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The Cristero War was a series of military conflicts in central-western Mexico from 1926-1929 (including the state of Colima, where Comala is located, and its neighboring state of Jalisco, where Juan Rulfo was born and raised). The war began with protests against the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which officially declared the nation secular and sought to curb the Catholic Church’s influence on politics and civic life. Eventually, these protests led to increasingly organized rebellions, which were often led by clergymen. In Pedro Páramo, the priest Father Rentería runs away from Comala to join the Cristero War.
Cristero War Quotes in Pedro Páramo
The Pedro Páramo quotes below are all either spoken by Cristero War or refer to Cristero War. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Fragments 60-68, Pages 109-124
Quotes
People began arriving from other places, drawn by the endless pealing. They came from Contla, as if on a pilgrimage. And even farther. A circus showed up, who knows from where, with a whirligig and flying chairs. And musicians. First they came as if they were onlookers, but after a while they settled in and even played concerts. And so, little by little, the event turned into a fiesta. Comala was bustling with people, boisterous and noisy, just like the feast days when it was nearly impossible to move through the village.
The bells fell silent, but the fiesta continued. There was no way to convince people that this was an occasion for mourning. Nor was there any way to get them to leave. Just the opposite, more kept arriving.
[…]
Don Pedro spoke to no one. He never left his room. He swore to wreak vengeance on Comala:
“I will cross my arms and Comala will die of hunger.”
And that was what happened.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Cristero War Term Timeline in Pedro Páramo
The timeline below shows where the term Cristero War appears in Pedro Páramo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Fragments 37-46, Pages 61-85
...followed. Dorotea stayed, waiting to inherit the land Pedro Páramo promised her. But then the Cristero War broke out, and the few remaining men went to fight, leaving Dorotea alone to starve.
(full context)
