In the story, the pervasive theme of separation from God unfolds through vivid, realistic imagery. Juan Rulfo's narrative is set against a backdrop of significant social upheaval in Mexico. During the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles, beginning in 1925, Mexico experienced sweeping changes. Calles pursued the social reforms initiated by his predecessor, General Alvaro Obregón, which included redistributing land to the landless and returning communal lands to villages. However, his tenure was marked by contentious anticlerical policies that provoked a dramatic conflict with the Roman Catholic Church.

Calles' government boldly challenged the church's authoritative grip over the national education system and seized vast church-owned lands for agrarian reforms. This aggressive stance incited the church to retaliate by closing all churches across Mexico, a move that fueled the flames of the Cristero Rebellion. This armed uprising, waged by the common people, raged from 1926 to 1929, as they fought against the government’s stringent anticlerical measures.

Rulfo, as a young boy, witnessed the ravages of this conflict firsthand, particularly its devastating impact on the rural landscapes of Jalisco in western Mexico. These childhood experiences left an indelible impression on him, seeping into the fabric of his literary creations. His collection of short stories, The Burning Plain, and Other Stories (1967), captures the violent transformations of the countryside and the accompanying moral decay of its inhabitants. Although the Cristero Rebellion is not explicitly depicted, its shadow looms large over these tales, creating an atmosphere of disconnection from divine presence.

In the somber landscape of "Talpa," sin looms heavily, depriving its characters of any prospect of redemption. The journey undertaken by Tanilo, Natalia, and the narrator is not merely a physical trek but a symbolic passage that mirrors the period of Lent in the Christian tradition, spanning from mid-February to mid-March. This timing is significant, as it underscores the themes of suffering and penance without the promise of Easter's renewal.

Tanilo's agonizing journey to the shrine in Talpa is fraught with physical and mental torment, reminiscent of Christ's Passion. His struggle is not just a personal ordeal but a symbolic embodiment of enduring, unforgiving pain. The afflictions that ravage his body mirror the trials of a penitent, yet here the narrative diverges from the biblical tale. Juan Rulfo crafts a world where the darkness of Lent persists without the light of resurrection. At the story's peak, Tanilo's death is a stark, unredeemed end, devoid of ceremony or salvation, leaving him to the earth, unburdened by any hope of deliverance.