Religion

One of the most prevalent themes in this story is religion, in particular how Pancho Santora relates to Catholicism. Pancho is described from the start as believing in “everything—ghosts, astrology, legends.” In particular, he focuses his willingness to believe on the religion in which he is raised. As a small boy he dresses up like a priest and pretends to hold Mass in his back yard. When he is old enough, he becomes an altar boy, whose job it is to assist the priest in serving the Mass.

The nuns at the Catholic school admire Pancho because he is so devoted to his duties as an altar boy. He believes that he has a guardian angel, which is a specifically Catholic concept. He also does penance during Lent, inflicting pain on himself and offering up his suffering for the souls in purgatory. By the time he is...