boooooooook 6

Latour is determined to have a Cathedral built in Santa Fe. Don Antonio Olivares strongly agrees with Latour in his decision making and agrees to give him the money to have it built during a New Years party. His second wife, Dona Isabella looks very young for her age. Derived from France, she makes good friends with many of the French priests because they are more easily able to relate to their home life away from home. She is also high spirited and attractive. Her husband Don Antonio is a rounded man in the weight category; he seems slow as well. Latour likes the man because of the way he presents himself. When Don Antonio gives gifts to Latour and Jacinto, it seems as if he knows the two very well. He issued a gift that was pleasing to the eye to Latour, and one that was tasteful to Valliant. Later in the new year, Don Olivares died. He also forgot to will the money for the new cathedral to Latour. Olivares’s brothers tried to get his money and failed in doing so although it seemed that they might have gotten it for a minute. Dona Isabella would not tell the truth about her age because she had a mindset that looks are more important than money. She finally agreed to admit to being 52 even though she originally said she was 42 and received the money from that point. Afterwards, she holds a party at her house and is greeted by the priests whom had given her the right to her husband’s will. Book six ends with the priests and Dona Isabella laughing because of a funny joke she made about why she lied about her age.

In book five, Latour and Jacinto take a trip to visit Padre Martinez. When the men near their destination, they are greeted by Martinez along with horsemen to lead them to el Ranchero de Taos. Upon their arrival at el Ranchero, Martinez is greeted very lavishly with women laying down shawls for him to step on as he walks. Padre Martinez is very well respected as a Priest, but Latour almost has a hard time believing that after seeing the overall atmosphere and spirit in the house. He mentions that cats, dust, and overall filth make up most of the house. When Latour walks upon a sleeping boy named Trinidad, he learns about the boy and almost believes him to be stupid. Trinidad tried to crucify himself during the holy month. When the crucifix fell over because of his body weight, he took back lashings and passed out before the 100th one. Latour and Martinez share a celibacy conversation and disagree on both sides of the story. Lucero, a close friend of Martinez, gets in a battle of words and wits with his pal. The quarreling between the two caused Latour to send Vaillant to read a letter to the two, taking their priesthoods. Martinez eventually died and left 1/3 of his money to his son and wanted to the rest to go to Mass. However, the money was not released until Lucero died which happened shortly after Martinez did. When Lucero was lying on his death bed, he explained specific instructions on how the money was to be released, where it was located, and to whom it was to be presented. Before he did that, he killed a robber trying to steal the money from his house.

Setting impact on character

Well, in the novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Cather describes each setting in great detail. She also describes characters in such a way. "His broad high shoulder were like a ull buffalo's his big head was set defiantly on a thick neck, and full cheeks, richly coloured, egg shaped spanish face... a high, narrow forehead, brillant yellow eyes set deep in strong arches, and full florid cheeks,-not blank areas of smooth flesh, as in anglo-saxon faces, but full of muscular activity, as quick to change with feeling as any of his features. His mouth was very assertion of violent, uncurbed passion and tyrannical self will, the full lips thrust out, and taut, like the flesh of animal distended by fear or desire." The way Cather describes Martinez in such incredible details it is like she paints a rose color picture on the inside of your eyelid. The description is so great it was like watching a picture perfect television. Cather describes basically everything including the setting in the same way. From the desert to the sky, Cather tells the reader a huge hint that the environment is important. Latour encounters a juniper tre in the shape of a cross and there Cather lets the readers know the landscape play a role in Latour life also in the number of times the solor red is mentions. It has somethint to do with the faith that they traveled over there for. When looking up the book for better details it mentioned that landscrape was the style of the book. Throughout the book Latour goesback to the French setting and oftend compares the two. The characters are emotional attach to the scenary that Latour now sees the two place as almost the same and starts to accept the new place, New Mexico as home. He also see the Natives America differently than many because he now understands how the setting has impacted their lives too.

setting

Cather uses setting in "Death Comes for the Archbishop" as a way to describe the emotions of the characters. In the first half of the book, the rough routes that Latour must take are described in great detail. Cather gives you the feeling when Latour first enters New Mexico that the lands are ragged and when he gets lost is when he starts somewhat admiring the scenary.
I think that Latour's journey through Mexico was very fullfilling because he got to spread his religion everywhere he went. In book 5 he goes to see Martinez in Taos. Martinez is a bad priest. He is the one responsible for the rebellion on the white men. Even though he is not a good man, he is the wealthiest in the land and has all the fertile land. (Cather book 5). The Taos is described as beautiful land.

