Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
Set in a prison cell and written in the context of pain and suffering
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Regretful and reflective
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Pascual Duarte.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is that Pascual Duarte is in prison, serving a jail term for murdering a relative of the Pharmacist that he is addressing in his writings.
Climax
The climax comes when Duarte is released from prison thanks to the local rebellion that freed all the prisoners.
Foreshadowing
His bad upbringing foreshadowed Duarte's inhumane behavior by his parents. For instance, Duarte's father was a Portuguese smuggler, while his mother had no maternal instincts.
Understatement
Parental negligence is belittled in the text. The reader learns a sad reality that Duarte's parents were so irresponsible to the extent of mistreating their disabled child called Mario. Sadly, Mario is left unattended, and he falls into an oil vat and dies at the age of nine.
Allusions
The story alludes to parental negligence and irresponsibility.
Imagery
The imagery of prison is evident throughout the text. Duarte spends most of his adulthood in prison because of murder charges. The imagery helps readers see Duarte's character and the actions that landed him in prison.
Paradox
Duarte is a paradoxical character. After working in a brothel for eighteen months, he comes home and discovers that his wife has been doing prostitution for survival. Ironically, Duarte gets mad at his wife, forgetting that he worked in a brothel too for survival.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The phrase 'peaceful season' is a metonymy for a reunion and intriguing moments.
Personification
N/A
