41 pages • 1 hour read
Ana CastilloSo Far from God
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 13-16 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “The Final Farewell of Don Domingo, sin a Big mitote; and an Encounter with un Doctor Invisible, or Better Known in These Parts as a Psychic Surgeon, Who, in Any Case, Has No Cure for Death”
Domingo returns to his old habits of gambling and loses the family home in a cock fight. Sofi must now pay rent to the new owner of the farm, Judge Julano. Eventually, Sofi becomes fed up with Domingo’s gambling and lazy nature and, with the help of her white “peacock-raising lawyer” (219), serves him divorce papers. Domingo moves into the adobe he built for Caridad and pays Sofi rent, roughly equivalent to the rent she pays Judge Julano.
Sofi notices that La Loca is “a little more off-center than usual” (219) and has lost interest in her usual habits of going to the acequia, playing the fiddle, and riding horses. She loses a significant amount of weight and also has a sore throat and feels tired all the time. While watching TV one night, Sofi has a premonition of Loca’s death.
Dr. Tolentino examines Loca and informs Sofi that she has HIV. To Sofi, this seems impossible, but she accepts the doctor’s diagnosis. He urges Sofi to maintain her faith in God and performs a sort of “psychic surgery” (229) in which he magically opens her stomach and reaches in with his hand to remove cystic fibroids and a tumor in Loca’s ovary. Loca feels a lot better after her treatment, but Dr. Tolentino asserts that “although sometimes a disease can be stopped, death could not be” (229).
Chapter 14 Summary: “Doña Felicia Calls in the Troops Who Herein Reveal a Handful of Their Own Tried and Proven Remedios; and Some Mixed Medical Advice is Offered to the Beloved Doctor Tolentino”
As this chapter opens, “doña Felicia knew and Sofi knew and, above all, La Loca knew that there was no cure forthcoming” (231). Despite this, Dr. Tolentino, doña Felicia, and other curanderas in the region visit La Loca and treat her with a variety of “tratamientos” (233).
Loca eventually succumbs to AIDS, and many people attend her funeral. Many still believe in her powers because of the miracles she allegedly performed after her first death, as well:“Perhaps some […] had hoped to see her rise again. And yet there were still others who believed that her true powers would be revealed after her death” (233). One devotee sketches a picture of her on her horse, which then gets adopted by a factory and is displayed on a series of votive candles. Others create altars to her and adorn them with her picture.
Chapter 15 Summary: “La Loca Santa Returns to the World via Albuquerque Before Her Transcendental Departure; and a Few Random Political Remarks from the Highly Opinionated Narrator”Summary: “La Loca Santa Returns to the World via Albuquerque Before Her Transcendental Departure; and a Few Random Political Remarks from the Highly Opinionated Narrator”
La Loca leaves the house for the first time since her funeral and joins the Holy Friday Way of the Cross Procession in Tome. This procession, however, does not adhere to the traditional religious nature: “No brother was elected to carry a life-size cross on his naked back. Therewas no ‘Mary’ to meet her son. Instead, some, like Sofi, who held a picture of Fe as a bride, carried photographs of their loved ones who died due to toxic exposure” (241). Participants reflect on the poverty, disease, and injustice apparent in Tome. Loca rides on her horse alongside Sofi.
In the months after the procession, Loca weakens and is not able to leave her bed. She is visited by the Lady in Blue, who looks like a nun, “but she didn’t smell like nothing so Loca was not sure if she was a present nun or a past nun or maybe hasta una future subjunctive nun” (244). The nun talks to Loca, sings to her, plays games with her, and consoles her. One evening, the Lady in Blue sings Loca a song, and Loca goes to sleep and then dies in her arms.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Sofia Founds and Becomes la First Presidenta of the Later-to-Become World-Renowned Organization M.O.M.A.S.; and a Rumor Regarding the Inevitability of Double Standards Is (We Hope) Dispensed With”
Sofi buries La Loca’s remains in the family plot. She goes on to become the president of Mothers of Martyrs and Saints (M.O.M.A.S). This organization is composed of “Las Blessed Mothers” (249) who give birth to saints or martyrs. They hold conferences where they can meet and shareinformation. Sometimes, their children appear, and La Loca makes, “very occasional ectoplasmic appearances at the national and international conventions” (248). Loca is revered as a saint, and, “The truth is that she was just truly a santita from ever since her fatal experience at the age of three and she didn’t have to prove nothing to no one” (248).
Occasionally “charlatans” (249) appear at the conferences. There are also vendors who sell merchandise, such as a Tarot deck containing the members of Sofi’s family. Overall, though, M.O.M.A.S. is a safe space for women who have lost children like Sofi.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
These final chapters continue the theme of a blending of traditions. During Loca’s treatment, Sofi enlists the help of both a medical doctor and curanderas. Even though Dr. Tolentino is educated in Western medicine, he still incorporates spirituality into his treatment. Building upon this, Dr. Tolentino and doña Felicia’s methods are not at odds, but rather complement each other. They interact, with “one coming in to give Loca her own brand of healing and the other leaving after giving his and both maintaining the practice of praying before they did anything” (235). Here, the text suggests that these apparently opposing traditions can coexist. When La Loca does die, “young and old, poor and non-so-very-poor, Catholic or whatever, believes and non-believers alike, “Indian” and “Spanish,” a few gringos and some others, even non-human […] came to that second funeral” (232). Like Caridad, Loca’s holy powers unite people across all cultures, thus suggesting that people search for a commonality of healing and meaning.
This theme continues as religion unites with social justice. During the Holy Friday procession, “Jesus was helped by Simon and the number of those without jobs increased each day. Veronica wiped the blood and sweat from Jesus’ face. Livestock drank and swam in contaminated canals” (242). Here, the text splices together actions from the procession with statistics and facts about the conditions in Tome. Rather than remaining in the abstract realm, this procession deals with the day-to-day problems apparent in Tome. Here, the novel suggests that Catholicism does not just have to remain in the abstract, but rather can be brought down to the physical level and help, or at least draw attention to, immediate problems.
Tensions continue to build between the patriarchy and female power. Domingo gambles away Sofi’s property, and when Sofi confronts the Judge, he asserts his right to her property and communicates “in that way that legal-type people always talk to people who are not, giving off that feeling that they got the law on their side, whether or not they do” (216). Here, both Domingo and a man of the law assert that they havea right over Sofi’s property. She now pays rent on a property that her grandparents built. However, the novel does not end with a victory for the patriarchy. Rather, it suggests transcendence. Even though Loca dies, she regains power as a saint. Sofi, the last remaining woman of the family, founds M.O.M.A.S, which rises to international heights and brings together the women who have endured trauma and lost their children. Though these women have been beaten down by the patriarchy, they ultimately regain power through togetherness, on both the physical and spiritual planes.
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By Ana Castillo
