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Damasio (“El Tilcuate”)
Dorotea is a destitute beggar woman who lives her life in Comala, searching for the son she falsely imagines she had (but who never really existed). Later, Miguel Páramo starts paying her to seduce local women for him in exchange for food at the Media Luna Ranch. It is heavily implied that she eventually commits suicide out of despair. However, her principal role in the novel is as the fourth and final symbolic maternal figure to Juan Preciado, who in turn represents the son she always sought after. After they die, they are buried together in the same grave, Dorotea in Juan’s arms. Throughout the second half of the novel, their ghosts converse in this grave and listen to the murmurs of other dead people, especially Susana San Juan. In her life, Dorotea is invisible and powerless, almost entirely erased from the story of Comala (to the point that Susana’s death scene leaves her out, even though she tells Juan she was present for it). But in death, Dorotea finally gets to speak her part and reclaim the voice she was denied.
Dorotea Quotes in Pedro Páramo
The Pedro Páramo quotes below are all either spoken by Dorotea or refer to Dorotea. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Fragments 24-36, Pages 41-61
Quotes
“Yes, Dorotea. The murmuring killed me. I was trying to hold back my fear. But it kept building until I couldn’t contain it any longer. And when I was face to face with the murmuring, the dam burst.
“I went to the plaza. You’re right about that. I was drawn there by the sound of people; I thought there really were people. I wasn’t in my right mind by then. I remember I got there by feeling my way along the walls as if I were walking with my hands. And the walls seemed to distill the voices, they seemed to be filtering through the cracks and crumbling mortar. I heard them. Human voices: not clear, but secretive voices that seemed to be whispering something to me as I passed, like a buzzing in my ears.”
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“Why did you come here?”
“I told you that at the very beginning. I came to find Pedro Páramo, who they say was my father. Hope brought me here.”
“Hope? You pay dear for that. My illusions made me live longer than I should have. And that was the price I paid to find my son, who in a manner of speaking was just one more illusion. Because I never had a son.”
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Fragments 37-46, Pages 61-85
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I waited thirty years for you to return, Susana. I wanted to have it all. Not just part of it, but everything there was to have, to the point that there would be nothing left for us to want, no desire but your wishes. How many times did I ask your father to come back here to live, telling him I needed him. I even tried deceit.
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Fragments 60-68, Pages 109-124
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“I… I saw doña Susanita die.”
“What are you saying, Dorotea?”
“What I just told you.”
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Get the entire Pedro Páramo LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dorotea Quotes in Pedro Páramo
The Pedro Páramo quotes below are all either spoken by Dorotea or refer to Dorotea. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Fragments 24-36, Pages 41-61
Quotes
“Yes, Dorotea. The murmuring killed me. I was trying to hold back my fear. But it kept building until I couldn’t contain it any longer. And when I was face to face with the murmuring, the dam burst.
“I went to the plaza. You’re right about that. I was drawn there by the sound of people; I thought there really were people. I wasn’t in my right mind by then. I remember I got there by feeling my way along the walls as if I were walking with my hands. And the walls seemed to distill the voices, they seemed to be filtering through the cracks and crumbling mortar. I heard them. Human voices: not clear, but secretive voices that seemed to be whispering something to me as I passed, like a buzzing in my ears.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“Why did you come here?”
“I told you that at the very beginning. I came to find Pedro Páramo, who they say was my father. Hope brought me here.”
“Hope? You pay dear for that. My illusions made me live longer than I should have. And that was the price I paid to find my son, who in a manner of speaking was just one more illusion. Because I never had a son.”
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Fragments 37-46, Pages 61-85
Quotes
I waited thirty years for you to return, Susana. I wanted to have it all. Not just part of it, but everything there was to have, to the point that there would be nothing left for us to want, no desire but your wishes. How many times did I ask your father to come back here to live, telling him I needed him. I even tried deceit.
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Fragments 60-68, Pages 109-124
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“I… I saw doña Susanita die.”
“What are you saying, Dorotea?”
“What I just told you.”
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