Recommended CitationCopado, Philip J. (2000) "The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Juan Rulfo," McNair Scholars Journal: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 2.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mcnair/vol4/iss1/2
The Significance of the Journey in the Works ofJuan Rulfo
Phillip J. CopadoMcNair Scholar
Diane Wright , Ph .D.Faculty Mentor
ABSTRACT:Thefame ofJuan Rulfo (1 918-1986), oneof the most well-known Mexicanauthors ofhis time, is based almost entirely upon twoworks, Pedro Paramo (1955) a novel , anda collection of short stories entitled EILlano en Llamas, [The Burning Plains}(1953). These, however, are not theonlyworks that make up his repertoire. Hewrote three screenplays La FormulaSecreta [The Secret Formula} (1964),EI Gallo de Oro [The Golden Cock}(1964), and EI Despojo [The Remainder}(1 960). In addition, he wrote afew otherarticles and short stories including acollection of his photographs portraying theMexicanlandscape reflected in his lueraryworks. He is well knownfor his literaryexperimentation in narrative techniquessuch as shifts of narrative and temporalfocus andfor his employ of magic realism(although based in the reality of LatinAmerica, this mode reveals a world in whichthe laws of nature are suspended or actcontrarily) andchanges in temporal settings.
While the concept of thejourney hasnot been as studied as other areas in theworks ofJuan Rulfo, it is one motiffound inhis writings that contributes to the development of his themes and narrative style. Anexamination of the ideaof thejourney inthe works of Juan Rulfo brings to light threemain issuesfound in his writings: the role ofreligion, the theme of escape, and a criticismof society. Although his criticism of societyis less well acknowledged in his works,nevertheless they playa role as George D.Schade comments, "Large social ills arecommented on dispassionately only whenthey have bearing on the personal dramasRulfo is unfolding" (Schade ix). Thus, theconclusion can be drawn that, while Rulfo isnotwell knownfor his criticisms of society,there are certain moments in his stories inwhich hedoes effectively present them.
ReligionReligion plays a significant role in LatinAmerican cultures. Juan Rulfo, likemany Latin American writers, commentson particular aspects of religion ,parti cularly those that have evolvedfrom Catholic tradition s such as thepilgrima ge and reverence for theVirgin Mary. There are , how ever,certain instances in which the autho ruses allusion s to other religions suchas Greek and Roman mythology.
In "Anacleto Morones," thesignificance of the journey with respectto religion comes throu gh clearly in thepersonification of the old women whoapproaches Lucas Lucatero, the narrator,for help. In this tale, a religious imposterdeceives the town of Amula, reminiscentof the deception s of the faith healers ofthe United States in the early 20thcentury. Lucas Lucatero aid s thereligious charlatan Anacleto Morones byhelping him sell religious objects. Thetwo of them travel from village to villageselling statues of saints . Anacletodemonstrates one of his miraculoustricks as several pilgrims passing byask him how it was done. He tells thepilgrims how he has come from Romeand bears a splin ter from the HolyCross. The pilgrims then revere him as aholy man. The obvious nature of theirgullibility places their ent ire faith in thehands of a man who is morally bankrupt.Taking advantage of the superstitionsand gUllibility of the simple villagers,Anacleto perpetuates their belief in hissaintliness. He abuses his power and ,according to Lucas: "Deja sin virgenesesta parte del mundo, valido de quesiempre estaba pidiendo que le velara susueno una doncella" (Rulfo 169- 70).["He left this part of the country withoutvirgins, always seeing to it that a maidenwatched over his sleep"] (Rulfo 142-3).Anacleto gives his daughter to Lucas inmarriage after Anacleto himselfimpregnates her. After the localauthorities arrest Anacleto and put him
6 The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Ju an Rulfo
in jail, he escapes. He asks Lucas to selleverything so that he has money toescape. "Vende todo y dame el dinero,porque necesito hacer un viaje al Norte"(Rulfo 173). ["Sell everything and give methe money, because I need to take a tripup North"] (Rulfo 146). This is where thegroup of old women enters. They areseeking something from him. They wishhim to return with them to Amula.
Queremos que nos acornpanes ennuestros ruegos. Hemos abierto,todas las congrentes del NinoAnacleto, un novenario derogaciones para pedir que nos 10canon icen. Tu eres su yerno y tenecesitamos para que sirvas detestimonio. El senor cura nosencomendo le Ilevaramos a alguienque 10 hubiera tratado de cerca yconocido de tiempo arras, antes deque se hiciera famoso por susmilagros. Y quien major que tu, queviviste a su lado y puedes serialarmajor qu e nin guno las obras demisericordi a qu e hizo. Por eso tenecesitamos, para qu e nosacornpanes en esta compana.(Rulfo 165)
[We want you to accompany us inour prayers. All us women whowere followers of the Holy ChildAnacleto have started a novena toask that he be made a saint. You arehis son-in-law and we need you toserve as a witness . The pri estrecommended that we bringsomeone who had known him welland for some time back, before hebecame famous for his miracles.And who better than you, who livedby his side and can point out betterthan anyone else his works ofmercy That's why we need you, soyou'll help us out in this campaign.](Rulfo 138)
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The purp ose of the journey they areon is to make this religious charlatan asaint. In order to do so, they need tofind someone who truly knows Anacletoto help them. Their religious desiresdrive them to make the journey to theremote home of Lucas Lucatero.
