Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory
In Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, setting is essential in understanding the spiritual conquest of the main character. The story takes place in post-revolution Mexico of the nineteen-thirties, where Catholicism has been banned. The government has shut down all of the churches and established anti-Catholic laws, jealous of the rising power of the church, and nervous of the corrupt ways in which the church has been dealing with sin. The main character, a nameless "whiskey priest," hopelessly roams the desolate plains of southern Mexico, on the run from the law, as the only priest left who has not denounced his fatherhood. The surrounding communities in southern Mexico refuse to harbor the priest because of the drastic repercussions from the police. The priest feels guilty about his pride in being an inadequate priest and a sinner, but has come to terms with the eternal damnation he will face in the afterlife. The physical and cultural settings in The Power and Glory guide the reader through an odyssey of one man's struggle to find meaning in the world, as it parallels the priest's internal perspective, and symbolizes his redemptive conversion and his final unconscious achievement of martyrdom.
Ater the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican government established anti-Catholic laws against the churches. The government dismissed the Church's system of redemption, and became jealous of the Church's rising influence over society. This system required "sinners" to pay the church money in order to escape eternal damnation in the afterlife. "And the priest came round with the collecting bag, taking their centavos, abusing them for their small comforting sins, and sacrificing nothing at all in return- except a little sexual indulgence." (pp. 22-3) Every priest denounced their profession and became married in order to remain lawful citizens. However, this "whiskey priest" "felt bound to his sin by love? And when we love our sin then we are damned indeed." (pp. 172-3) The priest claims he is too proud to denounce his fatherhood, and roams southern Mexico as a fugitive from the law. "He was a bad priest, he knew it." (p. 60)
The priest encounters nothing but the desolate plains of southern Mexico and the cultural depression of its poverty-stricken lands.
Half a dozen huts of mud and watt...
... middle of paper ...
...e every soul as if it were one's own child." (p. 82) Our (internal) Self is a reflection of our relationship with the rest of he world. Jesus Christ explained this idea in the seldom read, "Book of Thomas," when he said: "For whoever has not known Himself knows nothing, but he who has known Himself has already understood the depths of all things." The irony and paradox of this priest's journey through sin and lawlesness to achieve a revelatory understanding about his obligation to openly love himself and humanity, demonstrates the complexity of life all human beings are plagued with in a universal search to understand Thyself, (and/or, God). This "whiskey priest" becomes One with life, and demonstrates "the power and the glory," when he finally understands: "'Love is not wrong, but love should be happy and open- it is only wrong when it is secret, unhappy? It can be more unhappy than anything but the loss of God. It is the loss of God.'" (p.172)
"The roof couldn't keep out this rain." (p. 152)
"Hope is an instinct only the reasoning human mind can kill. An animal never knows despair."
-Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory" (p. 141)
September 11, 2001 marked a tragic day in the history of the United States; a terrorist attack had left the country shaken. It did not take long to determine those who were behind the attack and a call for retribution swept through the nation. Citizens in a wave of patriotism signed up for military service and the United States found resounding international support for their efforts in the war on terror. Little opposition was raised at the removal of the Taliban regime and there was much support for bringing Osama Bin Laden and the leaders of al-Qaeda to justice. Approval abroad diminished approximately a year and a half later when Afghanistan became a stepping stone to the administration’s larger ambition, the invasion of Iraq. The administration would invent several stories and in some cases remain silent of the truth where would prove positive for the Iraqi invasion. It seems they were willing to say anything to promote the largely unpopular and unnecessary war they were resolved on engaging in.
Where Men Win Glory is an ironic euphemism for war. The title is ironic because there is nothing glorious about war or the way it ended Pat Tillman’s beautiful life. Jon Krakauer orchestrates this masterpiece with his diligently, articulated descriptions and with a timeline sewn together from the threads of two worlds. The author’s style can best be characterized by his challenging, precise diction and his ability to fluently intervene pertinent quotes and facts that further persuade the reader toward his cause. Throughout the book, the author’s tone harnesses resentment towards the militant hierarchy; for through its ingenuousness, deceit, and manipulation, the military uses Pat’s death as propaganda to bolster the war’s support. Furthermore, the military covers up the fact that Tillman was a victim of fratricide, and it deceives the nation into believing Tillman’s end was a valiant fight against insurgents. When the truth is exposed and pursued by Dannie - Pat’s mother - the army destroys evidence and pleads guilty to ignorance as a rebuttal. This book is molded by three prodigious aspects that help to illustrate Pat’s life story. The carelessness of war, importance of family, and enhancement through change were all important ingredients that created a virtuous life. Each theme, in addition, challenges me personally to reassess the facts I have been fed and the reality that I have been presented. By doing so, I can achieve a sound base of knowledge and an intellectual prowess capable of challenging all facts presented.
