The power and the glory by Graham Greene

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The power and the glory by Graham Greene

In ‘The power and the Glory’ by Graham Greene, Mexico’s religious persecution is made known. This took place after the 1910 revolution in Mexico. The conflict arises due to the church and the state, which lasts for almost four years. At that time in history, Plutarco Elias Calles is the president .His rule is authoritarian, as he implements measures, which are anticlerical. This means that religion, which is of an organized nature, is banned. Calles is mostly against the practices upheld by the Catholic Church (Bergonzi, 2006, 38).

This paper seeks to give an analysis on vitues and values demonstrated by a priest. This is despite the fact that he risks being imprisoned by the existing regime.

An exemplary priest upholding vital values and virtues

A Catholic priest is a protagonist whose plight is highlighted.  Many years have passed by, as he attempts to provide his congregation with sacraments, in order to satisfy their souls.  Unfortunately, the regime in Mexico is extremely revolutionized, thus such ritual practices by the catholic faith are outlawed. Courage is a quality the priest demonstrates, as he is aware of the consequences of his actions. Church work is of greater value to him than anything else in his life. Thus, the reason why he relentlessly visits different villages is to let people know about God’s message to mankind. A police lieutenant, who is still young and full of passion, tries to stop the priest from fulfilling his mission (Bergonzi, 2006, 40).  The lieutenant is extremely revolutionized and does not believe in the importance of religion in society. He further claims that poverty can be eradicated if people stop being brainwashed by religion, which they highly regard. The lieutenant’s heart is filled with hatred for the Catholic Church. People should first satisfy their physical and material needs before they can bother about needs, which are spiritual kind.

Two key fronts are being waged by the courageous and persistent priest. Emotions play a vital role in influencing the priest’s behavior. Before his commitment to the Catholic Church, his life was filled with sin. It seems his conscious made him to try and find a way of redemption. Most times he battles with himself in regards to the qualms in his life (Bosco, 2005, 13). The authority might be relentlessly in trying to catch up with him, but he easily evades them. Determination is another quality, which the priest has, as he tries everything possible to achieve his goals. Compared to the heroes known in this generation, the priest is quite different. Some of the qualities which set him apart from others is being suspicious, self- interest, pleasure-oriented, as well as being cowardly at times. “Why, after all, should we expect God to punish the innocent with more life “(Greene, 2003, 50) this means that he believed that people should strive to live a sinless life.

Human nature is not the same as that of the priest as most people lived sinful lives without thinking about redemption. People view him as a savior, who is to redeem them from their thirst for spiritual nourishment. His life is full of hardships and the virtue of patience has been beneficial to him. For eight years, he has evaded being captured by government enforcers of the law. His is as strong mentally as the resilience he demonstrates. The irony is that he believes that he is worthless due to his feelings of extreme guilt. Fault is blamed on him since he dwells a lot on criticizing himself and his past actions (Gilvary & Darren, 2011, 12).

Actions committed by the priest in the past are not known, as only his noble nature is known.  Thus he should focus on the sins he committed before in his life. His heroic actions are shown .............