Las vi (Lucas Lucatero) venir a todasjuntas en procession. Vestidas deNegro, sudando como mulas bajo elmero rayo del sol. Las vi desde lejoscomo si fuera una recua levantand opolvo. Su cara ya ceniza de polvo.Negras todas ellas. Venlan por elcamino de Amula, cantando entrerezos, entre el calor, con sus negrosescapularios grandotes y renegridos,sobre los que caia en goterones elsudor de su cara. (Rulfo 159)
[I (Lucas Lucatero) saw themcoming all together in a procession.Dressed in black, sweating likemules und er the hot sun. I sawthem from a long way off as if theywere a string of mules raising thedust. Their faces now ashen withdust. All of them black. They camealong the Amula road , singing whilethey prayed in the heat, with theirlarge black scapularies on which thesweat from their faces fell in bigdrops.] (Rulfo 131)
They come by foot, as pilgrims arerequired to do. They come to LucasLucatero as if they are on a pilgrimage tosome holy site to beg for healing. Lucasdoes his best to try and dissuade thewomen from their mission, eveninsulting them , trying to shake theirbelief in Anacleto in whatever waynecessary. All but one are finallydissuaded from their mission. Theirgreat need to believe leads the womenalong their journey and its end revealsnot what they expected, a holy man ,but disillusion .
The next story that employs themotif of the journey with respect toreligion is "Talpa." As in most of Rulfosworks, there are few characterspresented in "Talpa." The three maincharacters are Tanilo Santos, his wife,Natalia Santos, and his bro ther whodoubles as narrator. The brother remainsnameless throughout the story Thejourney as a quest is quite possibly themost diabolical aspect of all in thewritings ofJuan Rulfo. The brother andthe wife of Tanilo Santos are involved inan affair. The husband is suffering from anameless disease that produces "lasampollas (que) se le convertieron enllagas por donde no salia nada de sangrey st una cosa amarilla como goma decopal que ditilaba agua espesa" (Rulfo50). ["blisters (which) became woundsthat didn't bleed- just a yellow gummything like thick distilled water came outof them"] (Rulfo 54) . The brother andwife convince him to go to Talpa. "Lollevamos a Talpa para que se muriera. Yse muri6. Sabiamos que no aguantanatanto camino ; pero, asi y todo , 10llevamos empujando lo entre los dos,pensand o acabar con el para siempre .Eso hicirnos" (Rulfo 50). ["We got himto go with us to Talpa so he'd die. Andhe died. We knew he couldn 't stand allthat traveling; but jus t the same, wepushed him along between us, thinkingwe'd finish him off forever. That's whatwe did"] (Rulfo 54). The only reasonthey agree to the pilgrimage is toaccelerate the death of Tanilo so theycould be together.
Tanilo's desire to embark on thejourney has nothing to do with dying.The shrine of the Blessed Virgin in Talparepresents a sign of hope. People pray tothe Virgin with hope that she will healphysical and spiritual wounds . Miracles,such as the blind being made to see andthe lame to walk, are said to occur atthese sites. Tanilo does not care aboutthe length of the journey, he only caresthat: "La Virgencita le dana el remedio
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para aleviarse de aqullas cosas quenunca se secaban ... Ya alli, frente a Ella,se acabarian sus males; nada Ie doleriani Ie volveria doler mas" (Rulfo 50).['T he blessed Virgin would give him thecure to get rid of the stuff that neverdried up .. . Once he was there beforeHer, his troubles would be over; nothingwould hu rt him then or hurt him everagain"] (Rulfo 54). The end of the storyironically proves him right through thisforeshadowing.
The brother and wife are committedto their course of action. Wh en Tanilotells them that he wants to return homethey insist that he must continue. "Aestirones 10 levantabarnos del suelo paraque siguiera caminando, diciend ole queya no podiamos volver arras" (Rulfo 51).["We jerked him up from the ground sohe'd keep walking, telling him wecouldn't go back now"] (Rulfo 55) . Theirdesire for his death was so great thatthey could not thin k of letting him giveup while on the road to Talpa. "PeroNatalia y yo no quisimos. Habia algodentro de nosotros que no nos dejabasentir ninguna lastima por ningunTanilo . . .Asi, a tirones, fue comollegamos con el a Talpa" (Rulfo 55).['But Natalia and I didn't want him to.Something inside us wouldn't let us feelany pity for Tanilo .. . So, dragging himalong was how we got to Talpa withhim"] (Rulfo 59) . This illustrates thedepth of the passion that the brother andthe wife of Tanilo held for each other.
As they approach Talpa , Taniloimi tates the self-imposed physicalpenance of his fellow pilgrims:
En cuanto se vio rodeado dehombres que llevaban pencas denopal colgadas como escapulario, eltarnbien penso en llevar las suyas.Dio en amarrarse los pies un o conotro con las mangas de su camisapara que sus pasos se hicieran masdesespera dos . Despu es qu iso llevaruna corona de espinas. Tantito
despues se vendo los ojos , y mastarde, en los ultimos trechos decamino, se hinco en la tierra, y asi,andando sobre los huesos de susrodillas y con las manos cruzadashacia arras." (Rulfo 56)
[Assoon as he saw himselfsurro unded by men wearing cactusleaves hanging down scapulari es, hedecided to do something like thattoo. He tied his feet together withhis shirtsleeves so steps becameeven more desperate. Then hewanted to wear a crown of thorns.A little later he band aged his eyes,and still later, during the last part ofthe way, he knelt on the groundand shuffled along on his kneeswith his hand s crossed behindhim.] (Rulfo 60)
He goes further, and reminiscent ofChrist on his journey to the cross, istransformed into a sacrificial victim,exchanging his life for the sins of hiswife and brother. However symbolic hisactions might be, he is not a passive orwilling victim. After his arrival hedances with the other pilgrims furiously"haciendo un ultimo esfuerzo porconseguir vivir un poco mas" (Rulfo 567). ["making a last effort to try and livelonger"] (Rulfo 60). Reminiscent of the"dance of death" illustrated in thewoodblocks portraying people dancingin a frenzy in the midst of the plague inthe Middle Ages, they struggle to holdon to life. In spite of his efforts, Taniloends by dying at Talpa. The brother andNatalia are so consum ed with guilt thatthey can no longer carry out their affa ir.In a certain way, the journey to Talpaand the individual quests of thecharacters are transformed and invertedin the story. Tanilo, hoping to be healed ,becomes a sacrificial victim in theprocess, and his wife and brother, ratherthan freed to continue their affair, areforever separated by guilt and remorse.