A deeply pious man, John considers the Bible a sublime source of moral code, guiding him through the challenges of his life. He proclaims to his kid son, for whom he has written this spiritual memoir, that the “Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you” (81). While John manages to stay strong in the faith and nurture a healthy relationship with his son, his relationship with his own father did not follow the same blueprint. John’s father, also named John Ames, was a preacher and had a powerful effect on John’s upbringing. When John was a child, Father was a man of faith. He executed his role of spiritual advisor and father to John for most of his upbringing, but a shift in perspective disrupted that short-lived harmony. Father was always a man who longed for equanimity and peace. This longing was displayed in his dealings with his other son, Edward: the Prodigal son of their family unit, a man who fell away from faith while at school in Germany. John always felt that he “was the good son, so to speak, the one who never left his father's house” (238). Father always watched over John, examining for any sign of heterodoxy. He argued with John as if John were Edward, as if he were trying to get Edward back into the community. Eventually, John’s father's faith begins to falter. He reads the scholarly books
Hilton, Ronald. “MEXICO: The Murder of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo (1993).” Webmaster. N.p., 6 June 2003. Web. 15 April 2014.
The study of religion is often a rigorous process because the central tenets of the subject: image, ritual, and myth are often copious in their complexity. For example, consider the multiple meanings that are inherent in the image of a crucifix. Some Christians might view it as an image of suffering, whilst others would reject that notion and instead perceive it to be one of love. These differences may seem inconsequential at first, but they can overtime shape the beliefs of an individual and by extension a community. To understand this dynamic better one only has to analyze the Christo Aparecido (Christ Appeared), an authentic Mexican crucifix with a fascinating history from the colonial era to the present. This history is made known by the text, Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present by Jennifer Hughes, from which I contend that over the life of the Christo Aparecido there continues to be an understanding among devotees that this crucifix is sacred because it displays animus while being a vestige for the sacred to occupy. To support my position I will attempt to relate the moments where the Christo Aparecido is said to show signs of life, in particular his stay in Mexico City during the colonial era and his role in more modern times with rival groups clashing over its efficacy in the village of Totolapan.
Bowden’s idea of why this happened focused mainly on the old misunderstood traditions of the tribes living in Mexico. He shows how the friars, churches and icons took the blunt of the revolts force. Bowden points out the religious differences and similarities be...
José, the protagonist, is a young man of African descent living in Black Shack Alley with his grandmother, M’Man Tine. The people who work harvesting sugar cane are the close descendants of only recently freed slaves – they live in conditions of poverty similar to that of slavery due to the wealthy, ruling white class. Catholic imagery is found throughout the film – notably, M’Man Tine keeps a portrait of Jesus Christ in her shack in Black Shack Alley, and later, above her bed. This portrait serves as a visual cue to the reach of French colonialism and an iteration of French power – the idols of white religion hang in the houses of black oppressed peoples. Perhaps Jesus, to M’Man Tine, represents the notion of life after death and a means of escaping the physical and psychological toil of harvesting cane, much in the same way the converts in Things Fell Apart looked for solace in
Castillo first shows the reader her distrust of patriarchy and its vertical structures through La Loca Santa’s death. The first structure under scrutiny here is the Catholic Church. After La Loca awakens she throws herself into the air and lands on the top of the Church, saying that those below her carry the same scent that she had smelled while in hell. With Loca high above the others she can be seen as a “substation” for a new Chicana Christ figure (Delgadillo 895). She tells those gathered below that she has been sent back to pray for them so that they would be able to see their Creator in heaven. Father Jerome pleads with her to come down so that the congregation could pray for her. She then reminds him that it is she that was sent to pray for them. With La Loca in the position of a Christ figure of the system, the structure of the system, in this case religion,...
