Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : Voyage and Return
The Call
Our main character, Father Latour, isn't even aware that he's been "called" to spread Catholicism through New Mexico until he gets word from Rome. His calling has actually been decided for him by a group of Cardinals who think that a non-Spanish man should take over the Catholic district of New Mexico now that the Americans have annexed the area. It is a long and difficult journey for Latour to reach New Mexico. And once he's there, he realizes that he's at the very edge of a harsh frontier. But he knows he must fulfill his duty to his church, and so he sets out to spread and shore up the Catholic faith wherever he can.
The Journey
Father Latour's time in New Mexico with his buddy Father Vaillant is one unending journey, in a sense. They have to cover a huge area with nothing but mules to ride on. On more than one occasion, it looks like they might die out in the middle of the desert with no water. But time and time again, something or someone comes along to save them. Several of these helpers are kind old men who give Latour advice to help him in his journeys through the harsh land.
Arrival and Frustration
Just when it looks like Latour and Vaillant have a good handle on things in New Mexico, they visit a couple of old Spanish priests who don't live by the church's rules at all and who refuse to give up their power. It looks like a big fight is inevitable, especially when these dudes start up their own rebel churches. But Father Time takes care of the conflict eventually, since both of these priests die of old age and illness. Things look like they'll go smoothly forever, but then Father Vaillant informs Father Latour that he (Vaillant) is moving away to Colorado to save the souls of the miners and prospectors who live up there.
The Final Ordeals
Instead of giving us a super exciting "Final Ordeals" stage, Willa Cather hits us with a total anti-climax once Father Vaillant has left for Colorado. She more or less fast-forwards through the next thirty to forty years of Father Latour's life. By the time we look in on him again, he's an old man who's basically waiting for death to come. It turns out that Father Vaillant has already died up in Colorado. Rather than a bloody battle with an evil monster, Father Latour's final ordeals are more of the spiritual type. They involve him sitting around and wondering whether he has done the right thing with his life by promoting Catholicism so far from his home in France.
The Goal
In his final moments, Father Latour loses consciousness and drifts into death. With his final breath, he imagines visiting himself as a young man in France. He sees himself making the decision to go to North America as a priest (which is the decision he made in real life) and realizes that if he could give this kid advice, he would tell him to do it all over again. This is pretty much the best thing he could think in his final moments, since it shows that he has no regrets.