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

Willa Cathers Death Comes for the ArchbishopIn a 1927 letter, Willa Cather wrote that her word of honor, Death Comes for the Archbishop, that many of the re sucks of this loudness begin with the statement This book is hard to classify. Then wherefore bother? Many more posit vehemently that it is not a novel. Myself, I prefer to call it a narrative. (On Writing 12).The incredulitys pertaining to whether or not it is a novel or why does Cather herself call it a narrative can be strange ones. First, severance down the question of if it was or wasnt a novel. According to Websters New knowledge domain College Dictionary, a novel means a relatively long fictional prose narrative with a more or less complex diagram or chemical formula of events, about actions, feelings, motives, etc. of a group of characters.This interpretation of a novel pertains in every way to DCA, which leads the take awayer to question why would Cather say that it isnt a novel? Was she being sarcastic when she wrote this? In my opinion, the definition alone classifies DCA as a novel from the aspect 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 by dint of a variety of ways. One of these reasons is that DCA is broken down into ten books (including the prologue) ranging from 15-38 pages. When it is particularise up like this, the reader may interpret them to be read into a common day serial and take each book as a different story, even though Cather incorporates most of her characters passim 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 cashier by putting herself in the story. Cather is brilliant at using stated details and descriptions that make the reader feel as though she is get a first-hand look at what is goin g on.