The Power and the Glory

 

The Power and the Glory
by Graham Greene
read: 2020
Time 100 Novels, Guardian 1000 Novels

The Heart of the Matter was about Henry Scobie's gradual betrayal of nearly everything he holds dear, and Greene puts similar themes on display in The Power and the Glory. The novel follows a priest in Mexico on the run from a government suppressing the Catholic faith. He loses all the trappings of his office as he goes. A drunkard who once sired a daughter, the priest has crossed almost every line that exists. Despite that, he cannot give up his faith. He refuses to, like Padre Jose, take a wife and renounce the church, and he continues to put himself in danger by practicing his religion when he has the opportunity to flee to safer pastures. He's weak for his failings, but there's a kernel of resolve there too, or at least stubbornness.