The Power and the Glory

A detailed Summary of The Power and the Glory


"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)

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 throug


a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone

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)

hurriedly whispered the words of conditional absolution,

after a lifetime of the most hideous crime... The priest



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Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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