In "Luvina," we see a representa tionof what can only be described as a sortof purgatory. "Es el lugar donde anida latristeza. Donde no se conoce la sonrisa ,como si a toda la gente Ie hubieranentablado la cara" (Rulfo 104). ["Its theplace where sadness nests. Where smilesare unknown as if people s faces hadbeen frozen"] (Rulfo 95). The storybegins in a bar where a namelessnarra tor is describing his venture intothe town of San Juan de Luvina with hisfamily He tells his story to anothernameless charac ter because the secondcharacter intends to travel to the town .
The man , who guides the narratorand his family with all of theirbelongings into town , has no desire tostay "EI arriero que nos llevo no quisodejar ni siquiera que descansaran lasbestias. En cuanto nos puso en el suelo,se dio media vuelta: 'Yo me vuelvo' nosdijo" (Rulfo 106). ["The mule driverwho took us didn't even want to let hisanimals rest. As soon as he let us off, heturned half around. 'I'm going back,' hesaid"] (Rulfo 96-7). The narrator asksthe driver if he thinks it would be betterif the animals rested and the manreplies: "Aqui se fregarfan mas" (Rulfo106). [They'll be in worse shape here"](Rulfo 97). The description of the townleads the reader to believe that only thedead populate the town . No oneventures outsid e du ring the day and thesky is contin ually overcast because"Dicen que porque arras tra arena devolcan; pero 10 cierto es que es un airenegro" (Rulfo 103). ['They say it is fullof volcano sand; anyway its a black air"](Rulfo 94). Even the church is dead."Era un jacalon vacio, sin puertas, nadamas con un os socavones abiertos y untecho resquebrajado por dond e secolaba el aire como por un cedazo"(Rulfo 107). ["It was a vacant old shackwithout any doors, just some opengalleries and a roof full of cracks wherethe air came through like a sieve"](Rulfo 97). This is perhaps the most
8 The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Juan Rulfo
significant marker of the notion that thisplace is either purgatory or a closerepresentation of purgatory because ofthe centrali ty of the church in the livesof the Latin American peop le. Even thepoorest of towns in Latin America havechurches. Another indicator of thetowns association with purgatory is thepassing of time. "Nadie lleva cuenta delas horas ni a nadie Ie preocupa c6movan arnontonandose los anos. Los dtascomienzan y se acaban. Luego viene lanoche. Solamente el dia y la noche hastael dta de la muerte, que para ellos es unaespe ranza" (Rulfo 109). ["Nobodycounts the hours and nobody cares howthe years go mounting up . The daysbegin and end . Then night comes. Justday and night until the day of death ,which for them is a hope"] (Rulfo 100).In this town there are none but the veryyoung and very old for as soon as theyoung get the chance , they leave.
Many people of the town refuse toleave because they are tied to the placeby their dead. "(quien se llevara anuestros muertos? Ellos viven aqut y nopodemos dejarlos solos" (Rulfo 110).l'who'll bring along our dead ones?They live here and we can't leave themalone"] (Rulfo 101). The trad ition ofkeeping in close con tact with departedloved ones is followed by many peop lein Latin American countries. It is notuncomm on for them to visit thecemeteries, care for graves of thedeparted , build altars with favorite itemsof the depart ed , and offer prayers anddon ations in their names. Ju an Rulfo inan interview states, "Sometimes whenthey move they actually dig up theirgraves" (Harss 250). To many NorthAmericans this is a morbid concept, butthose in Latin America feel very closeties to their ancestry and by extension totheir morta l remains .
The final story treating religion andthe journey is Juan Rulfos most famouswork, Pedro Paramo. It is a commonlyheld belief among critics such as Lanin
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A. Gyurko that "Luvina" was a precursorto Pedro Paramo. Both of these storiesfocus on a village that appea rs to bepopulated by the dead . Pedro Paramo, asa novel, develops this idea moreprofoundly The name of the village inthe novel is Comala, which is whereJuan Preciado's mot her sent him on herdeathbed . She describes the village toher son as some thing akin to Heaven . Inreality, once Jua n arrives, all he sees is adeserted village. "Aquello esta sobre lasbrasas de la tierra, en la mera boca delinfierno. Con decirle que muchos de losque alb se mueren , al llegar al infiernoregresan por su cobija" (Rulfo 182).[That town 's the hottest place in theworld. They say that when somebodydies in Comala, after he arrives in Hellhe goes back to get his blanket"] (Rulfo3). Like Hades or Hell one must descendinto Comala. Pedro Paramo is the patronor leader of the village. Juan Preciado ,the only legitamate son that Ped roParamo has fathered is guided intoComala by one of Pedros illegitimatesons, Abundio. "Caminabarnos cuestaabajo, oyendo el trote rebotado de losburros" (Rulfo 180). ["We were walkingdownhill , hearing the steady trot of theburros"] (Rulfo 2). Abundio reminds ofthe reader of the Greco-Roman myth ofthe boatman who ferries the dead intoHades across the river Styx. This isespecially poignant with regards to thepayment that must be made to theboatman . Dona Eduviges, the personwith whom Juan spends the first nigh tin town, makes mention of the payment."Yo le daba sus propinas por cadapasjero que encaminara a mi casa"(Rulfo 192). ["I used to give him a tipfor very person he brou ght to thehouse"] (Rulfo 13). Ju an Preciado doesnot know it yet but he too, like everyoneelse in the town , is dead .
EscapeThe second area that emerges from astudy of the journey motif in Juan
Rulfos works is that of escape. This topicrelates both to the physical aspect ofescape and to its more intangible aspects.This may include an attempt to escapefrom a burden, such as guilt or remorse.
