Based on what you have read up to this point, how would you describe the unreal/otherworldy events presented in the novel? In your opinion, does it make sense to frame this work within the notions of the Fantastic or the Gothic?

The rural Mexico of the novel is haunted by a Christianity that makes denizens beholden to hypocritical priests. Their Catholicism requires forgiveness for any and all sin, but under a priest class that demands payment in exchange for absolution, the poor are left oppressed by their own belief systems. It is one of several factors that create the stilted existence of Comala. Father Rentería serves as the personification of these forces throughout the novel. He is seen as a patsy of the Páramo family, as he absolves Miguel despite the boy's actions during his life - the murder of Father Rentería's brother and rape of his niece. Rentería is himself denied consecration by the priest in Contla for his misdeeds. It is suggested that he is the reason that Comala is so heavily populated with ghosts; he failed to absolve the poor before their deaths. Comala can be understood as a type of purgatory, where souls must relive their lives until granted atonement, which opens up several questions of guilt, sin, and redemption that unfold throughout the work. Yes, this enters the story into the gothis realm.