The Mesa country of the people of the Acoma illustrates the importance of place and past
The novel, ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop' by Willa Cather is an illustration of the Catholic priesthood and the influence of the church as it grew to the New Mexico land. Cather gives a representation of the values of being Catholic, illustrating the relevance of each rule of the church. The priests who fail to represent the religion, as it should be are removed from their posts. This fiction is based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, and the events that lead to the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. In history, this literal work also gives an idea of the Mexican-American War and the capture of the South-West by the United …show more content…
Latour feels “inadequate” because he and his religion have been humbled before something much simpler, much older, and thus much more powerful. Perhaps this is why the appearance of the Ácoma cathedral strikes Latour as “warlike” (p. 100). We learn that it was built for the “satisfaction” of past Spanish missionaries, “rather than according to the needs of the Indians” (p. 101). The Indians labored to construct it, but the cathedral stands as a monument to human pride: “Fray Ramirez, or some Spanish priest who followed him, was not altogether innocent of worldly ambition…” (p. 101). Now, in Latour’s eyes, the cathedral stands exposed as a “grim” (p. 100) relic of a past conflict between the native experience and the imported.
The importance of the past comes to play, where the people who labored as slaves to build a church are expected to believe in the religion and follow its teachings (McCullough, 7). The slavery and the injustices make it difficult as seen by Latour. The mission becomes difficult due to the decisions that were made in the past. The religion has not been fully into the community, at one point a Latour admires the works of the craftsman of the native church he realizes that even when they have accepted the Catholic faith, their past superstitious believes still permeate into their current
The novel, ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop' by Willa Cather is an illustration of the Catholic priesthood and the influence of the church as it grew to the New Mexico land. Cather gives a representation of the values of being Catholic, illustrating the relevance of each rule of the church. The priests who fail to represent the religion, as it should be are removed from their posts. This fiction is based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, and the events that lead to the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. In history, this literal work also gives an idea of the Mexican-American War and the capture of the South-West by the United …show more content…
Latour feels “inadequate” because he and his religion have been humbled before something much simpler, much older, and thus much more powerful. Perhaps this is why the appearance of the Ácoma cathedral strikes Latour as “warlike” (p. 100). We learn that it was built for the “satisfaction” of past Spanish missionaries, “rather than according to the needs of the Indians” (p. 101). The Indians labored to construct it, but the cathedral stands as a monument to human pride: “Fray Ramirez, or some Spanish priest who followed him, was not altogether innocent of worldly ambition…” (p. 101). Now, in Latour’s eyes, the cathedral stands exposed as a “grim” (p. 100) relic of a past conflict between the native experience and the imported.
The importance of the past comes to play, where the people who labored as slaves to build a church are expected to believe in the religion and follow its teachings (McCullough, 7). The slavery and the injustices make it difficult as seen by Latour. The mission becomes difficult due to the decisions that were made in the past. The religion has not been fully into the community, at one point a Latour admires the works of the craftsman of the native church he realizes that even when they have accepted the Catholic faith, their past superstitious believes still permeate into their current