The first of the stories examinedrelates to both aspects of escape , thephysical and the intangible. "EI hombre"['The Man"] incorporates three maincharacte rs: the pursuer, the pursued,and the sheepherder who reports thedea th of the pursued to the localautho rities and is to be punished for hisacquaintance with the pursued. Theman who is being pursued killed anent ire family in their sleep. The reasongiven for the killings remains ambiguousexcept that he felt it was necessary thatone of the members of the family die.The reader is lead to believe that thekilling was retribution for the killing ofhis brot her. The pursued speaks of hisguilt as a burden that should be obviousfor all to see. "Pero es peligroso caminarpor donde todos caminan, sobre todollevando este peso que yo llevo. Estepeso se ha de ver por cualquier ojo queme mire; se ha de ver como si fuera unahinchaz6n rara. Yo ast 10 siento " (Rulfo34). ['But its dangerous to go whereeveryone goes, especially with this load Iam carrying. Anyone looking at me mustsee this weight, just as if it was a strangeswelling. Tha is the way it feels to me"](Rulfo 36) . He tries at times to justifykilling the entire family to escape hisburden of guilt. "Despues de todo, asiestuvo mejor. Nadie los llorara y yovivire en paz" (Rulfo 35). ["After all, theway it was, was better. Nobody will cryfor them and I'll live in peace"] (Rulfo38) . This is not the first time he tries tojustify killing the entire family to removethe guilt he is feeling. The pursuedstates: "No debi mata rlos a todos; mehubiera conformado con el que teniaque matar; pero estaba oscuro y losbultos eran iguales ... Despues de todo ,asi de a muchos les costara menos elentierro" (Rulfo 34). ["I should've been
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satisfied with the one I had to kill; but itwas dark and the shapes were all thesame size-After all, with so many atonce it won't cost as much to bu rythem"] (Rulfo 36). These are the onlytwo moments in which the pursued triesto escape the burden of guilt he hasplaced upon himself. "No debi matarlosa todos ' iba pensando el hombre . 0
valia la pena echarme ese tercio tanpesado en mi espalda. Los muertospesan mas que los vivos; 10 aplastan auno" (Rulfo 35). ["I shouldn 't havekilled all of them,' the man wasthinking. 'It wasn't worth it putting sucha burden on my back. Dead peopleweigh more than live ones; they crushyou"] (Rulfo 37). He does not , however,regret killing the man he was after.
The second aspect of this story hasmore to do with the physical aspect ofescape. The man is obviously trying toescape certain retribu tion from theauthorities. He tells the sheep herder that"Camino y camino y no ando nada. Seme doblan las piernas de la debilidad"(Rulfo 39). ["I walk and walk and don'tcover any ground. My legs are so weakthey buckle on me"] (Rulfo 41). Thisalso can be attributed to his attempt toescape the guilt that hounds him .However, although it is not entirely clearif he knows that the second man ispursuing him, we may assume that hedoes not. He makes no specific ment ionof pursui t, only that: 'Tengo que estar alotro lado, donde no me conocen, dondenunca he estado y nad ie sabe de mi"(Rulfo 34). ["I have to be on the otherside, where they don't know me, whe reI've never been and nobody knowsabout me"] (Rulfo 37). The unfortunatesheepherder, even though he does notknow the situation, describes hisacquaintance with the pursued , "Pareciavenir huyendo. Traia una porcton delodo en las zancas , que ya ni se sabiacual era el color de sus pantalones"(Rulfo 36-7). ["He seemed to be runningaway His shanks were so caked with
mud that you couldn't tell what thecolor of his pants was"] (Rulfo 39). Thesheepherder repeats this statement acouple of times. This is unfortunate forthe sheep herder, as the police nowbelieve that if he wasn't trying to killhim , he was "un encubridor" (Rulfo 39) .["in cahoots with him"] (Rulfo 42) . Thepoor sheepherder tells the final part ofthe story to a person who wants toarrest him "por esconder a eseindividuo" (Rulfo 40). l'for hiding thatguy"] (Rulfo 42). It should bementioned that it is pretty atypical of apoor person in Latin American coun triesto have anything to do with the police.According to an interview with JuanRulfo in the book Into the Mainstream,"the people there don't like to be askedany questions. They settle their affairs intheir own private personal way, almostsecretly" (Harss 249) . It is an oddity thatJuan Rulfo has the sheepherder offeringinformation of any kind to the police.
The second of the stories "La nocheque 10 dejaron solo" ['The Night TheyLeft Him Alone"] is about a young boy,Feliciano Ruelas, and his two uncles ,Tanis and Librado . The three of themrecently finished a mission in whichthey ambushed a patrol of soldiers. Theyare now rejoining their forces in themountains three days travel from the siteof the ambush. Unfortunately, being ayoung boy, Feliciano cannot keep upwith his two un cles and falls behind .The un cles leave him to catch up at alater time. The un cles do not even stopfor sleep. "Nos pueden agarrardormidos' dijeron . 'Y eso seria peer"(Rulfo lI S). ["T hey might catch usasleep,' they said. 'And that would bethe worst that could happe n"] (Rulfo106). Feliciano tries to argue with themto stop for sleep. "vamos dejando estedia para descansar. Manana caminaremosde filo y con mas ganas y con masfuerzas, por si tenemos que correr.Puede dares el caso" (Rulfo 115). ['Ietsleave this day for rest. Tomorrow we'll
march in a file and feel more like it, withmore strength if we have to run. Wemight have to"] (Rulfo 106). His unclesignore him and they continue theirjo urney without Feliciano. Feliciano fallsasleep and later continues on with thejourney He abandons his ril1es anddescends down the mountain . Hearrives at the base of the mountain andsees that his uncles are swinging from atree. The soldiers had caught them. Heoverhears the conversation of thesoldiers, which explains why his uncleshad been caught. The soldiers know tha tthere is one more member of the partyfor whom they are waiting. "Tiene quecaer por aqui, como cayeron esos otrosque eran mas viejos y mas colmilludos"(Rulfo 117). ["He'll have to come thisway like the others did who were olderand more experienced"] (Rulfo 108).After he hears this, Feliciano slinks awayinto the nigh t. "Cuando llego al reliz delarroyo, enderezo la cabeza y se echo acorer, abriendose paso entre lospajona les. No mira para arras ni para ensu carrera hasta que sin tio que el arroyose disolvia en la llanura " (Rulfo 118).["When he reached the edge of thearroyo he raised his head and thenbegan to run , opening his path throughthe tall grass. He didn 't look back untilhe felt the arroyo dissolve into theplain"] (Rulfo 109). Feliciano, becausehe was inexperienced and wanted torest, is the only one to escape thesoldier's grasp.
