Black Robe Character Analysis

Catching Daniel in the midst of a passionate exchange, and being meticulously followed by a short, hunchbacked sorcerer, are but a few of seemingly abnormal occurrences that Father Laforgue experienced on his Jesuit mission of converting the natives to Christianity. Of course, in agreeing to take up this mission, Laforgue and his deviant companion, Daniel, were well aware of the differences in culture they were about to encounter—although not entirely prepared for how unwilling the ‘savages’ would be in their attempts to baptize them. Who would have thought that a “harvest of souls” under the power of an omnibenevolent God would be so difficult? In the final scenes of Black Robe, Laforgue performs a mass baptism on the Huron people in their

In a conversation that Father Jerome has with Aenons, the difference of cultures between them is made very apparent, especially when it comes to dreams. Father Jerome tells Aenons that he and his people no longer have a need for interpreting dreams, as God will tell them what to do. This is hard for Aenons to accept when he says, “if we give our belief in the dream, then the Huron life, the way we have always known, will end for us” (Moore 230). It is more than just a dream to the Hurons, it is their beliefs and their way of life, and Father Jerome doesn’t understand that. Even when Aenons is talking to Father Laforgue, he is still reluctant about what conversion might do to him and his people. Aenons says to Laforgue, “Your and your god do not suit our people. Your ways are not our ways. If we adopt them we will be neither Norman nor Huron” (Moore 242). This sentiment is surely felt by, not only Aenons, but also the rest of the Hurons. Religious conversion is sort of a big deal, and not something that one would easily decide to do—especially if it entails the Hurons getting rid of all their beliefs. Again, this reluctance to be baptized indicates that a true religious conversion did not happen, and that the cultural difference between the two parties was just too difficult to