The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, including hatred, censorship and determinism. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 64-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Camilo José Cela
• Presentation of The Family of Pascual Duarte
• Summary of The Family of Pascual Duarte
• Character study
  • Pascual Duarte
  • Rosario
  • Pascual’s mother
  • Mario
  • Lola
• Analysis of The Family of Pascual Duarte
  • Form
  • Themes

About The Family of Pascual Duarte

The Family of Pascual Duarte is Camilo José Cela’s debut novel, and heralded a new era in Spanish literature when it was first published in 1942. It is widely considered the earliest example of tremendismo, a literary current which is characterized by its unflinchingly realistic portrayal of violence and which was the dominant trend in Spanish literature throughout the rest of the 1940s. The Family of Pascual Duarte is also notable for its use of a nested narrative to tell the story of its eponymous protagonist, whose violent upbringing eventually drives him to become a killer himself.

About Camilo José Cela

Camilo José Cela was one of the most significant Spanish authors of the 20^th century. He was a rather controversial figure during his lifetime due to his collusion with the Franco dictatorship, and he even helped to promote state censorship, in spite of the fact that some of his own books were also censored and banned by the regime. Nevertheless, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989, and also received a number of other prestigious accolades.