The Power and The Glory describes
the story of a Catholic priest, still practicing his faith in a time of
religious persecution in Mexico. Many other Catholic priests during this time
were forced to marry and abandon their faith but he decided to avoid this and
go into hiding. This priest, however, is not your typical one, he suffers from
alcoholism; his weakness is whiskey. He has additionally fathered an
illegitimate child. Now on the move to avoid being caught, he tries to preserve
the Catholic faith as he is the only priest left in hiding.
Much of the story’s message lies in
the broken character of the “whiskey priest” and his difficult journey through
Mexico. Greene makes him very human, hence relatable, with his flaws, yet still
gives him the inherent divine connection to God as a religious person.
“I have
been drunk-I don’t know how many times; there isn’t a duty I haven’t neglected;
I have been guilty of pride, lack of charity…”
Through this quote, the readers
can see the priest’s disgust with his actions, revealing his humanity. Clearly
he regrets much of what he has done. He fails to see, however, all the grace he
has left in his journey with the people has helped.
“He thought: If I hadn’t
been so useless, useless….The eight hard hopeless years seemed to him to be
only a caricature of service: a few communions, a few confessions, and an
endless bad example. He thought: If I had only one soul to offer, so that I could
say, Look what I’ve done….People had died for him, they had deserved a saint,
and a tinge of bitterness spread across his mind for their sake that God hadn’t
though fit to send them one. Padre Jose and me, he thought, Padre Jose and me,
and he took a drink again from the brandy flask. He thought of the cold faces
of the saints rejecting him.”
As the Father is contemplating his oncoming death
in his prison cell, he thinks back at all his failures and feels as if humanity
deserved more than he could give. He fails to recognize and observe all that he
had done to preserve the faith during such difficult times, such as all the
masses he has says, the confessions he has listened to, and the numerous other
people he has helped, and the fact alone that he persevered through it all and didn't give up despite the mistakes he made. The phrase “All sinners think they’re saints and all
saints think they’re sinners” directly applies to the priest. Only through terrible
suffering does he learn and feel the true meaning of grace and innocence.
“That
was another mystery: it sometimes seemed to him that venial sins-impatience, an
unimportant lie, pride, a neglected opportunity-cut you off from grace more
completely than the worse sins of all. Then, in his innocence, he had felt no
love for anyone; now in his corruption he had learnt…” (139)
Through the description of
corruption and suffering in the world, Greene finds ways to identify the grace
buried within. Suffering is often thought of as an inherent evil, but Greene
finds a way to see the potential for good underneath. He cleverly provides an insight into why suffering exists in the world.
“When
you visualized a man or woman carefully, you could always begin to feel pity-that
was a quality God’s image carried with it. When you saw the lines at the
corners of the eyes, the shape of the mouth, how the hair grew, it was
impossible to hate. Hate was just a failure of imagination.” (131)
The reader
can see that although suffering wears a person, God is always there with them,
helping them through it.
In the scene with the Indian women seeking
help for her almost-dead child, Greene portrays the despair the priest feels in
seeing suffering and wondering where God, is.
“Faith, one was told, could move
mountains, and here was faith-faith in the spittle that healed the blind man
and the voice that raised the dead. […] when none came, it was as if God had
missed an opportunity, […] Why, after all, should we expect God to punish the
innocent with more life?” (155)
While
the son’s death is tragic, the priest was able to lead the women to a burial
ground where she could feel closure with her son’s death.
Through numerous other quotes, Greene comments
on how people lose sight of the beauty of life, as they are distracted with
corruption and suffering. For example,
“They won’t say it’s a miracle, because
that’s a word they don’t like. Then it happens again and again perhaps-because
God’s about on earth-and they say: these aren’t miracles, it is simply that we
have enlarged our conception of what life is. Now we know you can be alive
without pulse, breath, heart-beats. And they invent a new word to describe that
state of life, and they say science has disproved a miracle.” (201)
This
comment on miracles sheds light on things humans take for granted and often don’t
see the good/grace in.
I love that you used "all sinners think they're saints and all saints think they're sinners", it totally applies. I think this book did a great job in illustrating a character who never thinks he's good enough for God. I think this is something that a lot of people can struggle with, not just in faith, but in other parts of their life. It is sometimes hard to see or admit that you're doing something that someone would think is really admirable or would be really proud of you for.
