![]() Yet though acutely aware of his unworthiness, he still cannot abandon those who need him. In one of the key scenes in the novel, when the priest is taken to prison for possessing forbidden spirits, he admits that he craves drink more desperately than he needs God. He prefers alcohol to prayer and has secretly fathered a child. ![]() ![]() Greene’s protagonist is a flawed character a drunk, a coward and a lecher. This nameless priest is no saintly figure however. He goes to their aid knowing that every day he delays his departure, he risks capture and death. Hunter and quarry circle each other through poor, remote villages and on bleak mountains, encountering desperation and fear among a population who yearn for the consolation of prayer even though they are afraid of the consequences of harbouring a wanted man.Įach time the priest makes a move that will take him across the mountains and into the safety of a neighbouring state, someone in a village or a fellow traveller calls on him for pastoral succour. Greene pits the fugitive against the forces of law epitomised by a young lieutenant of high principles and a strong commitment to eradicating Mexico of all vestiges of the Catholic faith. The Power and the Glory chronicles the struggle by a Catholic priest to evade capture in a country which has outlawed his religion and forced his fellow priests to either renounce their vows or to face execution. In what many experts consider Graham Greene’s masterpiece, a human drama is played out against a background of opposing idealogies. ![]()
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