Under the Volcano

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry is a modernist novel published in 1947. Set in Quauhnahuac, Mexico, in 1938, it follows the Consul, a former British diplomat with an alcohol addiction, on the day of his death. In addition to the Consul, the small cast of characters includes the Consul’s half-brother, Hugh, his ex-wife, Yvonne, and his friend-turned-enemy, Jacques Laruelle. Malcolm Lowry, who spent time in Mexico and was known to have experienced addiction himself, drew on his own life in constructing the novel. Like many modernist texts, the book explores such themes as a breakdown in trust for longstanding institutions and the indifference of the universe to humans. The book has been popular since its publication and has frequently been referred to as one of the best novels of the 20th century. It was ranked 11th on Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

This guide refers to the First Perennial Classics edition published in 2000, which features an introduction by Stephen Spender and an afterword by Sherrill Grace.

Content Warning: This book contains depictions of addiction to alcohol. It also includes outdated and offensive language referencing Indigenous peoples, mental health, and addiction.

Plot Summary

Under the Volcano begins on the Day of the Dead, 1939, in Quauhnahuac, Mexico. M. Jacques Laruelle and Dr. Vigil remember their deceased friend, the Consul. The Consul, Geoffrey Firmin, died a year ago to the day, and the two men wonder if they or anyone else could have prevented his demise. Jacques, who is leaving Mexico after five years, parts from Dr. Vigil to pack, but finds himself wandering, lost in thought as he remembers his childhood friendship with the Consul. Jacques seeks shelter from a storm in a cantina, where a book of Elizabethan plays that formerly belonged to the Consul is returned to him. He peruses Christopher Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus, and finds a letter from the Consul to his ex-wife, Yvonne. As both are dead, he burns it.

The novel then rewinds to the fateful day of the Consul’s death in 1938 and follows the different perspectives of the Consul, Yvonne, and the Consul’s half-brother, Hugh, throughout the remainder of the work. This day begins with Yvonne returning to Quauhnahuac to rejoin the Consul in the hope of taking him to Canada to help him with his addiction to alcohol. She finds him in a cantina, drinking early in the morning, and they walk back to the house they once shared. On the way, Yvonne sees an image of La Despedida, a giant rock formation split in two, and has a visceral emotional reaction. When they return home, the Consul’s maid offers them whiskey, but Yvonne refuses and the Consul follows suit. He is insulted by her suggestion that they leave Mexico, claiming that he doesn’t have an addiction. Yvonne laments the state of the garden and goes inside to take a bath. The Consul takes this opportunity to run to the nearest cantina for a drink but falls into the road and cannot get up. Luckily, another Englishman finds him before he gets run over and offers him a drink from a flask. The Consul goes back home, where he tries and fails to have sex with Yvonne. Leaving her room in embarrassment, he settles on the porch, observes the Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl volcanoes, and falls asleep.

Hugh returns from his journey to Mexico City and sends a telegram to London about antisemitic propaganda in Mexico. He keeps a carbon copy of his telegram in his coat, which is on loan from the Consul. At the Consul’s house he surprised to see Yvonne. He is not aware of their divorce. Hugh and Yvonne stroll into town, frosty with each other, and find horses to ride. They ride to a cantina and warm to each other after Yvonne tells him about the divorce. They discuss the Consul’s addiction to alcohol, and Yvonne shares her goal of taking him to Canada. Hugh gives her advice on how to do so. As they head home, they stop at Emperor Maximilian’s dilapidated palace, where Hugh looks out onto the land and reflects on its beauty.

The Consul wakes with a debilitating headache and runs to the garden, where he finds a bottle of tequila he had hidden from Hugh. He notices a sign near his garden that translates to “You like this garden? Why is it yours? We evict those who destroy!” (135). He ponders its meaning and bothers his neighbor, Mr. Quincey, with his opinions on the true nature of the Garden of Eden. Dr. Vigil arrives, and he and the Consul recall their previous night of drinking. Dr. Vigil advises the Consul that he should drink more to fight the withdrawal-induced tremors wracking his body. As the Consul sees Yvonne and Hugh returning, he greets them from afar. He then wakes up from a blackout in the bathroom, and realizes that he is in the bathroom to get ready for the group’s trip to Tomalín.

