The Power and the Glory

The influence of film on this novel is undeniable. As we discussed in class, Greene creates flash cuts of the Mexican countryside based on his travels through Tabasco. The audience is assaulted with the vultures roosting on tin roofs, the rats burrowing through the corn in the hut, the dirty peasants staring blankly at the ground in the face of authority, the gleaming leather of the lieutenant's boot. Each scene exists as a story in itself to highlight the destitution and loneliness of the whisky priest as he passes through unwelcomed and often despised.

The humanity of the priest is also painfully apparent. He does not want to be martyred and celebrated. He does not want to have others suffer for him. He becomes the man of sorrows and takes on the wounds and rebuffs of the Christ he is serving. I see the whisky priest as an authentic suffering servant of God despite his desire just to escape in alcohol and contemplation of suicide. The sadness inside the priest is reflected in the empty scenery and faces he encounters on his wanderings. The beauty of his sacrifice is in his willingness to continue to serve even when he does not want to.