Catholic Church

The Catholic Church functions in the novel as a powerful presence in private life, even when it is not represented through clergy or institutional action. Its prohibition of divorce and its rules about remarriage define the Ex-Atleta’s standing with the Church, while the prospect of communion exposes Marilyn Monroe’s outsider status within his Catholic family. The Church’s authority therefore reaches beyond doctrine: it becomes a measure by which the couple’s marriage, conduct, and sincerity are assessed.

Doctrine and the marriage

The account connects the Ex-Atleta’s excommunication to his remarriage. He had divorced previously, but the narrative distinguishes that divorce from the later act that violated the Church’s rule: marrying again, and marrying a divorced woman. For Marilyn Monroe, this distinction carries an emotional burden. She understands the exclusion as a sacrifice he made for her and fears that her public image makes that sacrifice seem undeserved. In this way, the Church’s rule enters the marriage as more than a restriction on the Ex-Atleta; it becomes a source of guilt and a standard against which Marilyn measures her own worthiness as his wife.

The possibility that the situation might be corrected remains uncertain. The Ex-Atleta’s family has a connection to the archbishop of San Francisco, who is also described as a family friend and a baseball enthusiast. That personal connection prompts speculation that matters could somehow be resolved, perhaps through an annulment, but no resolution is reported. The episode shows the Church’s authority operating through both formal religious rules and the family’s hope that access to an influential figure might offer a way through them.

Mass and the family’s judgment

Marilyn attends Mass with the Ex-Atleta’s mother, grandmother, aunts, and children. Her participation is an effort to join the family’s religious life, and she is careful about her appearance: without a suitable hat, she borrows a black lace shawl to cover her hair. Yet the family’s attention falls less on her attempt to belong than on her perceived failures to observe the expected seriousness. Relatives later complain that she looks around, laughs, yawns, and comments on the service. What she experiences as interest or an attempt at levity is taken as disrespect.

The conflict becomes clearest at communion. Marilyn wants to approach the altar with the others, but the family tells her she cannot because she is not Catholic. Her response makes plain that she already knows this; the exclusion is not new information, but a painful reminder that attendance does not make her a full participant. The distinction between being present at Mass and being admitted to communion gives the scene its force. She can accompany the family and try to follow its customs, yet the boundary remains in place.

Afterward, Marilyn describes the rite as interesting and makes a joke about its length. The children join in, turning her remark into family laughter. The older women, however, regard her manner as further evidence that she does not understand how to behave in church. The scene is filtered through the family’s account and judgment, not presented as an impartial assessment of Marilyn’s character. Their religious expectations define what counts as respect, while her nervousness and comic response are interpreted as signs of frivolity.

Religious respectability and exclusion

The family’s criticisms extend from the service into domestic life. Marilyn tries to establish her seriousness by attending Mass and helping prepare meals, but the relatives describe her as awkward and incapable in the kitchen. The novel places these assessments beside the pressure she feels to convince them of her sincerity and integrity. Her wish to be accepted is thus tested across both religious and household settings, with the family treating ordinary behavior as evidence for or against her fitness as a wife.

Marilyn also considers whether she might convert to Catholicism, linking the possibility to her mother’s connection with the faith. The thought indicates how strongly she feels the family’s judgment, but the evidence does not show that she converts. Instead, the Mass episode ends with the practical and emotional limits of her accommodation: she attends, borrows the shawl, and tries to participate, but cannot receive communion and remains an object of scrutiny. The Church’s rules establish the boundary; the family’s reactions make that boundary intimate.

Wider institutional associations

Elsewhere, the Church appears in a different public context through the Catholic Legion of Decency, which is named among organizations expected to boycott an actor facing a possible House Un-American Activities Committee investigation. This reference concerns the threatened consequences of political scrutiny for an actor’s reputation and films; it does not establish that the Catholic Church itself directs the investigation or the boycott. The distinction matters: the novel presents a religiously associated body as one element in a broader climate of professional and political pressure, while the marriage and Mass episodes focus on the Church’s direct moral authority in family life.

Across these scenes, the Catholic Church is less a fully depicted organization than a set of rules and thresholds with concrete effects. Excommunication marks the Ex-Atleta’s marital status; communion makes Marilyn’s exclusion visible; and the family’s disputes turn religious observance into a test of belonging. The institution’s significance lies in this combination of formal doctrine and everyday interpretation: its rules shape the couple’s choices, while relatives extend their authority into judgments about how a wife should act.