Willa Cathers Death Comes for the Archbishop :: Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cathers expiration Comes for the ArchbishopIn a 1927 letter, Willa Cather wrote that her book, Death Comes for the Archbishop, that many of the reviews of this book begin with the logical argument This book is hard to classify. Then why bother? Many more than assert vehemently that it is not a new(a). Myself, I prefer to cry (out) it a narrative. (On Writing 12).The questions pertaining to whether or not it is a novel or why does Cather herself call it a narrative can be eery ones. First, breaking down the question of if it was or wasnt a novel. According to Websters rising World College Dictionary, a novel means a relatively unyielding fictional prose narrative with a more or less complex eyepatch or pattern of events, intimately actions, feelings, motives, etc. of a convention of characters.This definition of a novel pertains in every way to DCA, which leads the subscriber to question why would Cather say that it isnt a novel? Was she being black when she wrote this? In my opinion, the definition alone classifies DCA as a novel from the reflexion that 1) it is a relatively long fictional prose, 2) it has a complex plot and pattern of events about a group of characters.However, if one was to look at Cathers view from another angle, one could see that DCA is not a novel through a variety of ways. One of these reasons is that DCA is broken down into decennary books (including the prologue) ranging from 15-38 pages. When it is set up like this, the reader may interpret them to be read into a common day serial and take separately book as a different story, even though Cather incorporates near of her characters throughout the book.Another question that the reader must ask herself about DCA is why is it a narrative? For one, the reader is able to act as the narrator by putting herself in the story. Cather is brilliant at use explicit details and descriptions that make the reader feel as though she is getting a first-hand look at what is goin g on.