How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Pan's Labyrinth.
Quote #4
CAPITAN: The men in his battalion said that when General Vidal died he smashed his watch on a rock so that his son would know the exact hour and minute of his death. So he would know how a brave man dies.
VIDAL: Nonsense, he didn't own a watch.
For better or for worse (okay, definitely for worse) Vidal's highly respected father has trapped his son in a memory of himself, freezing time so that his legacy could live on through his son. Vidal tries to deny it…but we know he's as obsessed with the watch as he is with his own legacy.
Quote #5
PRIEST [at Carmen's funeral]: Because when we open our arms the earth takes in only a hollow and senseless shell. Far away now is the soul in its eternal glory. Because it is in pain that we find the meaning of life, and the state of grace that we lose when we are born.
Ofelia, in her most intense moment of pain, finally returns to her original state of grace where pain and lies are no more. The body over which Mercedes weeps is no more Ofelia than the clothes on her body. She has reversed the process of her birth but only accomplished it through a sacrifice of herself.
Quote #6
VIDAL: My son—tell him about his father…about the time his father died. Tell him—
MERCEDES: No. He won't even know your name.
Vidal wants to try and preserve his legacy—which is also the legacy of his father— through his son. But he's denied this. His violent power is useless. He murdered Ofelia but she will outlive him in memory.