Towards the end of the book Latour buys a house that is just outside of Santa Fe. It has an apricot tree in the yard. I believe this is a symbol of Latour spreading his religion throughout. This is where Latour goes to live the rest of his life out. I feel like the tree's old roots is just like Latour, he has a lot of roots.

The scenery and the characters!
As we know Cather talks about the setting a great deal in this book. And the reason is because she tells the characters feeling and emotions in the story as they happen. Which I think is very talented and smart. But in book five Father Latour and Jacinto are on their way to Taos. They are in the mountains and they are close to the city so the mountain range is disappearing slowly. I thought of this in the same as the characters are coming into a new city that they didn’t really know. All there securities disappeared as well. Once they get there they understand that this city is very different. The priest are very materialistic as shown through there vibrant gardens and the church was very loud and not tasteful. The crucifix was very bright. At dinner with Martínez, the head priest at Taos, he told him what the priesthood was like there. He asked him questions about celibacy and whether it was right. And Latour was very respectful in his answer that concluded in a no. Martíez got mad and told him, “you are a young man, my Bishop, and you know nothing about Indians or Mexicans.” He said that if you try to change their beliefs you will see a youthful death. So Latour went to bed feeling very in doubt of his surrounding like the air was not to his taste and there were many noises that kept him awake through the night. So he felt very uncertain of his environment. This was the complete opposite of his feelings in book nine. In book nine it tells us that he retires. He bought a house out near the Tesuque pueblo. He got a small number of acres across the red sand-hills. He planted an orchard the one he talked about earlier in the book when he had dinner with Father Vaillant. He had chosen this place because of the plant life around in the sand-hills. One of the plants was juniper. His friends told him to not be around that kind of plant but he did any ways because they grow fruit. And on page 264 it says, ”he surmised that the heat of the sun, reflected from the rocky hill-slope up into the tree, gave the fruit an even temperature, warmth from two sides, such as brings the wall peaches to perfection in France.” When I read this I felt that he was beyond very happy and kind of felt like he was backing home in France. But he was at peace in this place that was foreign to him and he made it his own place to relax and to teach young men to become priest.

Analysis of the Setting of Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop entails many descriptions of the story’s settings. Not only that, the main setting contains “mini” settings of different events that take place throughout the story. Willa Cather expertly depicts the settings in Death Comes for the Archbishop by utilizing details with numerous descriptions of the background to engage the reader.

Book One contains many memorable settings that capture the reader’s attention. Notably, the experience Juan Diego has with the Virgin Mary and the experience Bishop Jean Marie Latour has with the juniper tree. Book One Chapter One begins with the time frame and place in which Bishop Latour is on his journey. “One afternoon in the autumn of 1851 a solitary horseman, followed by a pack-mule, was pushing through an arid stretch of country somewhere in central New Mexico (pg 14).” Assumingly, after the reader reads this opening line, he or she begins to get into the setting. One can almost creates his or her own image of New Mexico and can imagine how hot it may have been on that day. The year 1851 also presents a historical feel to the story as well. A number of events took place in the year 1851 such as the city of Winona, Minnesota being founded on October fifteenth. The author also states that the horseman has been traveling through an “arid stretch of country somewhere in central New Mexico” which gives the reader a clue that the horseman is lost in a dry place somewhere out in New Mexico. The author then tells how many miles the traveler must have traveled. “He must have travelled through thirty miles of these conical red hills, winding his way in the narrow cracks between them, and he begun to think that he would never see anything else (pg 15).” The setting begins to take a toll on the character. After seeing the same things over and over the reader begins to get confused. The reader may then feel a sense of sympathy for the character. This particular setting reveals Father Latour’s patience and need to do God’s will regardless of the circumstances.

