what impact do the characters have on the setting, the environment?

The last half of this book centers around the later years of Bishop Latour and Father Vaillant. It shows how their friendship progresses near the end of their lives. Latour and Vaillant knew each other before they came to America but in their missionary journeys they sometimes had to spend time apart. This was because they had to each help the people in different ways.

" It was the indian manner to vanish into the landscape, not to stand out against it." "They seemed to have none of the European's desire to 'master' nature, to arrange and re-create." pg. 233 I think that those quotes from the book explain sthe question perfectly. The indians lived with nature and did not try to take over. As more Americans and European settlers came to the less populated areas, they started building, creating a railroad system, searching for gold, and hunting the native people.

The Setting of "Death Comes for the Archbishop"

I believe Cather fully shows the unique character of Latour in book nine when she develops the setting where Latour wishes to spend the remainder of his years. "He chose this place in the red hills spotted with juniper against the advice of his friends, because he believed it to be admirably suited for the growing of fruit" (263). This shows Latour's uniqueness because it was not popular to grow fruit in Mexico deserts during this time. Cather gives Latour a strong interest in fruit to demonstrate his righteous and pure soul. Fruit has always been a common term in religion which was first brought up in the story of the Garden Of Eden, "the Man was lost and saved in a garden" (265). By describing where Latour wishes to spend his last years, Cather gives him the characteristics of being a good, honest, and loyal human being. Latour did not care about the large sand hills, but instead just wanted a place where he would be able to garden and grow fruit.
The setting of the novel strongly impacted the characters and developed the story. It showed how faithful Latour, Vaillant, and other characters where in the novel by constantly traveling through the desert. They had to travel up and down all the sand-hills whether the temperature was hot or cold just to spread and protect the Catholic faith. Sometimes they had to sleep in raggedy homes in cruel places, but it showed their true righteous character as they continued on. In some places they cheated death and still continued on their mission. Mexico was a the perfect place for this story to occur because it was home to many myths and legends held by many different cultures. Hidden in the land itself was great stories and rituals including The Mass at Acoma and Snake Root (Book 3 & 4).

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Father Latour's character is all about growing and upholding his faith and he does so by his missionary work. This is seen throughout the book especially when on page 55 he says " No, I tell you Lujon, the marriages first, the baptisms afterward; that order is but christian. I will baptize the children to-morrow morning, and their parents will at least have been married over night." To Latour faith is what makes up who he is. Latour also admires the nature that he encounters in all his journeys.

In book four father Latour goes on a mission to save father vaillent. Vaillent had caught the black measles. On Latour's journey to save his friend he stays with his old guide Jacinto. On page 121 when Jacinto's wife serves Latour soup and bread. Latour and Jacinto eat together in his home as if they have always done so. The scene makes you feel as if their relationship is brotherly.

When I think of Bishop Jean Marie Latour in Willa Cather’s novel, Death Comes For The Archbishop, I think of a quote by Confucius, “Wisdom, compassion, and courage, are three universally recognized moral qualities of men”. Latour is smart always thinking on his toes, for example when they were on the road to Mora, and the girl told them to leave the house they did without question and with a feeling that something bad was about to happen. His courage can also be described in this scene because when the man wants to get violent with the Bishop, he does not hesitate to pull out his gun. “The Bishop drew his pistol. “No profanity, Senor. We want nothing from you but to get away from your uncivil tongue. Stand where you are””(69). The last word compassion can be seen in almost every part of the novel but the biggest thing that jumped out at me was in the beginning of book four when the Indian boy came to tell the Bishop that the village in the Pecos mountains had been struck with an outbreak of black measles and the Bishop left right away. “The Bishop rode out of Santa Fe two hours after the Indian messenger rode in” (118). This shows Latour’s compassion and devotion for his work.
Another one of Latour’s qualities is that he is strong and determined to succeed in whatever he does. One example of this is when it took him a solid year to reach his destination in the American southwest to work as a Bishop. Another example can be seen in book three when he brings the nuns back to start an all girls school, “The return journey was even slower, as he had with him the five nuns who came to found the school of Our Lady of Light”(81). This example proves that he is determined to spread his religion throughout the southwest and anyone who is going to travel from Washington to Santa Fe with five nuns has to be a strong and dedicated person.
The Bishops relationship with Jacinto is somewhat interesting because they seem to have a somewhat mutual respect for each other. Even though they have different views and beliefs each one respects the others religion. Both Latour and Jacinto share stories together as well as their quite time together, “As Father Latour sat by the fire and listened to the wind sweeping down from the mountains and howling over the plateau, he thought of these things; and he could not help wondering whether Jacinto, sitting silent by the same fire, was thinking of them too” (123-4). This shows how even though they were different they were similar sharing some of the same qualities like thinking about the Spaniards steeling from the village and going to look for the seven golden cities of Quivera.

My Papa's Waltz

At first I didn't know whether this poem was written in a positive note or a negative one. When I first read it, my reaction was that the speaker was writing about a memory he had as a child when he was playing around with his dad. I thought this because the poem talked about them messing up the kitchen and his mother not being happy about it. Then I read it again and I found that most of the words in the poem are negative words, but I still can't tell if the speaker's writing about a good childhood memory or a bad one. I guess if I had to choose a side I would lean more towards the negative side because when I'm finished with the poem it leaves me feeling like the kid maybe got in trouble by his drunk father, got a whooping, and then was put to bed feeling horrible.

"My Papa's Waltz"

I believe this poem is about happy memories between a young boy and his father. He describes his father coming home from a hard day of work and dancing with him after a few drinks. This idea is influenced by the the wiskey on the fathers breath and his tough, stale hands which show his father was hard working. I believe this shows a common lifestyle of the average mid-western back in the day. He gives the reader a good visual image of the occasion. He describes him and his dad waltzing (dancing) around the kitchen knocking over all the pans while his mom is grinning. I also believe this poem shows that the boy only had a little bit of time to spend with his father on the weekdays, but his father made the most of their time together. At the end of the poem the father gives the son a gentle pad on the head and takes him to bed.

"My Papa's Waltz"

When I read this it mostly made me think of an abusive drunk dad, who works hard come home and drinks and then beats his son for no reason. When the writer uses the word waltz it makes me think he is referring to fighting. "We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf," is referring to the boy being thrown into the cabnets. "My mother's countenanceCould not unfrown itself," is talking about the mother not able to look while the son was being abused still crying when the boy see's her face. "With a palm caked hard by dirt," is meaning he works outside with his hands. "Waltzed me off to bed," could mean that he fought him all the way to his room.