This paper analyzes Juan Rulfo’s short-story collection The Plain in Flames, first published in 1953, in terms of its presentation of characters’ striving for need satisfaction. It emphasizes the importance of small glimpses of hope that motivate disenfranchised individuals to continue in their pursuit of need satisfaction regardless of unfortunate circumstances. In doing so, it uses the framework of need satisfaction provided by Abraham H. Maslow, especially in his 1954 work Motivation and Personality. After presenting the constant struggle for survival in The Plain in Flames and summarizing Maslow’s theory of human motivation, the paper focuses particularly on the works “Paso del Norte,” “Macario,” and “Talpa” to illustrate the connection between hope and need satisfaction. It leads to the conclusion that the characters in The Plain in Flames, regardless of their particular circumstances, reveal the common tendency of humans to look for a small dose of hope in order to move forward.
References
[1]
Arizmendi Domínguez, M. A. (2008). Una luz en la oscuridad. Juan Rulfo ante la crítica. Contribuciones desde Coatepec, 14, 179-182.
[2]
Bell, L. (2015). Viscous Porosity: Interactions between Human and Environment in Juan Rulfo’s El llano en el llano en llamas. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research, 21, 389-404. https://doi.org/10.1080/13260219.2015.1153030
[3]
Blancas Blancas, N. (2018). “Talpa,” un discurso confesional. Revista de estudios filológicos,35, 1-18.
[4]
Colón, C. (2008). El narrador inconfesable de Talpa de Juan Rulfo. Temas y variaciones deliteratura, 31, 271-287.
[5]
De Diego (1998). La reificación de la mujer en El llano en llamas, de Juan Rulfo. Revistacanadiense de estudios hispánicos, 22, 285-293.
[6]
De la Fuente, J. L. (1996). Juan Rulfo: La narración desde la periferia. Castilla: Estudios deliteratura, 21, 85-104.
[7]
Duffey, P. (1996). Vírgenes, madres y prostitutas: La figura femenina en El llano en llamas. GénEr♀♂ s, 4, 16-22.
[8]
Fernández Poncela, A. M. (2012). La Virgen de Talpa: Religiosidad, turismo y sociedad. Política y cultura, 38, 29-48.
[9]
Gambrel, P. A., & Cianci, R. (2003). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Does It Apply in a Collectivist Culture? The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 8, 143-161.
[10]
García Márquez, G. (1982). The Solitude of Latin America. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1982/marquez/lecture/
[11]
García Peña, L. L. (2022). La poética de la soledad en Juan Rulfo.Interpretextos, 1, 21-38.
[12]
Harss, L. (1965). Juan Rulfo: Contemporary Mexican Novelist. New Mexico Quarterly, 35, 293-318.
[13]
Jansen, W., & Dresen, G. (2012). Fluid Matters: Gendering Holy Blood and Holy Milk. In D. Houtman, & B. Meyer (Eds.), Things: Religion and the Question of Materiality (pp. 215-231). Fordham University Press. https://doi.org/10.5422/fordham/9780823239450.003.0013
[14]
Jiménez Chacón, M. (2018). Sobre el peregrinaje y lo milagroso en “Talpa,” de Juan Rulfo. Latin American Literary Review, 45, 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26824/lalr.77
[15]
King-Hill, S. (2015) Critical Analysis of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. The STeP Journal, 2, 54-57.
[16]
López-Quiñones, L. G. (2013). El silencio como estrategia en la obra de Juan Rulfo. AnalectaMalacitana, 35, 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0185-2698(13)71810-5
[17]
Lyon, T. (1973). Ontological Motifs in the Short Stories of Juan Rulfo. Journal of SpanishStudies: Twentieth Century, 1, 161-168.
[18]
Lyon, T. (1992). Juan Rulfo, o no hay salvación ni en la vida ni en la muerte. Revista chilenade literatura, 39, 97-118.
[19]
Martín, M. (2001). Espacio urbano y espacio “psíquico” en Juan Rulfo. Revista hispánicamoderna, 54, 126-139.
[20]
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
[21]
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. Harper and Row.
[22]
Maslow, A. H. (1969). Various Meanings of Transcendence. Journal of TranspersonalPsychology, 1, 56-66.
[23]
Ortega Galindo, L. (1994). El mundo femenino en la obra de Juan Rulfo. Mar Oceana: Revistadel humanismo español e iberoamericano, 1, 197-217.
[24]
Papaleontiou-Louca, E., Esmailnia, S., & Thoma, N. (2022). A Critical Review of Maslow’s Theory of Spirituality. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 24, 327-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2021.1932694
[25]
Paz, O. (1950). The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico. Grove Press.
[26]
Petrikowski Escobar, J. L. (2019). El destierro como miseria metafísica en “Nos han dado la tierra” de Juan Rulfo. Miscelánea filosófica αρχή: Revista electrónica, 2, 56-72. https://doi.org/10.31644/mfarchere_v.2;n.5/19-A03
[27]
Pettit, S. K. (2007). Mexico’s Cult of Death: An analysis of The Days of the Dead and ItsLiterary and Artistic Counterparts. Honors Thesis, University of Mississippi.
[28]
Polo García, V. (1975). Entre la fantasía y el telurismo: Asedio cordial a la obra de Juan Rulfo. In Anales de la Universidad de Murcia. Filosofía y letras (pp. 129-148). Universidad, Secretariado de Publicaciones.
[29]
Poston, B. (2009). An Exercise in Personal Exploration: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. TheSurgical Technologist, 41, 347-353.
[30]
Ramírez, H. H. (2008). El personaje femenino en los cuentos de Juan Rulfo. Iberoamericana,8, 47-63.
[31]
Rulfo, J. (2015). The Plain in Flames. University of Texas Press. (Original Work Published 1953).
[32]
Russek, D. (2008). Rulfo, Photography, and the Vision of Emptiness. Chasqui, 37, 15-27.
[33]
Torres Vergel, F. (2022). La sinrazón de lo imperativo: “Macario” de Juan Rulfo. ALPHA:Revista de artes, letras y filosofía, 54, 127-137. https://doi.org/10.32735/S0718-22012022000541035
[34]
Villafuerte, A. T. (1992). La muerte en la obra de Juan Rulfo: 1917-1986. Revista Fuenteshumanísticas, 3, 76-81.
