Chapter 14 Summary

Carlos practices for his first confession. One of his childhood sins is that he steals toys. His parents decide that making him return the goods and apologize for stealing will cure him of this evil habit. The first time, they send him in to do it by himself. This does not work, for he just lies and tells them he did as instructed. The second time, his parents go in with him. This experience is mortifying enough for him enough that he never steals again. Even upon his arrival in America, when he becomes so poor he hardly has enough to eat, he is never tempted to steal.

Chapter 14 Analysis

The themes of this chapter are sin and repentance. The stealing is symbolic of concrete sins. Eire sees though, that the real sins are not so concrete, and not so easily curable. He...