With its complex structure, following Pedro Paramo's characters is no easy task. Its heteroglossic nature requires readers to carefully focus all their attention on the narrator, making it difficult to follow the development or relationships of individual characters. However, the use of archetypes of Mexican men and women, as revealed in Octavio Paz's "The Labyrinth of Solitude", helps to understand Pedro's relationships between men and women, as he subscribes to the archetypes and decomposed. In order to understand these relationships, one must revisit a fundamental understanding of Paz's analysis of Mexican men and women. According to Paz, Mexican men must always be unyielding figures who “must never “break,” never back down,” because “opening up is weakness” (Paz 30). It is for this reason that the Mexican man must always display a tough exterior, often “closed in on himself” (Paz 31). As a man becomes more “manly,” he becomes more powerful by excluding himself from those around him and protecting himself. The Mexican woman is traditionally a submissive creature because women “open up” (Paz 30), which is, as we said, a weakness. She becomes a “reflection of masculine will and desire” because she has no power and must often demonstrate “feminine modesty” (Paz 35). Women are “domesticated wild animals” and their “‘place is at home’” (Paz 36). With this fundamental understanding of archetypes, we can proceed to an analysis of Pedro's relationships, based on his relationships with other men. As one of the richest and most powerful men in Comala, Pedro works above most of the other men in the novel. He sets himself up as a “big boss” and does not allow other men to become his equals. This is obvious...... middle of paper ...... relationships, with characters like Fulgor and Susana, whom he considers particularly important. While it is understood that, compared to other men, Pedro will always be the boss, with women Pedro has difficulty maintaining a stable relationship because of this character. Due to his expectation of submissive women, his two marriages to Dolores and Susana fail. Following these character archetypes closely, many of Pedro's relationships are strained in one way or another. Works Cited Paz, Octavio. “Mexican masks”. The labyrinth of loneliness. Trans. Lysander Kemp, Yara Milos and Rachel Phillips Belash. New York: Grove, 1985. 29-46. JSTOR. Internet. January 10, 2014.02/assets4/1311/8862/OP_The_Labyrinth_of_Solitude.pdf>.Rulfo, Juan. Pedro Paramo. Trans. Susan Sontag. New York: Grove, 1994. Print.