Hugh is also getting ready for the trip and thinks back to his younger years, when he was an aspiring song composer who loved to play the guitar. Before he was a war journalist, he sold two of his songs and went to sea to drum up publicity for them. His publisher, Mr. Bolowski, never attempted to sell the songs, having profited off the printing alone, and Hugh seduced Mr. Bolowski’s wife in revenge. However, he was soon slapped with a summons to divorce court and an accusation of plagiarism. Seeing his life begin to unravel, Hugh was shocked when Mr. Bolowski dropped all charges. Hugh is startled from his reveries by the Consul, who needs help to shave and get dressed. They share a tender moment of sibling support and reminisce about their respective times at Cambridge. Yvonne, Hugh, and the Consul walk into town, where they run into Jacques Laruelle, with whom Yvonne had an affair that led to the dissolution of her marriage to the Consul. Jacques invites the trio back to his house. Yvonne takes his arm while the Consul and Hugh stay a step behind, and Hugh notices that the Consul seems very dissatisfied with this turn of events.

At Jacques’s house, Yvonne pleads with the Consul to leave before Jacques returns with the drinks. The Consul refuses and wanders into Jacques’s bedroom, where he sees a painting that depicts alcohol users being dragged into hell. It startles him, and when Yvonne suggests that they go into town to see the Day of the Dead festivities, he sends her and Hugh on their way. The Consul and Jacques walk to a cantina, where they argue over whose fault the affair was, with Jacques accusing the Consul of being the only one to blame. Jacques claims that the Consul’s addiction to alcohol made him so absent in Yvonne’s life that it was merely a matter of time before she found someone else. The Consul stumbles away and avoids Hugh and Yvonne.

Yvonne, Hugh and the Consul take the bus to Tomalín, where Hugh finds himself seated next to a drunk man. He is impressed by the man’s ability to somehow be incredibly intoxicated yet extremely aware of his surroundings. The Consul labels him a pelado, meaning a “peeled one” or someone who doesn’t have to be rich to prey on the poor. The bus stops abruptly for a man lying down in the road. The man’s horse, who has been branded with a number seven on its side, is tied off to the side of the road. Yvonne, Hugh, the Consul, and the pelado get off the bus. The Consul stops Hugh from examining the man because of laws that hold bystanders accountable for crimes if they touch the victims. The pelado finally removes the man’s hat and the group sees that he is mortally wounded. No one makes a move to help, not wanting to get involved, and soon a group of vigilante police appears. Everyone returns to the bus, where Hugh sees that the pelado has stolen money from the man and is making no attempt to hide it. Hugh muses on morality and wonders whether this man is a thief as they ride into Tomalín.

At Tomalín, the trio goes to the arena to see bull-riding. While there, Yvonne reminisces about her misguided father and the sacrifices she made to keep him afloat. She draws many comparisons between the Consul and her father, both of whom struggled with addiction to alcohol, and finds that her love for them remains a guiding principle in her life. The bulls are making for a bad show, not getting up and moving only a little after intense prodding. Hugh jumps into the ring and begins riding a bull to the surprise of Yvonne and the Consul. As they watch, Yvonne once again suggests to the Consul that they leave Mexico, and this time he tearfully agrees. They watch as Hugh rides his bull until it collapses, at which point the three leave the arena to find a drink and some food.

Hugh, Yvonne and the Consul find themselves at the Salón Ofélia. The Consul enters a period of intense intoxication in which he can only hear parts of the conversation. These fragments are interspersed with information from a text on Tlaxcala that the Consul is reading. As his mind clears, he engages Hugh in an argument over the Spanish Civil War. He accuses Yvonne and Hugh of having romantic feelings for each other and insists that this is their selfish reason for intervening in his drinking. He declares his commitment to self-determination and flees the salon.

A storm is moving in as Hugh and Yvonne search for the Consul. They know that he is likely heading to Parían and take the longer path with more cantinas in hopes of finding him. They do not find him but find a bill and unfinished poem he had written at one establishment. Yvonne is terribly concerned and as she and Hugh continue their path, the storm worsens, and she hears a gunshot in the distance. Soon a horse charges at her and tramples her to death. As she dies, she looks to the stars and sees her future with the Consul in Canada go up in flames.

The Consul has in fact gone to Parían and has settled at the Farolito to drink. Thinking that Yvonne is done with him, he waits for Hugh. While he waits, he drinks heavily and sleeps with a sex worker, which makes him feel as though he is finally free of the burden of repairing his relationship with Yvonne. Vigilante police harass him, accusing him of being a spy. He is wearing Hugh’s jacket from earlier, and when they find the copy of the telegram Hugh sent to London in the pocket, they insist they must take him to jail. The Consul fights and tries to escape on the horse branded with a seven, presumably brought there by the vigilante police, but is shot. The shot startles the horse, who runs off and kills Yvonne. As he dies, the Consul imagines falling into Popocatepetl and sees immense destruction. His body is thrown in the ravine behind the Farolito, and a dead dog is tossed in after him.