Additionally, Book Nine also reveals some settings that may draw the reader’s attention. “Long before his retirement…Father Latour bought those few acres in the red sand-hills near the Tesuque pueblo, and set out an orchard which would be bearing…the red hills spotted with juniper…admirably suited for the growing of fruit (pg 265-266).” The author describes this place as a must-have for the bishop. The bishop had to have his fruit and obviously enjoyed watching them grow and blossom. The author also describes how Father Latour came to own this estate against his friends advice. An old Mexican who lived on the estate told Father Latour that the apricot tree must have been 200 years old. He did not mind selling it because he wanted to live in Santa Fe, so Father Latour bought it from him a few weeks later. The tree was described as having had “two trunks, each of them thicker than a man’s body, and though evidently very old, it was full of fruit. The apricots were large, beautifully coloured, and of superb flavor (pg 266).” The description here is absolutely amazing. It makes one envision a large, entwined apricot tree with beautiful fruit. If one has never seen an apricot tree in person, then he or she will be able to envision one here. Father Latour chose this place as his resting grounds. He built an adobe house and chapel “high up on the hill-side overlooking the orchard (pg 267).” This place helped Father Latour to unwind after he completed his daily tasks.

Willa Cather skillfully utilizes the setting to tie into her character's lives. The settings help shape the tone and mood of, not only the novel itself, but the characters. Some settings hint at what is to come in the story. For example, Father Latour was lost in his travels and obviously tired. Wandering around in the desert may have showed the hardships he would have to face when he reached his destination. It is noted that he was not well recieved. The part where he bought an country estate may reveal that he is now reaping the fruits of his labor. He was almost at the point where he could finally rest after years of hard work. Willa Cather somehow connected the setting with the character lives which made for a lasting impression.

Father Latour

In Willa Cather’s Death Comes For The Archbishop, the bishop, Jean Latour, goes through many experiences that develop his character throughout the beginning to the end of book four. Latour is actually a very cool character. He is witty yet remains calm throughout situations. He is also intelligent and appears to be a very polite individual. It is also obvious that he is very strong which is evident in the beginning of the story. On his journey to New Mexico, the boat he is on sinks which causes him to lose all of his belongings with the exception of his books. He also injures his leg while attempting to jump off a carriage. The accident with his leg delays his mission for about three months. Still determined, he continues by horse and gets lost and travels through the desert for a long time without any food or water. However, despite these setbacks and what seems to be hallucinations, he is determined to reach New Mexico. Then Latour finally catches a break when he hops on a wagon headed for Sante Fe, New Mexico. Latour is thrilled that he has finally reached his destination when he runs into another problem. After he reaches the church in New Mexico, he is informed that the church never received notice that he was coming to the church. He is then told that in order to get the paper work he must travel a journey of about 3,000 miles to the Bishop of Durango. Although he gets lost again he does reach the Bishop in a much easier fashion then his first journey. When he returns to Sante Fe he discovers that Father Vaillant has made many changes to the church that make it better. In the second book, he meets a Mexican woman by the name of Magdalena. While trying to make a deal with her husband, Buck, Magdalena tells Latour that her husband will kill them and is an evil man. She leaves with them and further explains to them that he was a murderer and a very mean and dangerous man. We then read on to meet their tour guide. We then discover that the Father Gallegos has been everything except for his duties at the church. He has been dancing and partying and meeting girls. Throughout their journey, the tour guide, Jacinto and Father Vaillant exchange information and we learn a lot about both characters. In the fourth book, Father Vaillant takes over the church since Father Gallegos is not doing his job. Father Valliant is assigned to be stationed in Las Vegas and catches black measles. On his way to help Father Valliant, Father Latour has to stop due to the weather and discovers a tribe that kills babies. The next night they have to set up camp again. Fortunately, by the time they reach Father Valliant his fever has broken. All of his journeys prove that Father Latour is an extremely strong and caring individual.

