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Book 9: Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Death Comes for the Archbishop, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Spirituality vs. the Material World
Friendship and Compromise
Humanity’s Relationship with Nature
Colonialism, Industry, and Loss
Memory, Death, and Afterlives
Summary
Analysis
Just as routine was important to Latour in his health, he wants to develop routines in this moment of illness. He still washes his hands with the same silver toiletries that Olivares gave him 30 years ago; he still talks to Magdalena, recounting to her the story of his arrival in Santa Fé. Frequently, Latour wishes that he had written more down—but then he thinks about the hardships that faced him when he first arrived, so different from the ease the younger priests know.
The book Cather based her narrative on is about Vaillant’s life (rather than Latour’s), perhaps a reflection of the fact that Latour was so rarely able to write about his experiences. Latour’s continued connection to his old friends, whether they are still living or not, once more demonstrates the enduring nature of his bonds.
Themes
On the other hand, though, Latour see his own struggles as nothing compared to what the first Spanish friars had to face, as these priests faced anger from all of the indigenous peoples they were colonizing. And while “the old countries were worn to the shape of human life,” every plant and terrain in the New World felt foreign. Latour marvels that not even St. Paul could have understood Hunger, Cold, Thirst, Nakedness the way those first American missionaries did.
In this fascinating reflection, Latour suggests that the New Mexican desert is an innately less hospitable environment than the Middle Eastern shores where Christ and his disciples (like Paul) first roamed. But in framing things this way, Latour neglects that fact that many of the indigenous tribes in New Mexico do find great comfort and familiarity in the landscapes—there is just less of an impetus, among many of these tribes, to “shape” nature, to force it to their will.
Themes
Indeed, many people in Mexico believed that the only way the first friars could have survived was through miracles. The most famous of these involves Father Junipero, who had arrived at the See of Durango after a long journey on foot. When the priests at Durango learned of this trip, they were shocked, as there was no food or water for miles around. But Junipero had explained that he had been fed and clothed by a Mexican family, living in a cozy home at the base of three cottonwood trees. Junipero had spent the night and awoken to find his hosts gone.
This fabled miracle, complete with the cottonwood trees, recalls the cruciform tree that first rescued Latour in his arduous journey across the desert. This anecdote also speaks to the importance of acknowledging both material and spiritual priorities: the miraculous, in this case, is just the presence of food and water and a bed where there would otherwise be none.
Themes
Literary Devices
Though the religious men at Durango knew of these cottonwood trees, they were sure that there was no house near them. And sure enough, when Junipero returned with the other priests, he found the house was gone. At this, the priests fell to their knees and kissed the ground, “for they perceived what Family it was that had entertained them there.” Junipero especially recalls being drawn to the family’s young son, who had made the sign of the cross at Junipero’s forehead.
The implication of this story is that the “Family” is actually Jesus, Mary and Joseph, temporarily resurrected in the bodies of a modest Mexican family. Latour’s love of this story, with its “spectacular” reveal, suggests that late in life, he has come to feel more like his old friend Vaillant did about miracles; whereas once Latour saw such occurrences as quotidian luck, now, he is more interested in the concrete presence of the divine.
Themes
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