When he’s speaking to Cico about visiting the golden carp, he thinks, “The commandment of the Lord said, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (page 112). Despite his curiosity about the golden carp, there is still a part of him that is worried that feeding into his curiosity would result in a sin. If his mother had not taught him Catholicism, or if she was more lenient about its rules, he likely would have followed Cico without a second thought. Instead, he initially denies that the golden carp could be a god because of the teachings of the church. Additionally, due to his mother encouraging him to be a priest, aka a “man of the people,” he wants to save others from eternal damnation. After hearing Narciso’s confession in a very priest-like manner, he has a dream about God, where “[he] cried, it is Narciso that you must forgive! Intercede for him so that he may gain the joys of heaven” (page 181). A priest is meant to hear the confessions of people in order to save them from hell, and because his mother has claimed that he’ll be a priest one day, he already feels as though he has the ability to save
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