Comala is a place without time or space, where if one hears silence, it is “only because they are not yet accustomed to silence” (Rulfo 4). It is only in this context that Juan's mother could be so "heavy in [him]", only there is "the voice of [his] memories stronger than the voice of [his] death" (Rulfo 4) . These unique features of the Comala setting are communicated through more than colorful descriptions. The reader experiences Comala's despair and hopelessness firsthand as he struggles to find his bearings despite the ever-changing cast of speakers and inconsistent timeline. Rereading becomes necessary to understand this back and forth, and the movement in time is directly parallel to the difficult situation of the ghosts of Comala, who are condemned to “an endless life of dragging themselves from pillar to post” ( Rulfo 33). Just as the journey to Comala “goes up or down depending on whether one arrives or departs,” Pedro Paramo becomes more difficult to assimilate as he goes along. At first, Juan and the reader believe that the "exhausted laughter" and the echoes are symbolic, together they discover this new aspect of Comala's setting (Rulfo 22). Just when Juan seems to truly realize that he is trapped alive in purgatory, he dies, ending all progression in his story and effectively trapping the reader with him. No resolution