Death Comes For The Archbishop

The character of Jean Marie Latour was the bishop of Agathonica, which is in Cincinnati, but he is also a vicar apostolic of New Mexico. He is described as very sharp man, calm, valiant, insightful, and very good etiquette. In the beginning is he has been through some trouble to get where he has been stationed to be. In the year 1851 he is going to New Mexico one a horse with a donkey. We find him lost in the desert and all he sees are red hills. He has gotten this far, which is thirty miles with no water or food. Then there is a flash back to where he got directions to get to Santa Fe. He got the directions from Ohio merchants. He was following the directions but ran into some bad luck. He took a boat and in the Galveston harbor the boat sank and he lost all his precious belongings, but he did manage to save his books. Then he was taking a carriage ride and jumped off at his stop and hurt his leg very badly. The injury was so terrible that an Irish family took care of him for three months. He then had gotten on this wagon with another priest on it as well. His name was Father Joseph Vaillant. He was too on his way to Santa Fe. But he finally made it to Santa Fe, and he was in such high spirits just to be in the place that was so time-consuming to get to. He had made it! He saw the whole little town, and he even could he the church. Once he got to the church he hit another dilemma. The Mexican priest told him that they had no paper work saying that he was coming to Santa Fe. The bishop of Durango had not notified them of this circumstance. They said that he had to go get the paper work from him. Bishop of Durango was 3,000 miles of a journey. So he went on his way again, and father Latour got lost again. But he made his way and got the proof. When he got back from bishop Durango the man that he had ridden that wagon with father Vaillant had taken over the church as the new head priest. Father Vaillant has built up the church with volunteers and it has turned out amazing.
In book two they are riding thought Mora and it was raining and storming real bad. And they come up to this rickety house and a white man lived there, named Buck Scales. He had a snake-like neck, with a small bony head, and evil-looking. They said he seemed “half human”. And he offered to put there mules away and before the man could the wife, which was Mexican, she made motions to get out because that the man would kill them and it appeared that she had been beaten by the man. The women came with them because she was scared and she felt that the men were good people. Her name is Magdalena. She began to talk and to tell her story. She was married to buck for six years. He was a robber and has killed many people who come to stay there. And apparently they have had three children and he has killed all of them. So he was a very bad man.

In the third book we meet Jacinto. He is an Indian from the tribe Pecos pueblo. He helped them by being their guide. And he led them west. But father Vaillant was reviewing the case of Father Gallegos and he was a ten years older than Vaillant. He had many friends with the Americans he went dancing and played poker and gambled and had many wine from “el paso del norte”, and he had women after his service go out to dinner. So this priest was not doing his duties of the church and Father Vaillant had many problems with that. On the other hand, Jacinto is still there guide and are leaving for Isleta. And when they got there it was all good and a messenger went through the place saying that the good bishop was coming. People thought of him as a good man. During the night the fathers are with Jacinto and they talk about the stars and they listen to him and are very nice, and we find out that Jacinto is twenty—six and has a child. Father Latour thinks, he was beginning to have some sort of human companionship with his Indian boy.” And as Jacinto takes him through these villages he learns more about then and sees what each village is about.
They in the fourth book Father Vaillant took over father Gallegos because he was in trouble and when Vaillant changed all the holy days and he wrote to his sister named Philomene saying that this village was like school boy to a headmaster. But father Vaillant was the vicar general and in February he was reassigned to Las Vegas. He did not return so Father Latour became very worried. Then one day an Indian boy on a white mule, named Contiento which belonged to Father Vaillant, came bring bad news. He said that Father Vaillant came through the village and helped them by giving last rights and he caught the illness. The illness was black measles. So two hours after the boy came he rode out to help his friend. The go with Jacinto and he guides them. It begins to snow and storm so they had to camp. He found out that the tribe worship snakes and they have a great snake and they sacrifice infants. This is why their tribe is diminishing. But they left in the morning and rode all day and got caught in another storm and stayed in a cave thing and the next day they reached Father Vaillant and he had broke his fever and on the way of recovery. But in this chapter I think Jacinto and Father Latour made a bond.

