This novel is a founding work of the genre known as tremendousism.

which connects with the Spanish realistic tradition: picaresque, naturalism

from the 19th century and the social novel of the 1930s. It is a meeting point of
styles that emerge in post-war Spain, among which we can
highlight existentialism and extreme realism. The characters live in a
environment of marginalization, sunk in ignorance, pain and anguish; this
makes stories revolve around the grotesque or repulsive seeking with
It can impact the reader. It can therefore be said that tremendism is a type
of social criticism.
The archetype of these characters is the protagonist of this novel: Pascual
Duarte, a resident of rural Extremadura who lacks any social skills and
who only knows violence as the only resource to solve problems
that arise in life. For this reason, the story has a plot.
truculent, sordid, abundant in scenes of violence.
The novel has several narrators, among them the main one is the author himself.
protagonist, Pascual Duarte, who tells the story of his life with a
language that evokes rural speech, and often resorts to comparisons
with nature and frequently to the use of the Spanish proverb when not
find words to express what you feel or think.
Our protagonist is from Torremejía (Extremadura) and his life is
developed between 1882 and 1937, years in which the socio-political reality
española estaba marcada por un clima de profunda inestabilidad. Es una de las
more turbulent times within Historical Constitutionalism with abrupt
changes of Government and Constitution, these Constitutions being more
theoretical than factual.

The protagonist of the work, of course, is also influenced,

conditioned and impregnated by the prevailing social climate at the time and
although at times the explicit references may be difficult to deduce, in
At certain moments it seems that the author is implicitly referring to
to the same.
The book is arranged in several installments of writings by different authors.

The transcriber's note reports on the discovery of Pascual's manuscript.

Duarte in mid-1939, highlighting the merely custodial role of the
author and justifying the publication of the story to show in Pascual a model
behavior to avoid.
The letter announcing the sending of the original: On February 15, 1937, from its
cell of the condemned to death and as "public confession" of his life, Pascual
send the manuscript to a certain Mr. Barrera, as he is the only friend of Mr.
Jesus González de la Riva, whose address Pascual knew, is a convicted murderer and
confession of Don Jesús. He does not do it with the intention of apologizing, he just tries
calm your conscience.
The clause of Mr. Barrera's will (May 11, 1937: that as
anecdote it is worth mentioning that it is the exact date when C.J.C. turned 21 years old)
referring to the manuscript and according to which it was to be burned without being read saved
of the flames and used at the will of whoever found it if, after all
eighteen months, he had escaped destruction.
The Memoirs of Pascual Duarte arranged in nineteen chapters. Pascual
dedicates his writing to the memory of the 'illustrious patrician' Mr. Jesús González de la
Riva, Count of Torremejía, who, when going to auction him, called him Pascualillo and
smiled.
Another note from the transcriber, where he thinks that Pascual should have been detained.
in the prison of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón until 1935 or 1936. The readers
We can assume that he returns to prison presumably to serve his sentence.
for the murder of his mother. It also assumes that Pascual would be released from prison.
before starting the war and says he has not been able to find out anything about
his performance during the fifteen days of revolution that passed over his
village. It is then when we readers can assume that he killed Don
Jesus, although the reasons for this crime are not told to us.
Two 'letters' in which the death of Pascual Duarte is recounted in different ways:
one of the chaplain of the Badajoz prison three leagues from Almendralejo in the
that avoids going into lurid details and tells us that the behavior of the
the protagonist was brave and Christian, accepting her situation with faith, even though at
finally lost a bit of composure; and another from a civil guard who gave us
It is noted that the protagonist began facing his destiny with bravado.
to end up rebelling cowardly and extremely fearful. It is not easy for us in
never mentions the date of Pascual's death.
Characters:
Pascual Duarte: Narrator-protagonist. His life is full of
misfortunes and bad luck. He is a resentful and impulsive man, which makes him
it will lead to murder in fits of rage and to ending their days in prison.

