Sure, Father Latour and Father Vaillant move to North America because they're looking for some adventure; but their main reason is to fulfill their deep-seated sense of duty toward the Catholic Church.
In the mid-nineteenth century, many parts of North American were still uncharted territory for a lot of Europeans, and agreeing to go preach the gospel in these places was a major sacrifice. But both Latour and Vaillant are willing to spend their entire lives away from their families in order to do what's necessary for their religion, and they both die feeling perfectly fulfilled in the choices they've made for duty. Death Comes for the Archbishop would have been a duller book if death had come for him in a cozy village somewhere in France.
Questions About Duty
- Who in your mind has a stronger sense of duty, Father Latour or Father Vaillant? Why?
- Why does Father Vaillant have a difficult time deciding to go to North America when he and Latour are young men? What two types of duty does he have to choose between and why?
- How does Father Vaillant think that Latour should deal with traitors to the church like Father Martinez? How do he and Latour differ on this subject?
- What duty does Father Latour have to keep relations good between the white settlers and the Native Americans? How does he act on it?
Chew on This
In Death Comes for the Archbishop, we find that acting on duty can give a person a much more fulfilling life than acting on personal ambition.
Death Comes for the Archbishop shows us that duty is an empty concept. It's just a way of making personal interest look like something noble.