"The Queen of Spades" and "Pedro Paramo"

Paper Summary:

This paper compares and discusses the short stories "The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin and "Pedro Paramo" by Juan Rulfo. According to the paper both authors use supernatural forces to underscore and avenge earthly greed. The paper further explores the similarities, differences and purpose of each author's use of supernatural elements, and their importance to the stories.

From the Paper:

"One key difference between Rulfo's use of supernatural elements in Pedro Paramo, however, and that of Pushkin in "The Queen of Spades" is that here, the presence of the supernatural is much more explicitly rendered than in "The Queen of Spades", where it is only implied. For example, within Pedro Paramo, Juan Preciado actually deals with the residential ghosts of the town, the walking dead, while in other parts of the story still narrating straightforward past events. In this novel we meet the souls of the dead of Comala, who now wander Comala indefinitely, in limbo. We learn of the sins many of them were driven to, moreover, by Juan Preciado's father himself. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Pushkin, Alexander. "The Queen of Spades." The Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1650 to the Present. 2nd Edition, Vol. E. New York: Norton 2002. 685-683.
• Rulfo, Juan. Pedro Paramo. New York: Grove Press (Reprint edition). May 1994.

More papers on "The Queen of Spades" and "Pedro Paramo":

• Book Review # 91928 : "Alexander Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades"
• Analytical Essay # 124080 : "Hermann in "The Queen of Spades"
• Analytical Essay # 51111 : "The Queen of Spades"

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