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Examples Of Greed In Pedro Páramo

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Greed was the main force of corruption in Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo; it has corrupted men throughout the novel. Damasio “El Tilcuate”, who was to guard the town from revolutionaries, has been corrupted. Fulgor Sedano, the right hand of the Páramos, had dedicated his life to carry out the ‘dirty deeds’ of the rich: he has been corrupted. Father Rentería, the town’s priest, was a hypocrite, he hated the Páramos and the rich, though he accepted bribes from them, granted them absolution and neglected the poor since they couldn’t pay him: he has been corrupted. The main character, Pedro Páramo was the most immoral man in the novel. He had to lie, kill, and bribe to earn his reputation of Comala’s cacique: he has been corrupted. Greed corrupted everyone, …show more content…

Damasio, commonly known as, “El Tilcuate” was another one of Pedro’s many workers, and alike the others, he has been corrupted by greed. Both of his names hint to his corrupt character: “El Tilcuate” refers to black vipers, who attack humans, fight with other snakes and devour them, while Damasio means “domador” or tamer. Pedro Páramo offered this greedy man a small property in order for him to pretend to be a revolutionary to keep off the real revolutionaries off his land. Damasio acquired the land he desired, but lost his morality along the way: he became corrupt. To obtain more wealth, Damasio had to lie in order to pretend to be something he was not. With their deal, he became the tamer and the venomous fighter against the revolutionaries. The fact that “tilcuate” refers to black vipers, who mercilessly devour their preys shows he has turned into a ruthless ‘revolutionary’, and all because of …show more content…

Greed blinded him and turned him into such a corrupt and unjust man that he turned out to be like Pedro Páramo. Although he hated the rich and the fact that he was under their thumb, he turned to the poor and controlled them just like Pedro did to him. He was such a corrupt man that not even the neighboring town’s priest would pardon his sins. Contla’s priest claimed Father Rentería was responsible for the town’s spiritual death, he had pardoned too many guilty people and not the innocent, poor souls of the commoners. In addition to his lying and interest-based actions caused by greed, he was also a hypocrite. He hated being under the control of the rich, but he accepted their money (which showed his greed) and turned to control the poor people’s souls, only because he was more powerful than them. Instead of simply pardoning them, he told them to put their hope in the prayers and in God, which basically meant they were damned. This desire for money had not only led Father Rentería to pardon the guilty and condemn the poor and lie to cover up his unjust actions, but to control the lives of the poor. This had corrupted the ideals of the priest. His greed had caused the spiritual death of the whole town. The root of all the corruption laid in the town’s most powerful and wealthy man: the

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