American Literature: Death Comes for the Archbishop Essay

Willa Cather’s novel “Death Comes for the Archbishop” was published in the year 1927 in New York. This novel had a biographical touch as the writer Willa Cather through the novel talks about the real life story of the first Archbishop of New Mexico named Lamy and Father Joseph Machebeuf who served as his vicar. The inspiration for Cather to write this novel was when he went through the work of Father Joseph Howlett. Joseph Howlett in his biographical work gives a detailed description of Joseph Machebeuf and the life history of the Christian missionaries in New Mexico. While reading this work, William Cather was encouraged by the real life story, the feelings, thoughts of the missionaries and the priests. It is from this book Cather got the idea and detailed information about both these well known personalities.

In Cather’s novel “Death Comes for the Archbishop”, Arch bishop Lamy is transformed to the character Bishop Jean Marie Latour, and Father Joseph Machebeuf to the character of Father Joseph Vaillant. The story moves through the long forty years life history of Latour. Here, when one goes through this novel he can infer that through this the author discusses about how this priest achieved a pleasing personality among the public. This novel is also “peopled with numerous minor characters who functions to represent and relate the culture, folklore, history, and beliefs of the Mexican and Indian people in New Mexico” (Death Comes for the Archbishop/ Introduction, para.2). In this novel there is a wide portrayal about the landscape and how it functions throughout the novel along with the characters.

When the novel “Death Comes for the Archbishop” begins, one can see that the setting is the Great Rome in 1848 where the cardinals and the American missionary Bishops were indulged in a talk about the prevailing conditions of Catholic Church in New Mexico. The situations in the church activities were out of order. So, it was necessary for a young and energetic priest to improve the situation. The missionaries and others took necessary steps to overcome from this problem. At last they found that it is better to appoint Jean Marie Latour, a young energetic man who is at present doing his service in Canada, to solve this problem. Latour got the high position as a Bishop from the stand of a priest and Father Joseph Vaillant too was appointed along with him. When Latour traveled throughout Mexico he found that the priests who served there previously had misused their power. “While admiring the craftsmanship and artistry of the native church, Latour recognizes that the natives have allowed their own superstitions to permeate their Catholic faith.” (Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, About the Novel- A Brief Synopsis, para.5). And while going through many of the churches in the town he found that his arrival forced some of the corrupt priests to walk out from their position. On the other side, Vaillant begins his journey towards Santo Domingo and Albuquerque in order to practice baptism and other ritual activities. The people of Santo Domingo, especially the Indians, were distrustful towards this man as their mind was filled with the black realities which the Indians were forced to face from the Spanish conquerors even before long centuries. Latour realized that in order to overcome from the chaos which had been there in the Catholic Church, he had to triumph over from the barriers in front of him. For the wellbeing of the people of New Mexico, he is ready to face all the heavy tasks. For that, first he takes care of the Indians with dignity and serves by understanding them and their needs. He should have to act according to their own ways; otherwise he will become alien to the entire New Mexican community. His deep friendship with Vaillant made him do everything better. It is his togetherness with Vaillant encouraged him to do a better job. He understood that Vaillant can support him for every need; as a result of it, first he dethroned the other priests like Father Gallegos who was the priest in Albuquerque and who had misused his power. Vaillant’s ardent commitment and trust made him successful.

By going through the entire story ” Death Comes for the Archbishop”, one can see that the old priest Latour is one of the main characters in the story who was a priest of New Mexico where he took responsibility of the Indian mission. In this story, the missionary bishop from America made a decision to send Father Jean Marie Latour for changing the situation of the Catholic Church in America because of his sensitive character. And another main character in this novel is Vaillant who was the bishop of New Mexico. Latour appointed Jacinto, a young man as a guide along with him in order to direct the Indian mission. “Latour performs long-overdue marriages and baptisms and continues on his way. He is returning to Santa Fe from Durango, Mexico, where he obtained proof of his church authority.” (Cather, Book 1: the Vicar Apostolic, para.1).

Before getting the authority of Catholic Church to Latour, there were many priests who were irresponsible in their duty and misused their power. So, when Latour came, he neglected these entire priests and appointed the most appropriate priest. Most of his lifetime, he spent for the wealth of the people rather than his own asset. He was very sympathetic, kind to everyone and also was devoted in his duty. “Without the motivation of his personal faith, Latour would lack the drive to endure the physical difficulties and rejection he must overcome to fulfill his mission. Latour is deeply devoted to his faith, making certain to pray, read, and reflect every day.” (Cather, Faith, para.1).

