Artemio Cruz is the novel’s protagonist. He is a supremely influential man in contemporary politics and business. A congressman and real-estate magnate, a newspaper and finance tycoon, he has been corrupted by the temptation of personal gain in post-revolution Mexico. His most frequently mentioned physical attributes include his green eyes and his “conspicuous ribs and flaccid stomach” (152) as he ages. The sections narrated from the present time recount in vivid detail the physical pains he experiences: “the taste of vomit in [his] mouth” (109), “blood that has stopped for the first time” (84), and a “scarcely perceptible movement in [his] intestine” (212). These immediate sensations vie for prominence with his memories as he struggles against death. He does not seek to make amends with his wife and daughter, preferring to taunt them by withholding the location of his will. He continues to conduct business dealings with visitors to his bedside while at the hospital, even as his body succumbs to its illnesses.

As a young man, Cruz joined the Mexican Revolution on the side of the rebels to fight for the landless peasants. While waging battles against the federales (the conservative faction), he meets a young girl, Regina, who becomes the love of his life despite having only living with him for seven months before being hanged by the federales.