Father LaTour as the Hero in Death Comes for the...

Father LaTour as the Hero in Death Comes for the Archbishop In Willa Cathers Death Comes for the Archbishop, the heroic ideal whose definition began with Moby-Dick is again viewed. Father LaTour is clearly seen as having an elevated status, concern and understanding for the people, and a desire to make a lasting mark on the land that becomes his home. These characteristics were seen in differing ways in both Ahab and Jo in Little Women. In The Red Badge of Courage, the concept of courage in the hero was addressed. This quality too is seen in Father LaTour. Father Vaillant also displays many of these characteristics. Both priests are fully consecrated, they just live it out differently. They have committed themselves to†¦show more content†¦These qualifications include a love of God and His church, a strong intellectual background which enables him to deal with the church hierarchy, the social training to fit comfortably with the social elite he encounters, but also a compassionate nature which equips him to deal with the peasants who populate his diocese. Father LaTours leadership is also portrayed through the way people turn to him for guidance. Without his leading, Father Vaillant never would have made it to the mission field as is revealed through Father Vaillants vacillation as a youth first contemplating leaving home for missionary service. Although Cather does not tell a great deal about Father LaTours service as an active entity, his action is revealed through the reaction of the different people to him. He has earned the respect of his servants, the well-to-do in his community, the poor Mexicans and Indians in his community, and his peers. Father LaTour is defined by how he reacts to others and how they react to him. He earns their respect and that is a response that is not given lightly. The Bishop kept his word . . . (Cather 132). In these few words much of the respect Father LaTour received from all people everywhere is explained. When Jacinto takes Father LaTour to the secret cave, he demonstrates complete trust in the priests character. Jacinto recognizes that Father LaTour has a respect for the people that will cause him in turn to respect one of their holy places and that