Pedro Páramo Section 30 Summary

  • Juan wakes up and hears the man and woman talking about him.
  • They wonder who the strange guy talking in his sleep about his father on their floor is. The woman tries to get the man to get out of bed, but he wants five more minutes.
  • The woman watches Juan Preciado thrash around and thinks he must be an evil man, since he can't sleep peacefully.
  • She calls the naked guy Donis, and tries to wake him up, but he doesn't want to so she goes to get the fire going.
  • When Juan finally wakes up it's noon, and he drinks a little coffee. He asks how to get out of Comala, and the woman tells him where all the different roads lead.
  • Juan asks the woman where her husband went, and she announces that the dude she was sleeping naked with the night before is not her husband, but rather her brother. Whoa!
  • She says she never leaves the house because everyone can see her incestuous shame on her face.
  • Since the town seems to be empty, Juan asks her, logically, who would see her if there's no one there. She answers that there still are a few old people around, and that they just don't get out much.
  • She says that everybody stays home at night because the town is so full of spirits in purgatory, and that there are too few people living to pray for their souls.
  • Besides, none of the living are in God's grace, so their prayers wouldn't be too helpful.
  • The woman tells Juan about the time the Bishop came through town, and she begged him to forgive her for her incestuous relationship with Donis.
  • He wouldn't do it though, and told them they should separate instead. The Bishop rode off on a mule, and left the town full of damned souls who wander the earth looking for peace.
  • Donis comes back from looking for a lost calf, but didn't find it. He promises to help Juan Preciado find the road back to where he came from in the morning.