Rosario: She is Pascual's sister and had total control over their father.
who in front of her did not hit her mother or make noise. She leaves the house and
she occasionally works as a prostitute. Later she comes back, humiliated by the
Stretched out. His relationship with Pascual is good and he suffers with what happens to him.
brother. He possibly had an incestuous relationship with his brother.
Esteban Duarte: Father of Pascual. He was a smuggler, which is why he went to the
prison. He beat Pascual and his wife severely. He dies like
consequence of a rabid dog's bite after two days of confinement in
a cupboard.
Lola: She is Pascual's first wife, who married him after he had been left.
dishonored by Pascual. She lost two children, one after an abortion and the other who
she died at eleven months. After Pascual's departure to La Coruña, she deceives him.
with the Estirao and becomes pregnant with him. She dies telling Pascual that he
a son who awaits is from the Stretched.
Mario: Half-brother of Pascual on their mother's side since he was not Esteban's son,
Rafael's fate. He suffers multiple misfortunes, like when a pig...
he ate the ears and his death drowned in a jar of oil.
Rafael: Lover of Pascual's mother. He was evil, especially towards Mario.
your son.
Pascual's mother: perverse, cruel, alcoholic. She beat her children and dishonored
her husband, with Rafael. She was wicked and, in the end, Pascual kills her for everything.
what he made him go through.

Engracia: Witch or healer of the village. She went often to Pascual's house since
there was always some mishap and he was present at the different births and in
the diseases that the family suffered from.

El Estirao: He was a pimp who lived off the prostitutes. Pascual did it.
I hated deeply. He dishonored Pascual's sister and his wife. This
he gives him a beating and finally kills him.
Don Manuel: Priest of the village. Pascual went to see him when he was going to get married.
His father's burial goes very well with him, and he kisses his hand and greets him.
when I see him on the street.
Lurueña: Cure of the prison. He got along very well with Pascual, and he confessed it.
when he called him. He admired Pascual's steadfastness in moments
before their death.
Esperanza: Second wife of Pascual and niece of Engracia. She was
in love with Pascual even before he married Lola. She marries
Pascual when he leaves the prison and sees how he kills his mother.

Don Conrado: Director of the Chinchilla prison. He is a good man and

comprehensive, who helps Pascual get out of jail the first time.

Resumen:
Pascual Duarte, from clean Where the author explains the history, the trajectory and the
changes that your book underwent since you wrote it and in the successive editions.
The first one was in 1942 and this text was written in 1960.

Note from the transcriber Where the transcriber reports on the meeting of this
manuscript, as he ordered since it was quite illegible and as he cut some
parts that were too raw, since the story provides a model of
behavior to not follow.
Letter announcing the shipment of the original Written by Pascual Duarte from prison
from Badajoz where he explains the reasons and desires that led him to write this
a kind of memories. Sent to Mr. Joaquín Barrera López, friend of
Mr. Jesús González de la Riva. Clause of the holographic will granted by
Don Joaquín Barrera López, who died without descendants, bequeathed his belongings to
the nuns of the domestic service. Where Don José accounts for his will in
the death trance of giving the manuscript titled "Pascual Duarte" to the flames
that is found in the drawer of your desk 'for solvent and contrary to the
"good customs". The manuscript of "Pascual Duarte" begins with a
dedication to the Count of Torremejía, Don Jesús González de la Riva, 'who upon going it
to finish the author of this writing, he was called Pascualillo and he smiled.

Chapter 1 The narration of Pascual Duarte begins with a statement

conclusive: "I, sir, am not bad, although I would not lack reasons to
He says he was born in a village near Almendralejo, province of
Badajoz, and then proceeds to describe it. Its houses, the square where it
find the Town Hall and Don Jesús's house, behind the square
parish with its bell tower. Then describe your house, humble, not very clean.
but where one could live. A kitchen, two rooms, the stable with a donkey
and a couple of pigs and the pen. Behind it ran a somewhat dry stream.
where Pascual occasionally catches eels. Pascual says that however
fishing never seemed to him a pastime for men, and that's why he dedicated himself to it.
more to the hunt. He says that he had a hunting dog that accompanied him. To the
she sat on a very comfortable stone and the dog sat in front of her
he looked at him. One day it seemed to him that he had 'the gaze of confessors,
"cold and calculating" and then she grabbed the shotgun and shot him.

