MODL 5304 Postings

Surrealism.  I found Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo hard to read, but interesting.  It definitely succeeded in invoking a sensation of eeriness.  In one sense the work was very fleshly and sensual but at the same time mystical and otherworldly.  In the town of Comala, which is described as a type of hell/purgatory where dusk fills the sky with blood, there is not a sharp distinction between those who are dead and those who are alive.  Rulfo intertwines descriptions of the flesh and the spiritual world so that they almost seem as one.  Against the storyline of Juan Preciado’s mission to find his father, Pedro Paramo, is the spooky telling of the past events of the town of Comala in which the Paramo family wrecked havoc through murder, rape, and illegal bullying.  Throughout the novel there are cries for redemption and in most cases it seems out of reach.  Important to the story is the Catholic understanding of confession and absolution.  Upon the death of Miguel Paramo, the priest Renteria refuses to grant Miguel’s father’s wish to bless him and pray for his soul.  In speaking to God Fr. Renteria says, “For my part, I hope you damn him to hell” (26).  The Paramo family was not the only ones denied forgiveness.  The whole town, which was abandoned by the bishop, seemed in a state of lonely misery as their spirits wandered the ghost town and murmured “Pray for us” (59).  Juan Preciado’s mission turns out to be less about finding his father as much as discovering the spirit of his father.  The work ends with Pedro Paramo’s death and no narrative is given concerning Juan Preciado.  He has entered a world unknown to most, somewhere between life and death and the question arises whether or not he can return to the “real” world.

“All essential knowledge relates to existence, or only such knowledge as has an essential relationship to existence is essential knowledge”.
-Soren Kierkegaard
My first impression of Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame” was this is postmodern meaninglessness. It seems a denial of everything with value and what value is placed on things in the play is not that important. After finishing the play my thoughts changed as I realized he wanted us to think about what we are doing here on earth and to realize that we will not be here forever. This is not a play to entertain, in the sense that the reader is rejoicing or weeping throughout, but rather Beckett wants the reader to contemplate death, the end – what matters?
The play’s setting is a mystery. Not only is a year or country not given, but even the room where the play takes place is not clarified. Is it a bomb shelter? I’m not sure, but perhaps this is meant to implore the reader to apply this absurd situation to his own place and time.
Although the play overall seems anti-religious, there are a number of biblical references, ie “what do you see on your wall? Mene, mene?” (12) (A reference to Beltashazzar’s party found in the book of Daniel). I am not sure I understood the story of the tailor on pages 22-23. In comparing the trousers and the world I would interpret it as a critique of the world made by God which apparently has gone to pot.
An Act without Words also seems a critique of God, or some higher power outside of man, who continually taunts man. What man is offered in life is only temporary and often out of reach. Man seems only to notice what others have called to his attention.
The article on existentialism was helpful in understanding the technique of absurd writing. The aim of “existentialists,” was to expose the illusions of everyday
life and recall men to a more serious view of their responsibilities. This is what I found in Beckett.