I didn't know how to feel about Asbury. On one hand I want to have a tremendous amount of understanding on his part. On the other, I want to hit him. That being said...
"He had become entirely accustomed to the thought of death, but he had not become accustomed to the thought of death here" (548). I loved the theme of this story. The idea of Asbury's god. For him, his religion is the art that he so desperately tries to create. The entire time Asbury thinks the gift his god is giving him is the gift of Death. But that isn't it at all, his gift is to "live in the face of a purifying terror" (572). At least now he would have something to write about, something nipping at his heals, something pushing him to write.
Asbury calls for the Jesuit to come. He hopes to find some sort of salvation or at least comfort in the man. When the man arrives, he isn't what Asbury expected. The Jesuit forces Asbury to answer questions regarding his faith, regarding specifically the Holy Ghost. He says, "The Holy Ghost will not come until you see yourself as you are..." (567). It is only when Asbury hears that he truly isn't dying, that he can come to accept his fate. He comes to terms with the Holy Ghost; he has become "saved".
O'Connor seems to deal a lot with this idea of being saved, or at least the salvation element of it. Many of the characters are obsessed with finding ways to be saved. The theme has traveled, or at least reared its head in most of the O'Connor stories we have read. It certainly was here.