ReplyDeleteThat quote, Katy and Paige, applies back to what we were talking about in class - that so long as you don't think your acts are humble, then you are in the right, but when you start thinking of how humble you are then you lose that quality about yourself. In other words, when you start to think you're a saint, you're not. And likely if you think you are such a sinner, you're probably not either. Such a conundrum to be in!
ReplyDeleteThat quote, Katy and Paige, applies back to what we were talking about in class - that so long as you don't think your acts are humble, then you are in the right, but when you start thinking of how humble you are then you lose that quality about yourself. In other words, when you start to think you're a saint, you're not. And likely if you think you are such a sinner, you're probably not either. Such a conundrum to be in!
ReplyDeleteI didn't vocalize my opinion on this particular topic very much in class, however I definitely had some thoughts running through my head. It seemed as though most of the class agreed that the whiskey priests humble ways were the things that made him more likeable throughout the story, despite his shortcomings. My opinion was quite the contrary. I do believe that the sinful acts throughout the priests life allowed me to empathize with him as a human who, like any of us, makes mistakes. It was his inability to acknowledge the good things in his life that actually turned me away from him. Although he was constantly going against his desires in order to fulfill his duties as a priest, he did so with a bad attitude and annoyance. This is what bothered me about the character. I did not see his harsh assessment of himself as him being "humble," rather, I would have liked to see him enjoy doing some of the things that make him a priest, instead of resenting them. Every time he complained about himself, I liked the character less.
ReplyDeleteGoing off Kendal, I couldn't really make up my mind about the priest. I agree with what we talked about in class, how he never saw himself as worthy to serve the people, but I feel in order for this to be significant he would need to feel consistently like this. When he is welcomed in the town where he is no longer persecuted we see a whole other side to his character. He at once reclaims his pride and superiority over those he is supposed to be serving. It could be argued that in the end he does donate the money he collected from the baptisms etc, but just seeing how quickly he discarded the "humbleness" he had acquired had me questioning it's true existance.
ReplyDeleteI personally really liked the Whiskey Priest, despite all his flaws. For me, they made him seem more real. And Kendal, I'm curious--if you didn't see the Priests' harsh assessment of himself as being "humble," then what did you see it as? I also really liked the usage of the "All sinners think they're saints and all saints think they're sinners" quote usage here. I think it fits exceptionally well. Clearly, the Priest didn't think himself a saint. I think this goes back to what we discussed in class with the idea of the humility complex. It's a goal of any Christian to aspire to true humility throughout their life. But as we discussed, as soon as one thinks they're succeeding at such a goal, that person becomes proud of that success. So the Priest, by despairing over his weakness and his inability to become truly humble, he paradoxically becomes truly humble.
ReplyDeleteI know that we have talked about the priest being unnamed in class, but that idea has not been able to leave my head! I really think it is interesting how the most prominent character in a novel could not have a name. It really packs a punch in a way that he could be taken out of the situation and anyone could step in and replace him, and this to me makes him a more powerful character. As we are now reading Brideshead Revisited, I think that some of these main characters could be nameless to focus on the message of their character rather than their actual being, but both Waugh and Greene make good use of naming and not naming their characters by focusing on the moral and developing each and every character without just voicing their own opinions via flat characters.
ReplyDeleteI definitely liked the whiskey priest character as well, but I can see how you would get annoyed, Kendall. While I think he does go about his rather with a negative attitude, considering his humanity, I couldn't expect much more given his circumstances. I think the fact that he continues to pursue his mission and priestly duties the best he can, and moving on from his mistakes, is evidence of him being somewhat optimistic, because if he was in total despair, I don't think he would go on. The concept of despair also leads to other themes as well, but I think he successfully avoids the "sin of despair" by going on despite his difficulties. But I agree, a happier attitude at times to balance out the negativity may have made him more likable.
ReplyDeleteAdam- In the sense of Catholicism I can see how the priest's harsh assessments of himself could be seen as "humble" but my problem with him was more deeply rooted in his complaints. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't expect him to be without complaints, especially given the circumstances he was in. However, it seems as though all of his "priestly obligations" he did throughout the novel always came with a complaint which in my opinion made them somewhat less valuable. In a more real life sense, I would imagine a scenario where you walk into a store and ask the cashier for help finding something and they complain but find it for you anyways.. that would make me wonder why they work there in the first place if you're going to treat people poorly and you hate it. As a priest he knew that he could face hardships and it was difficult to never see him appreciate anything around him. Maybe it's a stretch, but I just couldn't get myself to empathize with him very much.