Chapter 2 Pascual begins to narrate his childhood, of which he says he does not keep any
precisely good memories. His father was a big Portuguese, 'rough and
"brusque" that would hit him and his mother and had been imprisoned for
smuggler. The mother who returned the beatings to the father was thin and "not
looked in good health
violenta".Cuenta las peleas de los padres que no se llevaban nada bien y su
short school experience that ends at the age of twelve knowing how to read and write,
add and subtract. Being he of a young age, his sister Rosario was born and here he narrates
the hard labor and how her father, upon her birth, called his wife 'crook and whore'
and hit her, then left. He returned two days later, drunk and started
he kissed his wife and then went to sleep.
Chapter 3 Tells about the bad impression she gave him when he saw her 'sticky and flushed'
like a crab," for he imagined her differently. How her father
I spent hours watching her with a lovesick face, and how weak and skinny she was.
she was raised, since her mother could hardly feed her. Then she gradually recovered.
little and as he grew up, he showed signs of being "smarter than a lizard". He stole, he
he became fond of drinking at a very young age, acted as a matchmaker, and ordered everyone around in the

house. At fourteen years old, he "made off with the few valuables in our hut
she was, and she left for Trujillo." A fever returned her to the house five months later.
later, but when he recovered he escaped again, this time to Almendralejo. There
he met Paco López, the Tall One, handsome who lived off the women who
One day Pascual finds him near the Jarales estate.
Don Jesús and El Estirao starts to annoy him with the topic of his sister and he
He says that if he were his sister's boyfriend, he would kill him. Pascual lets him go, although
he says that since that day he had a thorn stuck in his side. The Stretchy
bothers the sister after asking her for money saying that she has a
brother who is neither a man nor anything.

Chapter 4 At fifteen years old, the girl comes into the world, poor Mario,
when her mother must have been involved with Mr. Rafael. The birth coincided
con la muerte de su padre, encerrado en la alacena enfermo de [Link]
brother died before turning ten, not without going through several
diseases and other misfortunes. He was born foolish and then more happened to him.
misfortunes. A pig ate his ears and Mr. Rafael, upon receiving from him
a bite kicked the wounds. Pascual hates him and also his mother who in
instead of helping him, he laughed at him along with Mr. Rafael; although later, when he
she marched, cradled him in her lap, and healed his wounds.

Chapter 5 The brother finally appeared drowned in a vat of oil. He

he found his sister Rosario. Pascual recounts the hatred towards his mother that he
produced the fact of not seeing her cry the death of her son. The burial that helped to
Prepare Mr. Rafael, with great pretense according to Pascual, 'was poor and
bored.
my girlfriend." Pascual recounts that until that day he had not held the idea in his mind
some lust towards Lola. However, at the funeral when the women
he knelt down, saw Lola's legs, and became dazed. Then he didn't realize
tells when the women and Mr. Manuel, the priest, marched. He is left alone with
Lola, amidst an argument and a struggle on the ground, Pascual tells her that the
wants.
Chapter 6 Pascual reflects from his cell that brings much misfortune
told but think that his strength will decline when he tells what happened to him
he is left, which is even more unfortunate. They have moved him to another better cell,
Well, from the window you can see a little garden and from there it continues with its
reflections. Affirming that 'at this moment such sadness fills me and such
anguish, for I assure you that my remorse must be no less
than that of a saint.
Chapter 7 Continues with the narration of his relationship with Lola that 'continued
"through the paths that will not be hidden from you." Five months after the
Burial of her brother Lola announced that she was pregnant. After
After chatting for a while and reaffirming their love, Pascual concluded that they are going to get married.
announces to Lola's mother, she accepts and that night he is invited to sleep over
in the house with his daughter. The next morning Pascual approached the sacristy.
to inform Don Manuel about everything. He shows his acceptance and
ask for confession.
Chapter 8 After a month, they get married. Pascual spent his savings at the wedding.
what she had. When the performance ended, they fed and watered the guests in
his house and then Pascual took his wife, mounted her on the mare and took her
to Mérida where they spent three days, "perhaps the three happiest days of my
life". Upon entering Mérida, an elderly woman is run over by the mare. Pascual the
he helps them and gives them a real, but three days later he visits them in their hideout
in love, the Civil Guard, notified by the relatives of the run-over person.
Pascual must give six pesetas to the lady's grandson and so he leaves.
also the civilians. After that, Pascual says that he was the first
moment he noticed Lola's pregnancy. Upon returning to the village, everyone greets them.
and Pascual heads to the tavern with his friends, after sending Lola to her
house to greet her friends and wait for him. In the tavern, they sing and drink,
but in the middle of the party a certain Zacharias recounts an event about a pigeon
thief; Pascual takes it personally, they argue and he hits Zacarías three times.
Stabbings. The men take the wounded man towards Don Raimundo's pharmacy.
Chapter 9 Pascual returns home accompanied by his closest friends.
They cross the cemetery amid gloomy conversations, and upon reaching the house, they...
Pascual is astonished by the silence that reigns in it. Mrs. Engracia at the door.
he announces to him that he shouldn't go because his wife has suffered a miscarriage. The mare it
He dismounted. Pascual goes to the stable and kills the animal with stabbing.

