Prayer By Louis Rivera Analysis

The story is about a young boy recounting the day of his first communion. The boy is the central character or rather the protagonist of the story. He is also the narrator. The boys’ name is not mentioned in the story, so the working assumption is that the boy is Thomas, the writer himself. What became clear as I read through the story, was this was more than a simple retelling of the events that day but, really a judgement on the catholic faith in its’ tradition of Communion and the duty of confession, and the impact that this duty or obligation can have on a young child. The story is full anecdotal moments that will bring the reader back to their childhood days, and remember how innocent a child’s ‘mind is during their youth. Those moments help underscore the dislike and apprehension that Tomas Rivera might have for some of the customs of the catholic
faith. It’s obvious that the author believes that there is a circular logic to these practices and that in the end they can become counter-productive and achieve the opposite result of their intention through the sheer pressure of trying to live up to the standards of being a good catholic.
It is this point which Tomas Rivera wanted to convey. Let’s begin with how the story describes the pressure that the faith has on the young boy. The story does a very good job of explaining the pressure and anxiety one feels when first receiving Holy Communion, especially for someone who has been raised in the in the Catholic church. The boy recounts how there was a picture of hell over his bed laced there by his mother, and how that picture was a driving factor in wanting salvation, as to avoid going to hell “Also, my mother had placed a picture of hell above the head of my bed and, because the room was covered in phantasmagorical pictures and because I wanted to save myself from all evil, I thought only of this picture.” (Kanellos, 1995, p. 97). The notion of suffering and punishment for not being a good catholic is driven home to the kid and is a general staple of Catholicism;
this is one of the points of Rivera’s’ assertion on the flaws within the catholic faith. The boys’ mother re-enforced this idea by of eternal damnation that would await him if he were to forget any of his sins and not repent for them before receiving communion. The placement of those drawings was intentional to drive that point home to the boy, making him afraid to be dishonest, though, as it’s pointed out in the story the boy actually commits a sin by lying to the priest about the number of sins he really did. He does this to not perpetrate what he was told would be sacrilege for not remembering the total count of all sins enacted. In addition to that piece of the story, he then discusses the expectations of the nun who instructs he and the other children on the punishments they would receive if they indulge in any "sins of the flesh," clearly highlighting the kind of pressure that he was made to feel, even if unintentional. (Kanellos, 1995, p. 98) It is important to understand that the author is challenging the Catholic religion through its emphasis on sin and punishment by exploring the impact that such a hardline focus can have on a young and susceptive child; such as the protagonist of this story. As one can begin to understand the amount of pressure one might feel practicing the Catholic faith can be overwhelming and even dreadful, given how the principles of the faith are shared in such a way as to be terrified of the punishment should one fall short of the expectation placed on them. It’s in this feeling of fear where all the good that is intended to by the faith is met with dishonesty and self-doubt. Which makes the authors point that or inference that how the faith is practiced produces the opposite result of the overall goal. In the beginning the boy is both looking forward to his first communion but also partly dreading it. He has been instructed by his nun to spend the eve of his first communion recounting all of his many and different sins, because he had been told that if he forgot any of his sins and didn’t confess them, that he would not be able to receive First Communion. To make sure that he would not attend Communion as a sinner and then burn in hell, he decided that even though he could only recall 150 sins, he would confess to committing 200 of various types of sins and to all degrees just to be safe. (e notes, n.d.) However, it’s the events that he witnesses in the morning of his communion and how internalizes the meaning and the impact of those events that eventually leads him to not mention what he saw and conclude ultimately that there may not be much distinction between his actions and those of his mother, friends and the people in the cleaners. Finally, the point made by the author, is realized by the boy contemplating all that had occurred that day.