Breathing Jesus is a short story written by Amy Hempel. The author wrote the story in the first person “I” point of view, it provides the readers access to the main character’s emotional appeal and thoughts as the character changes throughout the story. First person narration also shows how the story’s incident helped the protagonist overcome an internal conflict because it provides a more realistic experience. She starts off this particular story with a beginning climax “Things turned around after I saw the Breathing Jesus.” The turning point gives the first paragraph a captivating start, which as a result intrigues the reader. This particular story is important, because when protagonist visited the Breathing Jesus at the Civic Center she experiences an inner transformation. The author…show more content… She watched “his chest rise with the intake of air” and matched her respiration to the rhythm of His. During this process she experiences inner transformation from being conflicted to reaching a stage of deep peace within herself and becomes unified with Jesus. Breathing in and out is generally associated with yoga the exercise of meditating. By doing so the protagonist is reflecting and pondering, in which she becomes absorbed; everything surrounding her becomes silent, generating awareness and harmony within herself.
The setting of the story is in the city: “City Hall dome”, where there are high crime rates and accidents. The location “University off-ramp” was provided, when the caretaker was informed the death of Baby. Baby’s death was most likely instigated by a reckless teen driver. She further touches upon the theme of death when she says “There’s a name for when the breathing stops, and they think that it’s the killer when those babies die in their cribs.” When talking about death or something unpleasant it will change the mood and attitude of a person