At Play in the Fields of the Lord

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

At Play in the Fields of the Lord is a 1965 novel by Peter Matthiessen. In 1991, Brazilian director Hector Babenco filmed an adaptation with a cast including Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, Daryl Hannah, Kathy Bates, Aidan Quinn and Tom Waits.

Missionaries try to save the Indian, while mercenaries try to wipe them out.


Tropes used in At Play in the Fields of the Lord include:
  • Badass Native: Moon
  • Defector From Decadence: Moon
  • Downer Ending
  • Gag Penis: When Randy asks Andie how she knew Moon wanted her, she says "Don't be such a child."
  • A God Am I: Moon takes on the identity of Kisu.
  • Just for Pun: Nowhere/Now Here
  • Loin Cloth: In the film version. The Niaruna wear "bellybands" in the novel. When Moon gets an erection, the bellyband hurts.
    • An explanation might be required for the bellybands: In the Amazon, men bind their foreskins and tie the binding material around their waists.
  • Lost Tribe: Theorized to be a lost tribe of Sioux or a lost tribe of Jews.
  • Love Dodecahedron: Moon likes Andie. Randy likes Andie. Randy is married. So is Andie.
  • Mighty Whitey: Deconstructed, since Moon is a halfbreed Cheyenne. Further deconstructed since he accidentally starts an epidemic of the common cold, killing them all.
  • Mushroom Samba: Moon gets a lot of tropes.
  • Naked on Arrival: Moon, to the Niaruna.
  • National Geographic Nudity
  • Native American Mythology and all associated (or at least Sioux and Cheyenne) tropes.
  • A Nice Jewish Boy: Averted by Wolf, who is anything but nice.
  • No One Could Have Survived That: Moon
  • Nude Nature Dance: Played with, though the film version is definitely not fanservice, since it's Kathy Bates and her character's basically gone nuts.
  • Rape as Drama: Moon sees Andie naked. But he can't have her since she's married, so he goes home and rapes his wife, Pindi.
  • Shaggy Dog Story: Moon wants to help the Niaruna, but in the end, he gives them the flu, which kills them.
  • Shotacon: When Randy's wife says "What if one of those things lays a hand on Billy?", Randy simply replies "He might like it."
  • The Amazon