Juan Preciado: viaje, ilusión y esperanza

pedro paramo is perhaps one of the literary texts that has had the greatest influence on spanish american letters. many studies have been done related to this work, and some of them insist on its pessimistic tone. the novel begins with the journey of a son who sets out to look for his father in order to fulfill the promise made to his mother as she lay dying. this has been the most widely diffused interpretation given by critics. nevertheless, if one reads carefully the discourse of the protagonist, one comes to understand the principle motive for his journey to comala. in reality, juan preciado is motivated by the hope that it was "that man" named pedro paramo that prompted the journey, not the promise made to dolores, something that he himself says that he was not planning to fulfill until he started to be filled with dreams, illusions, and hope. juan's journey goes from hope to illusion, culminating in death. the action is rooted in that sentiment that moves every human being and thus changes in an extensive metaphor for the meaning (or without meaning) of life. this manuscript reflects on the presence of hope and illusion in the novel of juan rulfo.