Th e next tale conce rn ing both thejourney and the to pic of escape is"jDiles qu e no me mat en!" ["Tell Th emNo t to Kill Me!"] Th e main cha rac terin th is story, Juvencio Nava has beenon the run for over thirty years forkilling Don Lupe Terreros , a neighborwho would not allow juvencio to feedhis catt le on his land during thedro ught. Now, at the en d of his life, heis finally caught after many years ofescaping his fate.
10 The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Juan Rullo
Por eso era que Ie costaba trabajoimaginar morir asi, de repente, aestas Alturas de su vida , despues detanto pelear para librarse de lamue rte; de haberse pasado su majortiemp o tirand o de un lado para otroarrastrado por los sobresaltos ycuando su cuerpo habia acabadopor ser un puro pellejo correosocurtido por los malos dias en quetuvo que andar escondiendose detodos. (Rulfo 95)
[It was hard for him to imagine thathe'd die like this, suddenly, at thistime of life, after having fough t somu ch to ward off death , afterhaving spent his best years runningfrom one place to anoth er becauseof the alarms, now when his bodyhad become all dri ed up andleathery from the bad days when hehad to be in hiding from everyo ne.](Rulfo 86)
Even now juvencio begs his son , justino,to convin ce the soldiers to let him go."[Diles que no me maten , justino! Anda,vete a decirles eso. Que por caridad . Asidiles" (Rulfo 92). l'Tell them not to killme, justino! Go on and tell them that.For God's sake' Tell them"] (Rulfo 83).Unfortunately for juvencio, the colonelin charge of the troops is the son of theman he killed . This does not deterjuvencio in the slightest. He pleads hiscase before the colonel, begging him tolet him go.
Ya no valgo nad a. No tardare enmorirme solito, derrengado de viejo.[No me mates ... !... He pagad omuchas veces. Todo me 10 quitaron.Me castigaron de muchas mod os.Me he pasado cosa de cuarenta anosescondido como un apestado, siemprecon el palpito de que en cualquierrato me matanan . No merezco morirasi, colonel. (Rulfo 99)
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[I'm not worth anything now. Itwon 't be long before I die all bymyself, crippled by old age. Don'tkill me! . .. They puni shed me inmany ways. I've spent abou t fortyyears hid ing like a leper, alwayswith the fear they'd kill me at anymoment. I don't deserve to die likethis, colonel."] (Rulfo 90)
Towards the end, the colonel relents alittle and shows a tiny bit of compassion ."Amarrenlo y den le algo de beber hastaque se emborrache para que no leduelen los tiros" (Rulfo 99). ["Give himsomething to drink until he gets drunkso the shots won't hurt him"] (Rulfo 90).Nothing in the wo rld will allow th ecolonel to show mercy an d allowjuvencio to live while the memory of hisfather and what juvencio did to himremains in his mind . This is the colonel'sway of achieving closure in the matter.juvencio's wanderings for 30 years endwith his cap ture, ironically by the veryman most wanting him dead.
The tale, "EI llano en llamas," ['TheBurning Plains"] for which the collectionof stories was named , is a tale, whichparallels The Revolu tionary War inMexico (1910-1920). The story is one ofthe few wr itten by juan Rul fo tha tfollows a sequent ial chronologicalpattern . The sto ry is told from th epersp ective of one of th e men in th erevolu tionary forces. Th e reader is nottold his real nam e. He is called by hisnickname EI Pichon , or "young pigeon ."EI Pichon serves un der Ped ro Zamora,the leader of the revolutionary forces.Initially, the group of revolutionaries isfighting against the forces of generalsPetronilo Flores and Urbano, but later inthe story, a man named Olachea replacesthese two generals.
The story begins in the midst of abattle. The forces of Pedro Zamora waitin ambush for those of General Flores.For a time it seems that the revolutionaryforces are going to win , but then General
Flores manages to turn the tables on thetroo ps of Ped ro Zamora. What began asan easy amb ush becomes a rou t. Therevolutionary forces are forced to fleefrom the general's forces.
Luego com enz6 la corretiza porent re los matorrales. Sentiamos lasbalas pajueleandonos los talons,como si hubi erarnos caido sobre unenjambre de chapulines . Y de vez encua ndo , y cada vez mas seguido,pegand o mero en medio de algunode nosotros, que se quebraba conun crujido de hu esos. (Rulfo 72)
[Then we started running, takingcover among the thickets. We feltthe bullets crack ing at our heels,and it felt like we'd fallen on aswarm of grassho ppers... we ran .We reached the edge of the barrancaand let ourse lves slide down it pellmell."] (Rulfo 67-8)
A few of the fighters survive, but not all.Many are killed , forcing the rest to gointo hiding. "Despues ya no peleamos.Para decir major las cosas, ya teniamosalgun tiempo sin pelear, solo de andarhuyendo el bu lto ; por eso resolvimosremon tarnos los pocos que quedamo s,echandonos al cerro para esconde rnosde la persecucion" (Rulfo 75) . ["Afterthat we quit fight ing. Or you might say,we passed some time with out fighting ,trying to keep ou rselves hidd en ; that 'swhy th e few of us that were leftdecided to take to th e woo ds, goingup in to th e hill s to hid e frompersecution"] (Rulfo 70-1 ).
Eight months later, Pedro Zamoraagain calls them to battl e. This time thebattle tactics have changed. Instead offacin g th e troops head-on , th erevolution ari es choose a hit and ru ntype of battl e plan . The main focus ofth eir attack is upon the wealthylandown ers . A cycle of attack andescape begins before the army finally
11
catches up with them and attempts tofinish them off.
