The final section begins this way: Now, finally, he was calm. ...

[MGLQZ]

The final section begins this way: Now, finally, he was calm. While thatshort statement does not reveal that Juvencio is dead, what other information is packed in those simple five words?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Describe the setting of the story. What details about the Mexican countryside and its system of justice give you a clearer understanding of this time and place?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[gabrielle_lawrence]

Answer to Question 1

• We are reminded that, until nearly the end of his life, Juvencio had never really known a moments peace after he killed Don Lupe. His crime has severely damaged his existence for forty years through his constant fear, his frequent need to hide, the loss of his home, and his abandonment by his wife. To some extent, he has paid for his crime. But has he paid enough? And even if he hasnt, is it right that he should die for it? The answers to these questions go to the heart of how we understand the story, and your students answers to them will no doubt vary. Note that after Juvencio makes this case for himself (par. 64), Don Lupes son, while not moved to spare his life, does instruct his men to get Juvencio drunk so that he will die painlessly.

Answer to Question 2

• The landscape is harsh, bare, and unyielding, subject to frequent droughts, as seen both at the time of the killing of Don Lupe and at the present time, with the withering of Juvencio Navas corn crop. The essence of the countryside is caught in this sentence from paragraph 36: The wind blew slowly, carrying dried earth with it and bringing something else, full of that odor, like urine, that road dust has.

The system of justice seems endemically corrupt: murder can be theoretically absolved by bribes and other financial payments, although, according to Juvencio, the system is not honored in fact: The ten cows I gave the judge did me no good, nor did the bond I paid on my house to get out of jail. And they still paid themselves out of what was left so they wouldnt keep after me, but they kept after me all the same. . . . I figured that with about a hundred pesos everything would be fine. . . . But other people considered that I was still under warrant and awaiting trial so they could keep on stealing from me (par. 2527). Also, it appears that a military officer can order a man to be shot at will, without trial or appeal, and without fear of penalty. The people of the countryside expect nothing from nature or the law, and they feel that all that they have, including their very lives, is what they can secure for themselves.