Character Analysis of Jean Latour from Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop is an American novel published in 1927 which tells the story of a bishop and priest who try to establish a diocese in the New Mexico Territory. Their objective was to restore the Catholic faith and traditions into a country that has seemingly lost its way. Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop creatively reveals the characteristics of Bishop Jean Marie Latour by his own actions and interactions.

The Prologue opens with three Cardinals and a missionary Bishop “from America dining together in the gardens of a villa in the Sabine hills, overlooking Rome (pg 1).” They were having a discussion about “an anticipated appeal from the Provincial Council at Baltimore for the founding of an Apostolic Vicarate in New Mexico-a part of a North America recently annexed to the United States (pg 2).” Although the New Mexico territory was not in need of salvation, they were in desperate need of correction and guidance. The missionary Bishop Ferrand introduced Bishop Jean Marie Latour to the other Cardinals and missionary Bishop.

Bishop Ferrand discusses where Bishop Latour is from and where he is now. “He is a parish priest, on the shores of Lake Ontario, in my diocese. I have watched his work for nine years. He is but thirty-five now. He came to us directly from the Seminary (pg 9).” He also describes Bishop Latour as intelligent. After attaining the other priests’ attention, Bishop Ferrand continues to sell his idea and even suggests that Maria de Allande to use his influence the Provincial Council.

The story of Jean Marie Latour begins with him wandering in the “arid stretch of country somewhere in central New Mexico (pg 14).” The bishop has obviously lost his way, and since no has ever really travelled to this new territory, no one could give him a shorter or clearer way to reach his destination. Latour is obviously a patient and tolerant man because there is no way that someone of today would wander around in a desert without any water for days on end. Instead of complaining he focused on God which further develops his faith.

Bishop Latour's calm and friendly manner allows him to get along with others. Jacinto did not care for the bishop at first. After observing him for awhile, Jacinto sees that Latour treats everyone the same. No one is above the next. For that Jacinto relaxes and begins to trust the bishop. Willa Cather paints a wonderful description of Bishop Jean Marie Latour through his actions and interactions.

My papa’s waltz by Theodore Roethke
Well this poem is a bit weird and abusive. I read the poem a couple of times because I was in shock with the poem and what it was saying. I think it is about a father fighting with his child. The father is drunk and has a bad relationship with his family. The mother is not happy with the fact that her husband is drunk in front of their child and abusing him as well. We know she is unhappy by the sentence saying, “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself.” As the father and the child fight it says in the poem that, “we romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” and it says, “But I hung on like death.” We know that this child is young because when he stands up against his father he comes up to his belt buckle. But his father is dirty, clumsy, and drunk as he takes his child off to bed and we know this because it says, “the whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy …. Such waltzing was not easy” and “at every step you missed”. But I agree with Mary mostly I think we have the same views about this poem. We both think that the father is abusing the child and they have an unhealthy relationship and the mother is not happy about the relationship of the family.

A Close Reading: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is a very interesting poem. It draws forth many different views creating quite a controversy of the meaning of this poem. When I first read this poem I thought: “Wow, this child has a very abusive relationship with his father,” but after reading it again I realized that the boy is not, in fact, in an abusive relationship at all, contrary to popular belief. I then researched the poet and found out that most of his writings were based on his childhood which prompted me to find out about his relationship with his father, specifically. According to four students from Eastern Illinois University, Roethke describes his father in two different ways. His father was very strict and had high standards of which he expected Theodore to uphold. When he did not, his father tended to look down upon him, but Theodore is also noted for describing his father in a more loving way. He admired the way his father nurtured his garden, which was a source of the family’s income. His father, Otto, valued hard work at the greenhouse and Theodore wanted to become a poet. Theodore Roethke revisits his childhood in “My Papa’s Waltz” by reflecting upon one intimate and memorable moment they shared.