No tiene ni que , era mas Iacil caersob re los ranc hos en lugar deesta r embosca ndo a las trop es delgobierno . Por eso nos desperdigamos,y con un punito aqui y otro mas albhicimos mas perjuicios que nunca,siempre a la carrera, pegand o lapatada y corriendo como mul asbrutas. (Rulfo 79)
[Why sho uld we go on this way,when it was easier to swoop downon the ranches instead ofambushing the federal troops. That'swhy we scattered , and with a littlestrike here and another there we didmore damage than ever, always onthe run , shoo ting and running likecrazy mules.] (Rulfo 74)
This cycle would most likely have beensomewhat tolerated if they had notderailed a train full of troops andcivilians instead of focusing on thewealthy landowners.
Numerous followers of PedroZamora become disgusted with whatwas happening and desert his arm y Thefederal troops consider the trainderailment a personal affront and decla reunco nditional vengeance upon therevolutionaries. There is no escape forthose in Pedro Zamora's army
Estuvimos escondidos varios dtas;pero los federales nos fueron a sacarde nuestro escondite. Ya no nosdieron paz; ni siquiera para mascarun pedazo de cecina en paz.Hicieron que se nos acabaran lashoras de dormir y de comer, y quelos dias y las noc hes fuera n igualespara nosotros. (Rulfo 84)
[We stayed in hiding for severaldays, but the federal troops came tof1ush us out. They didn't leave us
alone any more, not even to munchon a piece of je rky. They saw to itthat we did n't have time to eat orsleep , and the days and nights allbecame one to us ... all we wantedto do was get away from them .](Rulfo 79).
The revolutionaries realize that the battleis over and the time had come todisband forever.
The intangible aspect of escape isalso present in "El llano en llamas." Ju anRulfo seems to add it to the plot almos tas an aside to end the tale and provideclosure. The narrator EI Pichon isthrown in jail for crimes that havenothing to do with his revolutionaryservice under Pedro Zamora.
Yo sal! de la carcel hace tres anos ,Me castigaron alii por mu chosdelitos; pero no porque hubieraand ado con Pedro Zamora. Eso no10 supieron ellos. Me agarraron porotras cosas, entre otras por la malacostumbre que yo tenia de robarmu chachas . (Rulfo 87)
[I got out of jail three years ago.They punished me there for a lot ofcrimes, but not because I was one ofZamo ra's men. They didn't knowthat. They got me for other things,among others for the bad habit Ihad of carrying off girls.] (Rulfo 8 1)
One of the girls he carried off waits forhim out side the jail to try to make himtake responsibility for his actions . Hehad fathered a son with her. Initially hethin ks that she plans to kill him , but thisdoes not tum out to be the case. "Ahoravive conm igo una de ellas, quiza lamejor y mas buena de todas las muj eresque hay en el mundo. La que estaba allt,afuerita de la carcel, esperando quiensabe desde cuando a que me soltaran"(Rulfo 87). ["Now one of them is livingwith me, maybe the finest and best
woman in the world - the one who wasthere, ou tside the jail waiting I don'tknow how long for them to let meloose"] (Rulfo 8 1). She makes himrealize that he cannot escaperesponsibility for his actions as hejourneys through life.
The last story that connects thetheme of escape with the motif of thejourney is "(No oyes ladrar los perros?"["No Dogs Bark"]. This is a slightmistranslation by George D. Schade ; amore literal translation of the title wouldbe "Can You Hear the Dogs Bark)" Thetitle is significant because the father(narrator), who is carrying his son overhis shoulders, cannot hear anything . Thejourney occurs during the night andwith his son, Ignacio, over his sho ulde rslike a heavy burden the fathe r canno t seeanything but the ground beneath hisfeet. Since his son's body covers his ears ,the father is continually asking his son ifhe can hear the dogs barking. The soundof the dogs barking wou ld be the firstindication that the village is nearby Thefather is carrying his son to a neighboringvillage to be cured of a gunshot wound.The only doctor is in the nearby village onthe other side of the mountains. "Dicenque allt hay un doctor. Yo te llevare con el,Te he traido cargando desde hace horas yno te dejare tirado aqui para que acabencontigo quienes sean" (Rulfo 136). ["Theysay there's a doctor in the town . I'll takeyou to him. I've already carried you forhours, and I'm not going to leave youlying here now for someone to finish off"](Rulfo 117). If it were entirely up to thefather, he would try to escape theresponsibility of caring for his son andcarrying him through the night to becured. However, he cannot escape hisresponsibility because of the memory ofhis dead wife, the mother of Ignacio."Todo esto que hago, no 10 hago porusted. Lo hago por su difunta madre.Porque usted fue su hijo. Por eso 10hago . Ella me reconvendria si yo 10hubiera dejad o tir ad o alli, donde 10
12 The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Juan Rulfo
encon tre , y no 10 hubiera recogido parallevarlo a que 10 curen, como estoyhaciendolo" (Rulfo 136). [''I'm not doingall this for you. I'm doing it for yourdead mother. Because you were her son.That 's why I'm doin g it. She would'vehaunted me if I'd left you lying wh ere Ifound you and hadn't picked you upand carried you to be cured as I'mdoin g"] (Rulfo 117). He feels aninescapabl e responsibility to hermemory. Later in the story he tellsIgnacio that he will no longer haveanything to do with him. He does thisone last act in honor of his late wife."Porque para mf usted ya no es mi hijo"(Rulfo 136-7). [". ..Because as far as I amconcerned, you aren't my son anymore"] (Rulfo 118). For the rest of thefather 's journey through life, herelinquishes any and all duties requiredof a father to a son. As the full moonfollows them in its journey across thesky, first turn ing red and then later ablui sh color, it marks with its passingthe slow death of the son .