ReplyDelete"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less." Not sure where this quotation comes from, but I figured you might like it, Kendal. Sorry, it's so late.
DeleteSo by this definition of humility, it could be argued that the whisky priest wasn't to humble. Being ashamed and humble are not the same. Real humility is joyful, self-forgetful giving of yourself. I think some saint said something to this effect. Not sure which one though.
Someone who is ashamed is someone who spends a lot of time thinking about themselves and their faults. That to me is seems unattractive and unsaintly (if that's a word :P).
DeleteKendal I think you bring up a really great point here by comparing the whiskey to priests complaints to a person working a cashier or at a store. If someone is working as a cashier but don't like their job then I would understand them complaining. They are only doing the work, helping you, because they have to and they are getting paid. They don't like the job they want and need the money. Now, comparing that to a priest and his duties is simultaneously interesting and disturbing. It's disturbing because I dont think a priest's duties are (or at least should be) just a job to him. Being a priest is a vocation and a calling that someone should feel drawn to and WANT to do, not for perks, and no matter what. BUT I think it's possible to suggest that our dear Whiskey priest, whether you love or hate him, perhaps started out being a priest because it was a comfortable gig. Sure, I hope he had other reasons and because of what happened (the persecution) God had other things in mind for him but the Whiskey priest did not become a priest expecting to suffer so greatly. Therefore, it seems logical to me that he complains a ton. He didnt sign up for this suffering, but he kept suffering. And that seems key. Green seems to show that God can take the most "unworthy"/"unexpected" person do extraordinary things, like keep the faith alive. In that process, the Whiskey priest learns what it means to be a priest, what it means to suffer and fall, but perhaps end with more pride and purpose than when began.
ReplyDeleteDoes that make any sense? I see a contradiction playing out and resolving itself. anyone else?
When we talked about "Brideshead revisited," marriage, and divorce, Tim mentioned this idea of the five common stages of relationships: infatuation, disillusionment, trying to change the other, despair, and decision to love. I think that there are definitely parallels of these stages in our relationship with God. The whisky priest begins the story in the disillusionment or despair stage, but by the end of the novel I believe he has made the decision to love, to give himself to those who don't love him back.
ReplyDelete“Faith, one was told, could move mountains, and here was faith-faith in the spittle that healed the blind man and the voice that raised the dead. […] when none came, it was as if God had missed an opportunity, […] Why, after all, should we expect God to punish the innocent with more life?” (155)
ReplyDeleteI believe this quotation definitely corresponds to the "sickening...silence of God" mentioned in Endo's novel, Silence.
God's apparent silence at times is definitely a great test of faith. And both Graham Green and Shusaku Endo do a great job of portraying this inner struggle between faith and doubt in the face of apparent silence and abandonment by God. Analyzing how each of these authors explore this theme might make a good paper.
As far as the Whisky Priest goes, I definitely side with Adam, and the main reason is because of the quote Paige uses about sinners being saints and vice versa. I was fond of the priest because of his lack of knowing that he was truly a good person. Having that moment where one realizes their true self-worth almost right before their death is good to see and makes for a great story.
ReplyDeleteI have a different point to add abotu the whiskey priest. I did like the character, and could understand his saddness and shame towards the events of his past and in his existence face of persecution. I think that the priest was struggling with a different problem that was not discussed here. The priest is clearly a humble person, but continues to make poor decisions knowing that they are wrong, which could be upsetting to the reader. I think that in the end, his quote about being a saint, he realized the true nature of his problem. He is struggling with his representation of the church and faith in the community and his percieved inability to have a positive effect on the lives of others that he comes across when on the run. Many saints have helped keep the faith alive by way of martyrdom. This is partially true of the priest. He does not know it, because he is dead, but his death changed the lives and attitudes of the lieutenant, the little boy, and Mr. Tench. The priest's struggle is founded on his own feelings of unworthiness, which causes him to dispair and continue to drink, but he his unable to see how important he really is and how his life has touched others.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about the journey that i found extremely moving was that right before his execution, the only object of love he could concentrate on was his illegitimate daughter. He realized that he loved her so much and put her above everything else, even himself. He realized this is how he should treat/view everybody in the world. Not just his loved ones. Just a thought about how the journey changed him spiritually.
ReplyDelete