Antonio's brothers come home from the war and, for a time, make the family feel whole again. As the novel develops, María's religiosity becomes more and more evident. She prays regularly and orders the family to pray with her. Antonio's dream following one of these prayer sessions presents the giants of his infancy as lost and dying. The brothers thrust Antonio into the role of a priest by asking for his saving hand. Their dying reflects their lost social lives, and it seems to Antonio that they are being punished for wrongdoings. Their travel to the land of the golden carp foreshadows Antonio's introduction to its legend.
The return of the veteran sons revives Gabriel's dream to move the family to California. This possibility of moving intensifies Antonio's dilemmas about his destiny. The decision by the brothers to leave evokes a concern with obedience to parental authority and the possible repercussions for failing to do so. Antonio believes his brothers will be lost again, and he will be left to realize his mother's dreams, thereby absolving them of any guilt associated with failing to live up to parental expectations. Antonio assumes the role of priest and tries to bless them, but they laugh and take off to Rosie's whorehouse. Antonio is left with feelings of loss and vague associations between the breeding of cattle and his brother's relations with the girls at Rosie's. The spanking unconsciously reinforces the physical, sometimes violent, nature of sexuality. His understanding of what goes on at Rosie's house is still shallow, but he is beginning to make some connections.
