Under the Volcano

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses depictions of addiction to alcohol and offensive language referencing Indigenous peoples, which feature in the source text.

While each chapter of Under the Volcano follows a different character and their thoughts, the Consul is the protagonist. He is the focus of the novel and each character’s actions and motivations directly relate to him and his addiction to alcohol. He is the center of the novel and his actions and words drive the plot forward as the characters head for the fateful climax. Much of his interior monologue focuses on his addiction to alcohol. Not only do his own thoughts lead him to find his next drink, but his “familiars,” the voices he hears, provide a judgmental yet enabling audience to his addiction. He cannot go long without a drink: “I have resisted temptation for two and a half minutes at least: my redemption is sure” (72). With his addiction controlling so much of his life, he finds it difficult to grow or change, falling into the same patterns as his addiction tightens its grip on him. 

The Consul is portrayed as unreliable as a “narrator” and a character.