Willa Cather's depiction of Father Latour overcoming New Mexico's harsh terrain

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather's "Death Comes for the Archbishop" depicts the life journey of Father Latour as he is assigned to serve as the Catholic bishop in the New Mexico territory after it is annexed by the United States. Starting with the prologue, Cather makes clear that setting will play a critical role in the story and that we must look at New Mexico as a setting in terms of both geography and morality. As three cardinals first discuss the need to assign a bishop to the New Mexico territory, the reader is given a glimpse at the geographic and moral challenges Latour will face. The New Mexico territory is rugged terrain, larger than Eastern and Central Europe combined, and geographically isolated from other bishoprics with "no wagon roads, no canals, no navigable rivers" (p. 7). This isolation has fostered racism and mistrust among the various cultures of New Mexico, and also has allowed a great deal of corruption to infiltrate the priests. The priests "are lax in religious observance," and are often "living in open concubinage" - a situation Latour is expected to bring under control (p.7). At first glance, it would appear the geographical and moral settings will create an oppressive and difficult environment in which Latour will be forced to operate, and indeed they often do. But the rough terrain and loose morality in which Latour must serve instead have a broadening effect on Latour's personality and become the backdrop against which he achieves greatness.

The archbishop vs. nature

Nature and the difficult terrain of the New Mexico territory play a critical role in deconstructing Latour's character and providing the adversity he will eventually overcome to achieve greatness. At the beginning of the story, we find Latour, a French Jesuit, serving in Sandusky, Ohio, which is a settled city that allows Latour easy access to other priests and relative comforts of living, such as decent housing, clothing and books. Latour, of course, loses his possessions when he is shipwrecked in Galveston. Cather has created a character who has lost everything at the hands of nature and now has nothing but his mission and his faith. Of course, things get even worse when Latour is injured during the travel over rough terrain and is incapacitated for months before he is finally able to enter Santa Fe.

Cather has made the journey through a "desert of ovens" difficult - and even life threatening - for Latour in order to show the difficult circumstances he is facing in his new job (p. 20). This will be inhospitable country, and Cather turns this rising religious star, promoted to bishop over a large jurisdiction, into a broken down, hobbled man with nothing but the clothes on his back.

Nature has begun to deconstruct Latour, a process that will eventually allow him to rise as a great leader. Early in the book, Latour becomes lost in the desert and is suffering from exhaustion. He then believes he sees a juniper in the shape of a cross, which must be a sign from God. This scene is important for two reasons. First, it provides insight into the imagination of Latour and his ability to see God and religion everywhere, even in threatening terrain. Second, this is arguably the deconstruction and resurrection of Latour. He is faced with a moment where he could have chosen death, but, instead, he becomes "refreshed," renewed in his faith and determined to not be defeated (p.19).

Latour's pending greatness is further demonstrated when he is not accepted in Santa Fe and must travel to Durango, Mexico - 1,500 miles each way - to obtain confirmation from the Bishop of Durango that he does, indeed, now have religious authority over the New Mexico territory. The reader is left to consider how easy it would be for Latour to turn around and leave this new assignment that has caused him nothing but sorrow. But, instead, Latour mounts a horse and makes the trip to Durango through dry, barren country. We are beginning to see the development of a character whose personality, imagination and faith are strong enough to withstand the most difficult of challenges. Latour, only a year removed from the relative comforts of Ohio, has become an improviser - a man who overcomes hardships as they are presented.

Throughout the rest of the book, we see Latour as a builder, working with nature and even improving upon it. We see him travel to obscure outposts to deliver religious sacraments. We also watch him spend his older years planting flowers and fruit trees that would be "bearing when it came time for him to rest," and ordering his priests to do the same, leaving his legacy on this difficult terrain (p.266). He has confronted this difficult country and has found a way to improve upon it.

One could argue that Latour's death shows that nature won the final battle with Latour, but this is not entirely the case. For certain, Latour catches a respiratory ailment and fever after being caught in a rainstorm, and it is clear to Latour that he will soon die. But as death hangs over Latour we again witness the greatness of his character. Latour is intent on dying under his own terms. He returns to Santa Fe "late in the afternoon, toward sunset," which brings his story full circle as the sun was setting when he first visited the city (p.270). Further, he continues his work inspecting churches and counseling Bernard. He does not cower from the hand nature has dealt him, but instead faces it with courage. In the end, we can conclude that the geographical setting in which Latour operated was rough and inhospitable. However, the difficult terrain became a backdrop on which the greatness of Latour's character could be constructed. There would have been no greatness, for example, if Latour had led his bishopric under the easiest of circumstances. Instead, the difficult geography and isolation of New Mexico broadened Latour's imagination, determination and faith, allowing his eventual success to be a significant achievement.

Conclusion

The adverse natural and moral settings in which Latour operates in "Death Comes for the Archbishop" serve to broaden his imagination and his strength. He is torn away from a comfortable existence in Ohio and forced to accomplish things that had probably been unimaginable to him previously.

The natural setting of Latour's jurisdiction is rough and inhospitable. He is nearly killed by a shipwreck and subsequent perilous journeys, but eventually learns to adapt and make peace with his surroundings. He is able to build, travel extensively and plant trees that will provide nourishment for his followers. He has used his imagination and strength to thrive in an adverse setting where his defeat would have been just as imaginable.

Similarly, Latour confronts and defeats a hostile moral setting. He inherits a jurisdiction where corrupt priests and unfortunate politics have nearly destroyed the relationship between the church and its people. Rather than accept the situation as unsalvageable, Latour confronts the situation head-on. He travels across his jurisdiction weeding our bad priests and promoting cultural understanding. He makes these changes at considerable danger to himself. In the end, Latour successfully confronts inhospitable natural and moral settings and, in finding a way to succeed in these environments, reveals himself as an exceptional character.