The opening line, “The whiskey on your breath,” and line 3, “But I hung on like death,” is probably what misleads most readers into believing that the relationship between Theodore and Otto as that of an abusive one. Being that the father was obviously intoxicated would make the dance uneasy thus requiring him to hang “like death (line 3).” Line 5 gives you an idea of where the story takes place and line 6 simply confirms that the setting of this poem is in the kitchen. While the word “romped” in line 5 may have a negative connotation, especially after the first stanza, the denotation of the word means to play or frolic in a lively or boisterous manner which could very well explain the mother’s “countenance (line 7)” not being able to “unfrown itself (line 8).” The reader can infer that the mother had to go back and straighten up the mess her husband and son created in her clean kitchen. The mother is obviously displeased about their behavior (stanza 2).

Stanza 3 is also one that proves of great interest because the sign of the alleged abuse is here: “At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle. (Lines 11-12)” Being that this is a childhood memory, these lines reveal how tall the child actually is, at the waist. Therefore, if Theodore did not keep up with his father’s steps, then his right ear would scrap the buckle. In Stanza 4, the father is still dancing with his child and waltz him off to bed. “You beat time on my head (line 13).” The father is obviously counting the time to the waltz on the child’s head by tapping his head with his hand, not literally beating him as if to cause harm. “With a palm caked hard by dirt (line 14)” reveals that the father came home and played with his son before he cleaned himself up. The child, enjoying the attention of his father and loving his version of the waltz, clings to his shirt as he goes off to bed (lines 15-16).

The Unhealthy Relationship in My Papa's Waltz

There are many words used to hint that the relationship described in the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke’s is a very negative and unhealthy relationship. From reading the poem I believe that the relationship is between an abusive father and a son. The poem describes the father as an angry alcoholic who beats his son. In the first stanza Roethke’s uses words such as whiskey, dizzy and death to create a negative atmosphere. Roethke’s wrote “But I hung on like death” in the third line of the first stanza. The dramatic sentence implies that the boy was hanging on death meaning that the father was doing something to harm the son. In the second stanza Roethke goes on to describe the beating taking place by saying “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf.” The sentence is describing the father and son fighting in the kitchen while everything is crashing around them. The second stanza also goes on to explain that the mother is always frowning due to the fact that her husband hits her son. The sentence “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” means that the mother’s facial expression was always frowning. In the third stanza the author hints towards the relationship being an abusive relationship between a father and son by talking about how his father is holding his son’s wrist with bruised hands as a result of the son fighting back against his father’s abuse. The author also talks about the abusive relationship in the fourth stanza by saying, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt.” To me the sentence means that his father beat him through his childhood years. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” discusses the abusive relationship between a father and son.

Blog to my Papa's Waltz

After reading My Papa's Waltz, I felt pretty sad. I believe it is talking about a father beating his son. The term "waltz" to me, means that it happens all the time. The setting of the poem takes place in a house. More specifically, the kitchen. The tone he uses in the poem seems as if the child is scared and has to go through a lot of pain, both physically and mentally. The father is a classic case abuser. In the poem the son compares the dancing to being "like death." Nothing in the poem suggests that the boy is enjoying himself in any way. The son describes his mother's expression as being sad. As if she was aware of what was going on, but had no control over doing anything about it. The son is helpless in a situation that no one can get him out of. I think the phrase "beat time" is an indication of him being abused. Though, this poem could not be a metaphor at all and it could be talking about dancing, the words the poet describes are too harsh. At the end of the poem, the author says that the father takes him off to bed still dancing. In this section, I think the son is saying that even when he was about to go to bed, the dad is still beating him. This poem has an underlying meaning other than just a dance between a son and father. I think Roethke's purpose was to bring to light a very serious, and dark subject.