Identity

Throughout the novel, the author creates a parallel between Pascal’s character and Jesus of Nazareth in order to formulate her explorations concerning identity. Not unlike the Biblical New Testament messiah, Pascal lives his entire life weighed by the expectations of others. Indeed, as soon as Pascal surfaces in Jean Pierre and Eulalie’s lives, rumors begin to spread about his divine origins. Everyone is convinced that his arrival “on Easter Sunday no less” is a sign of where he came from and who he is (30). Assuming the townspeople’s stance, the narrator pontificates in Chapter 2 saying, “Our Father had perhaps two sons and sent her the younger one” (30). This notion becomes embedded in Pascal’s consciousness from a young age. Although he initially does not understand the rumors, he eventually begins “to lend them an ear, for it is better to be the son of...