Chapter 10 Tells how as a consequence of that accident he was left 'like

"dismayed and sunk in the darkest imaginations." A year later, Lola was
new on tape and the same unease of the first time assails him. The
the atmosphere at home between his mother, his wife, and him becomes tense. The idea of
that his wife could have another abortion drove him crazy. At the eighth month and
As everything seemed to go well, Pascual promises to amend his life if everything
It goes well. The birth takes place and they name the son Pascual at the mother's request.
Pascual was overjoyed and soon, because his wife was strong, he...
Recover. The days go by between joy and the fear that something will happen to him again.
to the newborn. Pascual in response to his wife's comments and his enjoyment in the
contemplation of the son begins to think that this will not last long. "Always
"I had a really good eye for disaster." One day they hear the baby complaining from his...
lecho. Eleven months passed since his birth and a bad air took him away.
Chapter 11 Pascual laments once again the punishment that God imposed on him and of the
misfortune that surrounded him and always accompanied him. He remembers the unhappiness he felt
the day of the abortion and the stabs of Zacharias, but did not know what was still to come
esperaba. Desde ese momento la compañía de las tres mujeres; su mujer, su
mother and her sister, on whom so many hopes had been placed; she turned
Unbearable. Comments about the child's death are gradually being taken out.
a little out of joint.

Chapter 12 The continuous reproaches of the mother and the attitude of the wife
they continued to drive Pascual crazy little by little. He only feels close to now
his sister and in his head hatred and the fantasy of killing her arises
mother. However, before doing so, she decided to flee the village as far away as possible.
possible.
Chapter 13 Pascual informs us that he has gone a month without writing,
delivered to meditations about his life, he says that those thirty days have been a
happy time, more in which he has not stopped thinking about the past lived under the
the stigma of sin and how it should lead him to hell. It tells how he came
father to visit him and he confessed, and then he gave him his blessing. After this
he spends a night without sleeping and laments when the possibility of
that time shortens for him and he cannot finish these memories. Think also
that it should not be a sin to "tell outrageous things that one regrets".
the cleric told him to do it if it consoled him, and says that it is a very thing
different I would do if I could go back to the past. With these reflections, he prepares to
continue your memories.
Chapter 14 continues its narrative with the preparations for their escape. He crossed the
field hiding because they can still recognize him there. He reached the train.
in Don Benito and requested a ticket to Madrid. He arrived there warned about the many
the picaresque that reigns in the city, slept at the train station and at
he went to warm up with a group of workers. After earning their
confidence inviting them to a coffee with milk stayed at one of their homes. A
two weeks ago he set off for La Coruña because they told him it was the
place of passage for ships going to the Americas. However, it soon became
He realizes that the money he has will not be enough to pay for his trip.
There he did all sorts of work in order not to return to his village. But after a while
two years later, the nostalgia hit her, as they said in Coruña, and she decided to return to
his house where he thought he would be welcomed without resentment.

Chapter 15 After seven days of his return, he initiated a conversation with his
a woman who asked him if he had received it very coldly and that two years was a long time
time. Finally, she told him that she was pregnant. Pascual asked her what
who was the father and she did everything possible to avoid answering him, since she has
fear of his reprisals. Pascual proposed to abort, but Lola refused.
round, he was afraid of another abortion. He kept asking who the father was.
and promised him not to do anything to him. That was when Lola told him that she had
she was the Stretched one and at that moment she fell dead.

