First Communion | First Communion

At a glance:

Author: Tomás Rivera
First Published: 1971
Type of Plot: Domestic realism
Time of Work: The 1940's and 1950's
Setting: Southwestern United States
Principal Characters: The narrator, His parents, His godfather, A priest, A nun, A couple
Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
Subjects: 1950’s, Memory, Sex or sexuality, Sin or Original sin, 1940’s, Religion, Southwest, Catholics or Catholic Church, Rites or ceremonies, Voyeurism
Locales: Southwest (U.S.)

The Story

The narrator recalls the time when, as a young boy, he was excited the night before his first Holy Communion. This was to be a memorable day in his life, not because he would get a godfather and would be able to have all the sweet treats that he could eat after the ceremony but because of what he was to see in the window of the tailor shop next to the church.

He recalls how he could not sleep the night before his first Communion because he was trying to remember all of his sins. He had been taught that it was blasphemous to go to Communion without confessing...

First Communion | First Communion

At a glance:

The Story

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