Pedro Paramo

People in Comala tell stories about Miguel’s horse. They say that it has been “wandering” (30) along the road to Contla, twisting itself into agonizing shapes. They believe that the horse is trying to kill itself out of guilt for killing its rider. Pedro hears the story of Miguel’s horse. He hears that Miguel’s ghost is still visiting the woman in Contla. Under a shower of shooting stars, Pedro’s exhausted workers wonder whether Miguel has reached heaven.

Father Renteria watches the same shower of shooting stars. He still regrets accepting the bribe from Pedro to bless Miguel’s body. Though he relies on the people of Comala for support, he fears that he has compromised his principles. He thinks about Dona Eduviges. She lived a kind and generous life but, after giving birth to two sons, she was abandoned by the boys’ fathers. She was so consumed with despair that “she took her own life” (32). Renteria consoled her sister Maria, though he admitted that—as a death by suicide—Eduviges’s soul would be damned for eternity. The only way to save Eduviges, he told the impoverished Maria, was to donate money to the church.