In
the fall, Tony sets off for school with Andrew. He is about to begin
third grade, where his teacher will be Miss Violet. His friends tease
him about Ultima, but he shows he is willing to fight, and after that
they leave him alone. Just before Christmas vacation, the children
prepare to perform a nativity play. But the night before the performance
there is a blizzard. The following day many of the kids, including all
the girls, stay at home, but Tony and all his boisterous friends are
there. So the play goes ahead. Much to his embarrassment, Horse has to
play the Virgin Mary. Tony plays Joseph. The performance, in front of
the entire school, is a complete disaster because the boys in the
performance misbehave and do not keep to their assigned roles. Even Miss
Violet has to laugh.
In
the afternoon, Tony walks home in a snowstorm. As he passes the saloon,
Tenorio and Narciso tumble out. They are fighting. Tony watches the
savage fight in horror. The bartender and two other men have to separate
the two men. Tenorio repeats that he is going to kill Ultima, and that
he will also kill Narciso if he is in the way. Narciso runs off to warn
Andrew. He goes to Rosie's house, where the loose women live. Tony
wonders why he goes there, and then gets the shock of his life when he
sees Andrew in the house with his arm around a young girl who is dressed
only in a loose robe. Narciso warns Andrew of the danger from Tenorio,
but Andrew does not take him seriously.
Narciso
decides to go directly to Ultima to warn her. Antonio follows him.
Tenorio ambushes Narciso and shoots him. The two men fight, and Tenorio
shoots Narciso a second time. He then aims the gun at Tony and pulls the
trigger, but the gun does not fire. The dying Narciso asks Tony to pray
for him, and then to accept his confession. After Narciso's death,
Tony runs home and tells his story. His family puts him to bed and he
becomes ill from his exposure to the bad weather. During the night he
has nightmares about Andrew and the girl he saw him with at Rosie's.
In the dream, they both go to Hell. Tony asks God to forgive them and to
forgive Narciso. God replies that he will only do so if Tony asks him to
forgive Tenorio as well. Tony thinks this is not fair and wants Tenorio
punished. Later in the dream, Tony's three brothers appear as tortured
spirits and beg him to help them; then the three Trementina sisters
wreak their vengeance on Tony, and the wicked people kill his
family and Ultima. But after the evil people fish for carp and eat what
they catch, the waters rise up and destroy everything, and the golden
carp rules.
Analysis
After
the serious matters presented in the previous two chapters, the first
part of this chapter, which describes the farcical performance of the
nativity play, comes as welcome comic relief. But the serious action and
the tension soon return. Tony's discovery of his brother Andrew at the
brothel marks another stage in his loss of innocence. And in the
aftermath of the murder of Narciso, Tony continues to struggle with
problems of religion as he tries to understand the nature of forgiveness
and justice. His vivid dream shows that he is deeply troubled by the
recent events in all aspects of his life.
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