enters Comala. Both diction and description insinuate hellish connotations through images reminiscent of a common hell described by the Christian Church. To dispel any doubt that Rulfo is creating an allegorical purgatory, Rulfo blatantly indicates through Abundio's dialogue: “You will feel it even more when we get to Comala. That city lies on the coals of the earth, right at the mouth of hell. They say that when people from there die and go to hell, they come back for a blanket.” Purgatory, being the place inhabited by the souls of suffering sinners who atone for their sins before going to heaven, is commonly considered the median between heaven and hell. Rulfo metaphorically places Comala at the mouth of hell in this dialogue where purgatory would be in the metaphysical world. Describing it as being at the mouth of hell but not entirely in hell illustrates Rulfo's optimistic outlook. By setting the novel in purgatory, Rulfo demonstrates that he is optimistic that the political system and the Church can find salvation and repair themselves. Furthermore, the setting of the novel is purgatory shows Rulfo's optimism for the future but also Rulfo's awareness of the current corrupt state of Mexican politics and the church. The allegorical setting indicates that Rulfo believes there is hope for Mexico's political and religious systems. Even the same oneComala, the name of the city in which the novel is set, is representative of the fiery pits of hell. The comala is the pan used to heat tortillas. This further correlates the setting and its overwhelming heat to the delineations of hell, naming the town after something you cook on that gets extremely hot and enhances the magical realism of the novel. By setting a fictional novel in a real-life city in Mexico, the novel is given more realistic attributes. The realistic setting mixed with the allegorical setting of purgatory go hand in hand and cause the audience to question the reality of each character in the novel and their state of being in purgatory regarding how close they are to salvation. Juan Rulfo conveys a sense of timelessness in his novel through the plot sequence. This sense of timelessness emphasizes magical realism by moving away from linear, realistic time and instead occurring in a short, out-of-order passage. The novel comprises three separate plot strands. Each plot, Juan Preciado's, Pedro Páramo's, and Padre Renteria's, is loosely connected but woven together but with regular confusion as to which thread is the current rumor. This adds magical realism and timelessness because you need to place the passage in one of three plot threads after deciphering who the voice is. This confusion gives the story a whimsical, mysterious, and magical tone that makes you question the reality of the novel. Furthermore, Rulfo begins the novel in medias res. In the exposition, Juan Preciado will come to Comala and the rest of the novel tells what happened before Juan came to Comala and why Comala is in crisis. Writing the novel in medias res allowed Rulfo to play with the concept of time throughout the novel. Furthermore, writing the novel in medias res makes it clear that characters are deceased throughout the novel through subtle hints. While Abundio and Pedro talked about Comala, Rulfo wrote: “It doesn't seem like anyone lives here. Nobody lives here." Rulfo creates magical realism by making the deceased interact as if they were alive. Furthermore, each voice is aware of its own death on different levels. Through Dorotea's dialogue, Rulfo transmits his awareness. He wrote, “After we found you, my bones were determined to find rest…they buried me in the grave with you, and I stand right in the hollow of your arms.” The awareness of death is directly related to the characters' awareness of time or lack thereof. Characters who are unaware of their death mention time as if it unfolds linearly and more often than those who are aware of their death. This is indicated through verb tenses. The word "determined" is in the past tense and indicates that she knows she is dead. Furthermore, the plot sequence is full of repetition and things always repeat themselves. Rulfo transmits it through Fulgor. When Fulgor is introduced in the novel, Rulfo tells us about the second meeting Fulor had with Pedro Páramo. Then, later in the novel, Rulfo writes about their first meeting. Rulfo wrote about the encounters out of order to exemplify that time in the novel is not linear and does not exist. Rulfo incorporates this to show that they are actually in purgatory, suffering for their sins in a repeating cycle as they reflect on their lives by telling these stories. Juan Rulfo furthers the embodiment of magical realism in his novel through the idea that there is no time once you are dead and things happen out of order. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get custom essayEssentially, although through the setting of the novel, especially the.