While in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the highly-regarded American novelist Willa Sibert Cather was captivated by the story of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy and his friend, Father Macheboeuf. She was so enchanted by these two men that she decided to write a novel based on the events of their lives serving as Roman Catholic clergy in New Mexico. Her 1927 novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, tells the story of Bishop Jean Latour and his friend, Father Joseph Vaillant, as they travel to New Mexico in the mid-nineteenth century to strengthen the Catholic faith of the natives. In Death Comes for the Archbishop, the natives of New Mexico are devout, but their religion has been corrupted by superstition because there have been no priests to instruct them on their faith. “This country was evangelized in fifteen hundred, by the Franciscan Fathers. It has been
This does not, however, dismiss the reality of torture in Chile nor soften Cavanaugh’s criticisms of “distinction of planes” ecclesiologies. Church paradigms such as Maritain’s New Christendom have led Catholics in Chile and elsewhere to buy into a “devil’s bargain” wherein the Church confines itself to the social, or spiritual, realm and allows the state to dominate in the political, or temporal, realm (196). Such ecclesiologies simultaneously facilitate the Church’s disappearance as a societal body and strip the Church of any tangible ability to counteract the actions of oppressive governments. The Chilean church’s ecclesiology had real, disastrous consequences for Chileans under the Pinochet regime – consequences that perhaps could have been mitigated under a different ecclesiological
Religion holds a powerful position in the lives of Latinos. It provides a built in censor of right and wrong in the form of extreme guilt (Aranda 150). The chapter "A Rice Sandwich" divulges the way guilt is established. Here Esperanza wants to eat at the canteen for lunch, but the nuns just insult her, and this makes her cry. She says they were "...pointing to a row of three ugly flats, the one the raggedy men are ashamed to go into. Yes...though I knew that wasn't my house" (Cisneros 45). The fact that her victimizers were nuns made her even more embarrassed about where she lived than she already was.
The Sanchez Family is a large family that emigrated to the United States of America from Mexico. The family is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and retains their Mexican culture. The family members that this case analysis will focus on are Hector Sanchez and his daughter, Gloria Sanchez. This analysis will provide a review of the family members and how each lens and theory is related to the family member and their presenting concerns.
Throughout the ages, men and women have been at the heart of myths and legends, evolving into tragic heroes in large part due to the embellishment bestowed upon them over the ages. From Odysseus and Achilles to Brutus, Hamlet, and King Lear, epic poems have revolved around the tragic hero. Pat Tillman was a man of many aptitudes and virtues, never satisfied by the mediocre, striving for more adventure, more meaning, in his tragically short time on Earth, and personifying the phrase carpe diem. Even Pat Tillman had tragic flaws; his unwillingness to be typical, his undying loyalty to family and country, and his curiously concrete set of morals amalgamated to set in motion Tillman’s eventual death. These, whatever the outcome might have been, are not by any means, the archetypical tragic flaws. They are, as Jon Krakauer later described, “tragic virtues.” Where Men Win Glory is not solely a tribute to Pat Tillman. What makes it truly unique is its exhaustively comprehensive history preceding Tillman’s death, and equally essential, the events that transpired following his death, including the cover-ups, scandals, corruption, falsified documents, indignities, and lies that facilitated, also, in emphasizing the core themes, of which Tillman was the epitome. Tillman’s fidelity and devotion to the people whom he loved, the use of misinformation and cants surrounding his death, and others’ responses to what Tillman considered paramount in his life all played a key role in the tragedy of a man who won glory.
According to C. Wright Mills’ “The Promise”, he feels that an individual’s life and how they act is based on the society and what is happening around them at that time. Mills states in his essay that the sociological imagination helps us understand each individual’s background, lifestyles, and habits and/or traditions. It also allows us to understand the influence society may have on a person and how “historical” events led to it. Based on what he wrote, to understand this “imagination” we must be able to connect a person’s public or personal issues with the events happening within society during that time. According to this a person may act differently depending on their religious beliefs, whether or not they live within the city or the suburbs, etc. For example Mills argues that if a person’s “values” are not threatened then they would be in a state of “well-being” but, if their values were threatened then they would go into some sort of “crisis”. If Mills means “values” as in a person’s “standards of behavior” then this is happening today in our society with the LGBT equal rights movement. Many people feel that being homosexual is not a “standard behavior” and that it is perhaps a sickness. They feel that men should be with women therefor many have gone into a “crisis” and have begun belittling the gay community or bullying them due to the fact that they feel that this is not how an individual should be. Another example is homelessness; a person can be homeless due to a fire destroying their home, being kicked out, being unable to care for themselves due to being mentally ill, developing a heavy drug habit and losing their home due to trying to support the habit, or perhaps some sort of depression. Looking at it without un...
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)