The Power and the Glory: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Power and the Glory" explores the lives of major characters within a tumultuous socio-political landscape in a small Mexican province. Central to the narrative is the Whiskey Priest, an unnamed cleric on the run from an anticlerical regime, who grapples with his failings, including alcoholism and infidelity. He embodies a complex blend of pride and cowardice, ultimately seeking redemption through his duties, even as he confronts the realities of his mortality. In stark contrast is Father José, a defrocked priest who has renounced his faith and lives in shame, becoming a symbol of degradation and cowardice in the eyes of the community.
The story also introduces a zealous Lieutenant of Police, who represents the fanaticism of the new state, struggling to reconcile his sense of justice with the violent means he employs. The Mestizo, a cunning opportunist, betrays the Whiskey Priest, adding layers of intrigue and moral conflict. Additionally, the relationships with Marcía and her daughter Brigida highlight the priest's deep regrets over lost love and familial bonds. Characters such as the Dentist, Trader, and Plantation Owner offer moments of humanity and shelter amid the chaos, further enriching the themes of sacrifice and compassion interwoven throughout the narrative. This complex tapestry of characters ultimately reflects the profound struggles of faith, identity, and redemption in a world marked by conflict.
The Power and the Glory: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Graham Greene
First published: 1940
Genre: Novel
Locale: Mexico
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1930's
A Whiskey Priest who, though never named, goes sometimes under the assumed name of Montez. For eight years a fugitive from the anticlerical regime in a small Mexican province, the Whiskey Priest has managed occasionally to celebrate mass, to baptize children, and to say the last rites for the dying. His great failing is drink, though he has also committed adultery in the town of Concepción, where he had his last parish. Pride and slothfulness have played an equal part in making him the last cleric in the province; he feels the honor of martyrdom, and he simply exists without a plan for escape. Finally, he is humbled by the knowledge that he is loved and protected wherever he goes, and the sacrifice of hostages for his surrender fixes in his mind a plan of escape. Yet he is not a free agent, and he falls into what he knows is a trap when called upon to administer the last rites to an American gunman. Freely admitting his cowardice and lack of vision, the priest dies with the sure knowledge that he has loved and discharged his duties with a semblance of dignity.
Father José (hoh-SEH), a defrocked priest who marries and renounces his religion. Obviously a coward, he refuses any participation in the religion he so easily gave up and so much regrets. He is the laughingstock of a village as the victim of an ill-tempered wife whose sexual entreaties symbolize the degradation to which he has fallen. Without any humanitarian impulses, he refuses to hear the confession of the Whiskey Priest, even when sanctioned to do so by the government.
A Lieutenant of Police, not named, who exhibits the same fanaticism for the new state as the renegade priest does for his order. A man without formal education but with a zeal for reform that stems from his peasant childhood, the young man puts his faith in the pistol. His mind is unsettled by the Whiskey Priest's sense of destiny in a lost cause, for he cannot reconcile faith without deeds. Also, he is confused and unhappy over the means of taking and killing hostages used to the end of destroying the old priest. His tough manner hides a sentimental streak that appears in ironic contrasts.
AMestizo, a poor half-breed who acts the part of Judas with a faltering heart. Shrewdly recognizing the Whiskey Priest when all others fail, the tenacious opportunist becomes the cleric's nemesis, waiting for the right time to strike. His whining, wheedling, ingratiating manner makes him the more deadly and sinister to the harassed father. The poor man has lived so long as a toady of the police that he lacks the will to resist, though he begs forgiveness after his betrayal of the priest.
Marcía (mahr-SEE-ah) and Brigida (BREE-gee-dah), mother and daughter, the symbols of the priest's greatest transgression. Through boredom and alcohol, the middle-aged priest commits adultery with his parishioner Marcía, and he dies regretting that he has not loved his seven-year-old daughter enough to make any difference in her life. While the mother has a kind of inverted pride in her ghostly and human father, the poor youngster can only feel suspicion and disdain for the man who makes of her an outsider.
ADentist, a Trader, and a Plantation Owner, who shelter the priest during his pilgrimages toward escape. The daughter of the trader and the sister of the plantation owner are true humanitarians and offer solace as well as food and shelter to the priest. The dentist is as fated as the priest with whom he identifies himself, though the dramatic death outside his window seems to move him to some resolution.