Camilo José Cela's The Family of Pascual Duarte: A Deep Dive

Camilo José Cela's *The Family of Pascual Duarte*: A Deep Dive

The Genesis of a Literary Masterpiece

The Family of Pascual Duarte was the first novel by Camilo José Cela, one of the most important writers of the postwar period, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. This work, along with *The Hive*, is among the best of his literary production.

A Confession from the Condemned

The work is presented as the confession of a condemned man. The offender is Pascual Duarte, a peasant who has committed several murders, including that of his own mother. He confesses his sins in an autobiography to publicly explain his conduct. He tries to justify, not only to explain, why he committed these crimes.

Pascual Duarte begins his story by explaining the social conditions of his existence with this wonderful paragraph: "I, sir, am not bad, although I am not lacking reasons to be. We all have a fatal birth, and yet, when we grow, our destination is pleased, as if we vary our wax and destination by different paths to the same end: death."

Unveiling the Narrative Structure

One of the most interesting aspects of *The Family of Pascual Duarte* is its structure:

• It begins with a note by the writer, informing us that someone has found a manuscript and has decided to publish it.
• Next comes a letter from Pascual, explaining why he sent the original of his memoirs to a stranger.
• In third place is a clause in the will of this stranger, asking that this manuscript be burned.

Within the structure of the work, we can highlight the use of prolepsis, because since the beginning of the work, we know what will happen.

Pascual Duarte's Journey: From Childhood to Matricide

Finally comes the story itself, the memories of Pascual Duarte: his childhood, his family, his youth, his work as a peasant, his people, and the domestic violence that leads to fights, to killing animals, and finally, people. It reflects the climate of oppression and backwardness to which postwar Spain was subjected.

The Complex Character of the Mother

The character of the mother is very successful. From the outset, we are faced with a woman full of flaws: a poor wife, argumentative, dirty, and drunk, never showing her child the slightest love. He feels tremendous hatred towards her because he sees all the calamities of his life encrypted in his mother; she is the source of his life, the culprit of his coming into the world.

Tremendismo and the Legacy of Pascual Duarte

The Family of Pascual Duarte is an impressive work, sometimes gruesome, that has led to a postwar literary movement called *tremendismo*. It is the story of a man who has known only misery and suffering. Born into a poor family, he grew up in ignorance, turned violent and hateful, and ultimately became a matricide.