And Yet Chapter 51: The Second Coming of Chr*st Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Baer’s poem “The Second Coming of Chr*st” opens with a repeated declaration: “It happens again. A 15-year-old girl.” The speaker immediately establishes that this girl is “smart enough to know that shame / won’t save her.” She also understands that neither man nor God will rescue her. The only potential exception is the claim “Unless! / It was an angel!” The poem then describes her appearance—virginal jeans, a white shirt, and sneakers borrowed from a cousin. In the second half, the girl tattoos the biblical phrase “Blessed art thou among women” on her wrist. While she does this, her mother cries and her father stands alone in a nearby field, “just looking for a sign.” The poem uses the traditional Christian Annunciation story as a template to expose the recurring pressure on young women to frame an unwanted pregnancy as a divine event.
Key Events
- A 15-year-old girl faces a situation—implied pregnancy—that echoes the Virgin Mary’s annunciation.
- The girl rationally assesses that shame, men, and God will not save her.
- She offers the explanation “Unless it was an angel!” potentially as a cover story.
- The poem describes her clothing: virginal jeans, a white shirt, and borrowed sneakers.
- She tattoos “Blessed art thou among women” on her own wrist.
- Her mother cries while her father stands in a field searching for a sign.
Character Development
The 15-year-old girl is the poem’s central figure. Though unnamed, she embodies a modern, secular counterpart to Mary. She is portrayed as intellectually sharp (“smart enough to know”) yet forced to adopt a religious narrative to explain her condition. Her decision to tattoo a Marian blessing suggests both self-identification with Mary and a permanent, bodily claim to that story. The girl is neither passive nor rebellious; she acts decisively within a system that offers few other options.
The mother appears only in grief. Her crying implies helplessness and possibly complicity in the patriarchal structure that requires a supernatural explanation for her daughter’s pregnancy. She offers no words or actions beyond sorrow.
The father stands apart in a field, “just looking for a sign.” His separation from the domestic scene mirrors the distant, searching male figure in the traditional Nativity story—Joseph, who also sought divine guidance. Here his futile search underscores the absence of any actual sign, contrasting with the biblical narrative where an angel appears.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The Annunciation as a template – The poem reworks the Gospel of Luke story in which the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive the son of God. Baer’s version strips the miracle away, leaving only a desperate human claim: “Unless! It was an angel!” The exclamation mark reveals the girl’s eagerness to believe or to convince.
Shame and salvation – The girl knows that shame will not save her, yet she still adopts a story designed to ward off communal shame. The poem critiques a social and religious framework that places the burden of proving innocence on the girl herself.
Religious language as a tool – The phrase “Blessed art thou among women” comes from the Hail Mary prayer. By tattooing it on her wrist, the girl makes the religious label permanent on her body. This implies both ownership of the Marian identity and a cynical awareness that only such a narrative will protect her.
The absent father – The father in the field evokes the biblical Joseph, who had his own annunciation dream. Here the father is silent and searching, but no angel appears. The poem questions whether any sign will ever come and critiques the patriarchal expectation that men must receive divine confirmation before accepting a daughter’s pregnancy.
Borrowed clothing – The sneakers “borrowed from her cousin” hint at economic precarity and the girl’s lack of full agency. Even her outfit is secondhand, reinforcing her marginalized status.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 51 encapsulates And Yet’s broader concern with how women navigate institutions—religion, family, shame—that are stacked against them. The poem forces readers to confront the cyclical nature of the Annunciation story: it “happens again” every time a young woman has to justify her body through a supernatural alibi. Baer’s spare lines and repetitive structure mimic a ritual that never ends. The chapter also shows her characteristic use of religious vocabulary to expose hypocrisy, a thread that runs through the collection. By reimagining a sacred moment as a mundane crisis, Baer gives voice to the countless girls who have been expected to perform miraculous innocence.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does the girl tattoo “Blessed art thou among women” on her wrist, and what does this act reveal about her psychology?
Answer: The tattoo permanently marks her body with the blessing the angel Gabriel gave to Mary. It shows she is actively taking control of her own narrative by physically identifying with the biblical figure. This act implies both an ironic acceptance of the religious script and a defiant refusal to be shamed. She makes the story her own, even if she knows it is not literally true.
2. How does the poem contrast the mother’s and father’s reactions to the girl’s situation?
Answer: The mother cries, a private emotional response that suggests grief, helplessness, or complicity. The father leaves the domestic space and stands in a field “just looking for a sign,” mimicking the biblical Joseph’s search for divine direction. The mother is inside, confined to the home; the father is outside, seeking external confirmation. Neither interacts with the girl directly, leaving her alone with her tattoo and her explanation.
3. Explain the significance of the repeated line “It happens again” and how it relates to the title “The Second Coming of Chr*st.”
Answer: The repetition frames the Annunciation scenario as a recurring event, not a one-time miracle. The title plays on “Second Coming” in a secular sense: each generation sees a new “Christ” born from a story of unexpected pregnancy. The asterisk in “Chr*st” may represent censorship or uncertainty, suggesting the divine child’s identity is unstable. Together, the repeated opening and the modified title argue that the pattern of blaming and sanctifying young women’s bodies continues indefinitely.