Question

In the story, Juvencio states that he had to kill Don Lupe. What does this line reveal about how he views his deed? (TELL them not to kill me)

Answer 1

Answer:

By implying that "he had to kill Don Lupe", the use of the word "had to" suggests that Juvencio justifies his act of killing the man.

Explanation:

Juan Rulfo" short story "Tell them Not To Kill Me" is narrated by an old man convicted of murdering a man and now left to be killed himself. The whole narrative is told by the now old man, Juvencio as he recalls abut the incident.

Juvencio had killed Don Lupe some "thirty-five years ago", and thought that the matter had been "so long ago" that it must have been "forgotten". He wonders why people would still be interested in it, for he "no longer expected  anyone [to remember], confident that people  had forgotten all about it,  believing that he’d spend at  least his last days peacefully".

He explained that the murder wasn't "for nothing", for Don Lupe "had refused to let him (Juvencio) pasture his animals in the land he (Don Lupe) owned". This led to the death of his animals, which provoked him into secretly grazing his cattle at night. After a warning kill by Don Lupe, Juvencio decided to kill him for he had killed his cattle.

According to Juvencio, his act of killing Lupe is justifiable for he had a land that he should have allowed to be grazed at times like drought, and did not expect anyone to remember the crime after more than three decades. he also thought that with "a hundred pesos everything could be  fixed up. The dead Don Lupe left just his wife and two little kids still  crawling. And his widow died soon afterward too-- they say from grief. They  took the kids far off to some relatives. So there was nothing to fear from  them." His use of words suggests that he deemed his crime as something justifiable and had thought he deserves to be pardoned.