Chapter 16 A great hatred then invaded Pascual and he went out to look for "the murderer
of my wife, to the dishonorer of my sister, to the man who brought the most bile to
"my breasts." But the Estirao did not show up and then Rosario left with him, the
he took care and time passed, healing the wound of losing Lola. Without
One day in the tavern, Mr. Sebastián told him that the Stretch was.
I was walking through the town. All evils were resurrected. He then ran out.
for his house and upon arriving he asked Rosario if she had seen the Tall one. She said to him
he said he didn’t know anything, but after a while he arrived at the door of his house
the aforementioned Paco the Stretched. He was coming of course to take Rosario.
They argued heatedly, the Stretch insisted on taking Rosario with him and
new questioned Pascual's masculinity, to which he responded with a
strong blow with a chair that broke Paco's back bones. He
left at the roadside telling him that he was not killing him because he had it
promised to his wife. Then Paco said that it meant that she did.
wanted. This being already too much impertinence for Pascual ends up
finish it.
Chapter 17 Pascual then spent three years in prison, from where he was released.
for good behavior. However, now reflecting on it, he thinks that the
doing good didn't help him in this case either, as upon releasing him new...
tragedies surrounded him and it would have been better for him to do evil so that it wouldn't
they will be released from prison in many years. He tells how he remembers the director
from the prison, Mr. Conrado and how he called him to his office to announce his
freedom and to fire him. As he arrived by train to his town and saw Mr. Gregorio, the
station master, who did not pay much attention to him upon seeing him, which hurt him quite a bit.
As he crossed the village passing by the cemetery that held so many memories for him.
brought from his father, his wife, his children and the stretching and the chills that this gave him
He/She produced. He/She finally arrived home and when he/she called, his/her mother asked who it was.
what he wanted and Pascual replied that it was him, that he wanted to enter, realizing
immediately after she might have preferred not to see him, with what
old hatreds returned to his mind. His mother then informed him that the
Rosario was not there as she had gone back to Almendralejo involved with someone, who...
Now and then they had gone without food, as Rosario was always
talking about him and that he often went to the village since he was also involved with her
young master Sebastián. Pascual felt like dying at that moment and wished he had
stayed in the prison.
Chapter 18 Rosario went to see him as soon as she found out that he had returned, he
was happy to receive her sister's affection again and to her surprise, she
he has a bride ready, Esperanza, the niece of Mrs. Engracia, who
according to her sister, she already loved him before he got married. This was a good
moza, "very religious and somewhat given to mysticism," eventually became his
second wife and when she entered his house she established an order like never before there
Pascual at that moment, alongside his new wife, thinks about what
he is still young and has to think about rebuilding his life.

Chapter 19They had been married for two months when Pascual felt the
the bad deeds of her mother, her disdainful comments and her ill will towards the
Hope. He feels that they must put land in between, he thinks about leaving the
people and march to another place, but he keeps postponing it and little by little he is
cercando la idea de la muerte. "El día que decidí hacer uso del hierro tan
he was overwhelmed, so certain that evil had to be bled, that he did not
"Not even a bit did the idea of my mother's death startle my lungs." It passed.
hours and days emboldening, sharpening their knife and when they finally decided
he felt that his wife noticed something. He gave her a kiss that he didn't know had happened.
of being the last thing I would give. He spent hours by his mother's bedside, 'like
the image of the crime..." and was already about to decide that he couldn't kill her
when his mother woke up. He pounced on her and after a terrible struggle,
"fue la lucha más terrible que usted se puede imaginar", acabó asesinándola y
fleeing to the countryside.

Another note from the transcriber where we are informed that up to here the sheets of
Pascual Duarte. That the transcriber had permission to search in the pharmacy of
Almendralejo of Licenciado Bonilla but did not find anything else. Therefore not
there is more news from the last years of Pascual Duarte's life. Everything seems
indicate that he returned to the prison where he was until the year 35 or 36 and that they released him
before the war. Nothing is known about his actions during the fifteen days of
revolution that went through their town, except for the murder of the gentleman.
González de la Riva. The transcriber only tells us that he headed towards
letter to a chaplain and a civil guard who were close to the criminal when
he paid debts to justice. Below are attached the two letters, from the
it is deduced that his death "was completely ordinary" and that although to the
he initially exclaimed, 'Let the will of the Lord be done!', which surprised everyone because
his composure, finally lost his composure and ended up dying amid screams and
sobs, "showing everyone their fear of death."