Social CriticismAs mentioned previously, the works ofJuan Rulfo are not believed to present anovert criticism of Mexican society, butare of a more subtle nature . Any socialcriticism has been considered in asecondary role to other aspect s found inhis works. Nevertheless, the socialcritiques are buried , and it is a criticalthin ker's job to uncover these buried bitsof treasure like a miner sifting for gold inth e Alaskan wilderness . His storiesset in the stark lan dscape of theMex ica n plains p resent particularsituations in wh ich individua ls arein flu enced and changed by th eirsociet y and its co ntex ts .
In "La cuesta de las comadres" ['TheHill Of the Cornadres"], a tale of a powerstru ggle unfolds. The weak or unwaryare preyed upon by the strong. This is away of life for those living in LatinAmerican countries. For the poor, it is
GVSU McNai r Scholars jo llJ1Jal VOLUME 4.2000
sometimes all they know. The narrator ofthis tale remai ns namel ess throughoutthe story, which is a common techniquefor which Juan Rulfo is known. He isboth friend and subjec t to the Torricos,Odilon and Remigio, two brothers whocontrol or own an entire slope a shortdistance away from the town of Zapotlan .
Y si no es mu cho decir, ellos eranallt los du enos de la tierra y de casasqu e estaban encima de la tierra , contodo y qu e, cuando el reparto, lamayor parte de la Cuesta de lasComadres nos habia tocado porigual a los sesenta qu e allf viviamos,y a ellos, a los Torricos, nada masun pedazo de mon te, con unamezcalera nada mas, pem dondeestaban desp erdigadas casi todas lascasas. Apesar de eso, la Cuesta delas Comadres era de los Torricos .(Rulfo 14)
[And-if I'm not exaggeratingthey owned the land there and thehouses on the land , even thoughwhen the land was distributed mostof the Hill had been divided equallyamong the sixty of us who livedthere , and the Torricos got just apiece of land with a maguey field ,but where most of the houses werescattered. In spite of that , the Hill ofthe Comadres belon ged to theTorricos .] (Rulfo 15)
The Torricos are bullies and try tocontro l the entire popu lation on theslope. Because of this, most of theresident s decide to mo ve awa y andslowly, litt le by litt le , the numbers ofresidents trickle away. Th ey fee lpowerl ess against th e brothers. "Essegu ro que les sobraban ganas depelear se con los Torri cos paradesquitarse de todo el mal qu e leshabfan hecho; pero no tuvieron animos"(Rulfo 15). ["They sure felt like fight ingthe Torricos to get even with them for all
the bad things the y'd done to them , butthe y didn't ha ve the courage. Th at 's theway it was"] (Rulfo 16). Juan Rulfomakes a broader point in depicting theway that life is or was in Mexico. Thestrong, just becau se th ey are stro ng ,prey up on the weak. A large majority ofpeopl e acce pts this as the naturalcourse of events as they go th roughtheir life journey.
Further proof of the nature of theTorricos comes to light wh en thenarrator is asked to participa te in oneof the Torricos' ventures and thenarrator assists the brothers in robbinga mul e dri ver. Upon arriving at thecamp of the mul e dri ver, the narratornotices that the mul e dri ver appearslifeless. He is assured that the man ison ly sleeping and that he will wake upin the morning.
Apparentl y, these vent ures arecommon occurrences in the daily lives ofthe people on the hill . "hubiera querid oser un poco menos viejo para meterm een los trabajos en qu e ellos andaban"(Rulfo 17). ["I wished I wasn't quite soold, so I cou ld join them in what theywere up to"] (Rulfo 18). The broth erswould sit for hours and wait for a victimtraveling down the road . "Unicarnente seponian aver el camino : aqu el anchocallej6 n arenoso qu e se podia seguir conla mirada desde el comienzo hasta qu ese perdia entre los ocotes del cerro de laMedia Luna" (Rulfo 16). [They ju stlooked at the road-that wide , sandytrack you could follow with your eyesfrom the beginning until it got lostamong the pines on Half Moon Hill"](Rulfo 17). The Torricos are willing toprey on wh oever is unfortunate enoughto cross their path. They know whatthey are and do not deny it. In fact theyare quite proud of the fact and even havea sort of code of ethics concerning theirthi ever y. "Odilon y yo eramossinverguenzas y 10 que tu quieras, y nodigo qu e no llegamos a mat ar a nadie;pero nunca 10 hicimos por tan poco"
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(Rulfo 21). ["OdiI 6n and I werehoodlums or whatever you want to callus, and I won't say that we never killedanybody, but we never did it for suchsmall pickings"] (Rulfo 22). Rernigiosstatement comes after his bro ther's deathin Zapotlan . Remigio believes that thenarrator killed his brother because hisbrother had 14 pesos and now thenarrator has a new blanket. Knowingthat Remigio is in a terrible rage anddrunk, the narrator doesn't attempt toargue with him even though he knowswho really killed his brother. His brothergot into a fight with a group of men intown and they killed him. in self-defense,the narrator is forced to kill Remigio.The story ends with the narra torapologizing to Remigio for killing him.So ends the life of a pair of bullies. Inthe end there is a message of hope.Bullies can be overcome and the weakcan defeat the strong.
In "Paso del Norte" ["The PassageNorth"], the journey motif elucidates acriticism of family relations andresponsibilities of parents to children.The story starts as a young man goes tohis father and tells him that his childrenare starving and that he needs to gonorth to look for work. "Ya Ie digo, lasemana pasada comimos quelites, y esta,pos ni eso. Por eso me voy" (Rulfo 122).["I already told you, last week we ateweeds, and this week, well not eventhat. That's why I am going"] (Schade124) . He wants his father to look afterhis wife and children . The father is aself-centered old man who tries to avoidagreeing to look out for his son's. "Yo yano estoy pa criar mu chachos; conhaberte criado a ti y a tu hermana, queen paz descanse, con eso tuve de sobra"(Rulfo 121). ["I can't raise kids anymore; raising you and your sister, mayshe rest in peace, was more than enoughfor me"] (Rulfo 122). His own father hasessentially shirked his responsibility inraising him .
