Black Robe
To write a novel with good historical values, it is essential for an author to do the necessary research on the topic. Before writing Black Robe it is obvious that Brian Moore's readings of the "Jesuit Relations", letters sent by the Jesuits back to their superiors in France, gave him the required knowledge to write an insightful novel pertaining to the beliefs of the French Jesuits and the Amerindians. Moore illustrates the effects of the Jesuit influence on the Amerindians and also the effects that the Amerindians had on some of the Jesuits. He attempts to portray the Amerindians, not as the "red Indians" of folklore but rather as an individual race of bravery, beauty and cruelness with their own unique beliefs and customs. The novel explores the idea of "the voice of conscience" and morality in a way that Moore feels is lost from today's societies. One of the central themes in Black Robe is the difference between the Algonkian's belief in the afterworld in comparison to that of the Jesuits and the Catholic Church. The Algonkian believe that the spirit of the dead live within the woods during the night. Their spirits are taken away by the She Manitou and taken to the
They are ignorant to the fact that the Algonkian culture is their own and that it would ruin them to abandon it. The overlying question of the morality and validity of enforcing the Catholic faith upon the Amerindian nations was well played out and Moore allowed me to understand both Daniel Davost and Father Paul Laforgue's spiritual growth and their battles with each other and with themselves. Although he was able to depict the Amerindians in a light that few other authors have, I felt that Moore came up short in his attempt to complete Father Paul Laforgue's place in the novel. In comparison, the Jesuits and the Catholic Church believe in an afterworld that if accepted into by god, is a paradise. All people have been raised differently and have dealt with different things throughout their lives, and therefore nobody has exactly the same lifestyle. Although he didn't deem himself worthy of being a martyr in the end, Laforgue still baptized the Amerindians even though he knew that they were only becoming Christians because they believed that it would heal them of their fever. The characters cultures became intertwined and all the character's found themselves questioning their beliefs and their values. Black Robe was a spiritual eye opener for myself, two hundred years after the fact. They don't end conversations with formal good byes and find it rude for someone to introduce himself or herself by name or ask for theirs. The Algonkian culture is based on living life to the fullest. As Father Paul Laforgue states early on in the novel, "Gluttony is their highest form of happiness". Robert Moore was able to take the past and write a novel that explored present day themes and do it in an entertaining fashion. He respects that they have their own beliefs and doesn't think that Laforgue should be trying to force them to change.
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