Toribio Aldrete Character Analysis in Pedro Páramo

Toribio is Pedro Páramo’s first unsuspecting victim, a landowner whose property borders the Media Luna Ranch. When Toribio starts putting up fences around his land, Pedro Páramo falsely accuses him of misrepresenting his property boundaries. Toribio sees this as a pathetic joke, but Pedro sends Fulgor Sedano to kill him and then presumably takes over Toribio’s land. When Juan Preciado spends his first night in Comala in Eduviges Dyada’s house, he hears the echo of Toribio Aldrete screaming in his final moments, asking for “a hanged man’s right to a last word.” The fact that Toribio doesn’t get one attests to Pedro Páramo’s limitless capacity for evil.

Toribio Aldrete Character Timeline in Pedro Páramo

The timeline below shows where the character Toribio Aldrete appears in Pedro Páramo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the bloodcurdling scream keeps interrupting his sleep. Damiana recalls that the Media Luna ranch hand Toribio Aldrete was hanged in this very room and then locked inside. Juan says that Eduviges... (full context)

History, Memory, and Narrative Theme Icon

Fragment 18. The savvy ranch administrator Fulgor Sedano remembers filing a lawsuit accusing Toribio Aldrete of “falsifying boundaries.” He had a drink with Toribio, who mocked the absurd accusation.... (full context)

Fragment 19. Some time before killing Toribio, Fulgor visits Pedro Páramo’s house. He knocks on the door with his whip and sees... (full context)

...Dolores on his behalf and organize the ceremony with Father Rentería. Fulgor also asked about Toribio Aldrete, who had been trying to mark out his property with fences, but Pedro asked... (full context)

...her. (Fulgor is 55, more than twice Pedro’s age.) Pedro orders Fulgor to go threaten Toribio Aldrete—to say that he measured his land wrong and put his fences on the Media... (full context)

...waiting for someone to open the door. Inside, he explains that he’s settled things with Toribio Aldrete, and Pedro says that the Fregosos are next—after his honeymoon. (full context)