The Death of Artemio Cruz

What role does colonialism play a role in the Mexican Revolution? How does colonialism directly affect Cruz’s life?

Cruz and Bernal come from different social classes, but Cruz becomes Bernal’s heir and the owner of Bernal’s land. Are Cruz and Bernal more similar or different? Justify your answer with evidence from the text.

Gonzalo Bernal dies as an idealist, having lost faith in the caudillos as well as the revolution. Does the novel suggest that Gonzalo is mistaken in his choices, or is he a mouthpiece for Fuentes’s own disillusionment? Support your answer with biographical research into Fuentes’s life and politics.

Was Lorenzo’s death a turning point in Cruz’s life? Why, at the end of Cruz’s life, does he reminisce about his son while rejecting his living family members?

Cruz has an ulterior motive for associating with most of the people in his life. Are there any examples of Cruz’s family, friend, or love relationships that are purely based on emotional connection? What circumstances make these relationships different from the others?

When Catalina’s father dies, she is forced to remain with Cruz, who is administrator and usufructuary of the land her father left to her. Does the novel suggest any aspect of patriarchal culture is problematic? If so, does it offer an alternative?

The novel is experimental for its transitions into the second-person voice used in conjunction with the even rarer future tense. What effect do the second-person sections have on the narrative as a whole? How would the novel be different if it only used first- and third-person narration?

The present-day portions of the novel rely on Cruz’s sensory experience of his decaying body. How does this highly detailed, occasionally crude imagery contribute to the novel?