He succeeded in attaining victory in the minds of New Mexicans through his good character and deeds with no involvement of violence. In Latour’s justification, the Mexican people were not having any respect towards any custom or rites and did not believe in any religious practices. This resulted in an absence of soft relationship between him and people though he was leading them efficiently. In his view, the Indians were far better; they respected those things which the New Mexicans neglected and they had great belief in religious rituals and customs. These led to a strong relationship between Latour and Indians. As Latour was interested in history, fine arts, and civilization it helped a lot for the future generation, because whatever he had learned he imparted to the children of New Mexico and this made New Mexico become a better country. Even though some people did not trust him, he gained the respect of many other people, even the people of other countries.

Another character in this story was father Joseph Vaillant who was the bishop of New Mexico. Latour and Vaillant were very good friends and together they did a lot for the benefit of their country and church. Vaillant’s character is almost alike Latour. “When Latour assigns Vaillant to become the new priest in Albuquerque and later to the miners in Colorado, Vaillant is enthusiastic about the challenges. In both cases, his dedication, magnetism, and faith contribute to his success.” (Cather, Joseph Vaillant, para.2). Vaillant was very friendly towards everyone; so all the people supported him for whatever decisions he made because they believed that whatever he does will be for their benefit only. Not only the people, but all church leaders also trusted him. He was an extremely altruistic, faithful, heartening man and did all his duties very efficiently. Even though he was kind hearted he never tried to understand others’ intentions and this character made him different from Latour who always appreciated the problems of people. Vaillant was the follower of Latour, and Latour too accepted and supported the humbleness and motivation of Vaillant. He made many changes in New Mexico through his continuous efforts so that every people respected him. He was very confident in doing anything and this made him achieve success in every matter. The friendship of Latour and Vaillant was the most vital individual relationship in their life with honesty and supportive mind and also both of them respected each other. Together, both of them made a lot of successful modification in Catholic Church and New Mexico and also the public benefited a flourishing change from them.

The main character named Bishop Jean Marie Latour is reserved in character and is intelligent. Father Joseph Vaillant is his personal friend. Meaning of his name itself gives an idea about the character. That is, he is always ready to face all his faith in life with great courage. Jean Marie Latour first joined as a vicar apostolic of New Mexico and finally as an archbishop. He is responsible and sensitive in nature and he understands the character of some of the important priests who are dishonest and he is ready to change them. Latour replaces them with appropriate priests having honesty as a main character. Though he is well educated he is humble, devoted and serious in nature. He likes arts very much. He wins the people of Mexico by patience, honesty, and trust. Latour is soft hearted, and is always ready to serve the people. Latour identifies the spiritual aspect of Indians and Mexicans in his diocese. He finds that Indians show great respect to their tradition and true respect to their own religion. Mexicans in his diocese have great leadership qualities; they are truthful in nature, but they don’t get proper guidance from the part of priests in spiritual aspects. There is a lot of difference between his trust and that of the resident people. He shows interest in arts and culture and also in history. He is always concerned about the future. “From the time of his arrival in New Mexico, he takes steps to make the future of the land and the church better, and he makes his dream of building a cathedral a reality.” (Cather, Jean Marie Latour, para, 5). He loved the new country more than the others and at the last moment of his life too he is fully prepared to die in his new homeland. Father Joseph is good companion of Latour. Vaillant is interested in making friends readily. Because of these types of character people admire and believe him. These supportive natures of Vaillant help him to form as a priest. He is always ready to face challenges around him. Vaillant is always ready to do things which bring advantage to the church. To satisfy his needs, he is always ready to request to the people. “Vaillant is warm-hearted and accepting, even when he does not agree or understand someone’s motives.” (Cather, Joseph Vaillant, para.3). While going through Willa Cather’s novel “Death Comes for the Archbishop” one can really understand that it is really the visual rendering of the real life. For the betterment of the New Mexican Catholics, he put away all his dearest things apart and went to America even though he was a French priest. One can really conclude his opinion that “Death Comes for the Archbishop” is really a story of affection between two people named Bishop Jean Marie Latour and his vicar Vaillant. It discusses about a detailed account of events which happen in the actual life. “Many small and very interesting stories make up the book but there is not one comprehensive storyline. Possibly, Cather is right in calling it simply a narrative.” (Willa Cather’s Death comes for the Archbishop, para.4). Any one who goes through this work will never say that Bishop Jean Marie Latour and his vicar Vaillant have passed away from this world as they both are living in this world through this work.

Works Cited

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Book 1: the Vicar Apostolic. Novelguide.com: Literary Analysis Starts Here. 1927. Web.

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Faith. Novelguide.com: Literary Analysis Starts Here. 1927. Web.

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Joseph Vaillant. Novelguide.com: Literary Analysis Starts Here. 1927. Web.

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Jean Marie Latour. Novelguide.com: Literary Analysis Starts Here. 1927. Web.

Death Comes for the Archbishop/ Introduction. Enotes.com. 2009. Web.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather: About the Novel- a Brief Synopsis. Yahoo Education. 2005. Web.

Willa Cather’s Death comes for the Archbishop. 123HelpMe. 2009.