Nomas me trajo al mundo alaveriguatelas como puedas. Nisiquiera me enseno el oficio decuetero, como pa que no le fuera ahacer a uste la competencia. Mepuso unos calzones y una camisa yme echo a los caminos pa queaprendiera a vivir po r mi cuenta yya casi me echaba de su casa conuna mano adelante y otra atras .(Rulfo 121)
[No sooner did you bring me intothe world than I had to shift formyself. You didn't even teach methe fireworks trade, so I wouldn't bein compe tition with you. You putsome pants and a shirt on me andput me out on the street to learn tolive on my own and you almostthrew me out of the house with justthe clothes on my back.] (Rulfo 122)
The incen tive to feed his family thus isthe motive for the son's journey and heleaves for the nort h and earns enoughmoney for the border crossing. At thebo rder, the men crossing are met with ahailstorm of bullets. "Yestabamospasando el rio cuan do nos fusilaron conlos mauseres" (Rulfo 125). ["And wewere crossing the river when they shot atus with their rifles"] (Rulfo 127). All ofthe men are killed except for thenarrator. The story presents a socialcritique of the United States and theirtreatment of those people who cross theborder in order to earn some money tofeed their families. The son returns homedefeated to find that his wife has run offwith a mule driver and his father hassold his home. Again leaving his father incharge of his children, the son departs insearch of his wife. "Abandoning hischildren, he vanishes after her, destinedfrom then on to roam the country like asoul in pain" (Harss 263) The journeycomes full circle as the son, like hisfather before him abandons his children.
"Nos han dado la tierra" ["TheyHave Given Us the Land "] presents themost obvious criticism of society inrelation to the journey Having beengiven land through the agrarian reformmovement in Mexico, the prospectivefarmers go ou t to inspect it. "Uno hacreido a veces, en medio de este caminosin orillas, que nada habna despues; queno se podna encontrar nada al otro lado,al final de esta llanura rajada de grietas yde arroyos secos" (Rulfo 7). ["At times,along this road with no edges, it seemedlike there'd be not hing afterward, thatnothing could be found on the otherside, at the end of this plain split withcracks and dry arroyos"] (Rulfo 9). Theydiscover that what they have been givenis worthless. It is a gigantic plain inwhich there is nothing. "No, el Llano noes cosa que sirva. No hay ni conejos nipajaros. No hay nada" (Rulfo 8). ["No,the plain is no good for anything.There're no rabbits or birds. There'snothing." ] (Rulfo 10-11). They try toprotest that nothing will grow on theplain but it is of no use . "Nosotrosparamos la jeta para decir que el Llanono 10 queriamos. Que quenarnos 10 queestaba junto al rio ... Pero no nos dejarondecir nuestras cosas. El delegado novenia a conversar con nosotros" (Rulfo9). ["We opened our mouths to say thatwe didn't want the plain, that what wewanted was by the river. .. But theydidn't let us say these things. The officialhadn't come to converse with us"] (Rulfo11-12). They try to tell the official thatthere is no use for the plain. The officialtells them [You can state that in writing.And now you can go. You should beattacking the large-estate owners and notthe government that is giving you theland"] (Rulfo 12). After inspecting theland , the small group of men retu rns tothe town . "Y a mi se me ocur re quehemos caminado mas de 10 que llevamosandado" (Rulfo 8) . [''It occurs to me thatwe've walked more than the ground
14 The Significance of the Journey in the Works of Ju an Rulfo
we've covered"] (Rulfo 10). Like thecharacters in the story, the Mexicanpeople keep trud ging over the samegroun d, getting nowhere.
The story reflects the folly of theagrarian reform movement in Mexico. AsJuan Rulfo explains in an interview, "Theland was distributed among smalltradesmen instead of farmers" (Harss258). Similar to Rulfos story, these peoplecould not use the land . They did notknow about farming, so the land given tothem was about as useful as the plain wasto the group of men in the tale.
In conclusion, the motif of thejourney in the works of Juan Rulfo hasbeen greatly overlooked . In the majorityof his works someone is goingsomewhere for a purpose as in 'Talpa"or trying to escape from something as in" Eillano en llamas" ["The BurningPlains"]. Many times this escape is fromthe burd en of guilt that the maincharacter has as in the story "El homb re"[The Man"]. Other times this escape ismore in the realm of the physical as isthe case in "[Diles que no me maten!"[Tell them not to kill mel"]. While notobviously, Juan Rulfo does present anumber of social criticisms in hiswritings. They tend to be more obscurethan in other writers' works. One mustdig deeper, however, to discover what itis that Ju an Rulfo is saying.
GVSU McNair ScholarsJournal VOLUME 4. 2000
Phill ip j. Copado, McNair Scho lar
Works Cons ulted
Alcala, Hugo. El arte dejuan Rulfo. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1965.
Gyurko, Lanin A. "Rulfo's Aesthetic Nihilism: Narrative Antecede nts of Pedro Paramo ."Hispanic Review 40 (I972): 45 1-66.
Harss, Luis, and Barbara Dohmann . Into the Mainstream. New York: Harpe r &: Row, 1967
Langford, Walter M. The Mexican Novel Comesoj Age. Notre Dame: Universi ty of Notre Dame, 1971.
Peavler, Terry ]., and Peter Standish. ed . Structures oj Power: Essays on Twentieth-Century SpanishAmerican Fiction. Albany: State University of New York, 1996.
Rullo, Juan . The Burning Plains. Trans. George D. Schade. Austin: Univers ity of Texas Press, 19961
Rullo, Juan. Pedro Paramo. Trans. Lysander Kemp. New York: Grove, 1959 2
Rulfo, Juan. j lwn Rulfo: Toda la ohra. Ed. Claude Fell. Madrid: CSIC, 199 13
Sommers, Joseph. AJter theStorm: Landmarks oj the Modem MexicanNovel. New Mexico:University of New Mexico, 1968.
I All English quotations exce pt for where indicated and those dea ling with Pedro Paramocome from thi s book.
2 All English qu otations from Pedro Paramo come from this book.
3 All Spa nish qu ota tions in th is pa per come from this book.
