Reading The Power and the Glory was definitely interesting. The book certainly had a religious theme. The characters were all tied to religion in one way or another. I found several symbols of Jesus: the priest riding on a mule and Jesus riding on a donkey, the priest betrayed by the half-caste and Jesus betrayed by Judas.
I felt a lot of sadness on how people are treated in the book. I didn't like the violence and the senseless killing. Taking a villager and killing them because they wouldn't turn in the priest was such a waste. It made me really hate the army and what they stood for. I wanted the priest to escape and was grouchy when he went back two times! I think I knew after the second time that he would be captured.
I'm not Catholic but I have a strong Christian religious belief. I found it difficult to read about a leader of the church who was so sinful. I think it is probably a good lesson that church leaders are human and make mistakes. It still made me sad to read about such things. I probably learned the most from this book about my religious views and how I would stand up for what I believe. If I was persecuted and hunted, I might turn to sinful things too. I would hope that I would never speak against my religion and I was happy the whisky priest held firm on that until the end of the book.
There were some connections in this book to Asher Lev. I wanted the priest to get away from the soldiers and I also wanted Asher Lev to leave his home and experience his artwork without being looked down upon. I wanted the people to stand up and help the priest. I also wanted Asher Lev's religious community to accept him and give him a chance. I found the inhuman treatment of people in Greene's book horrible. I wanted Asher Lev to stand up to his father and not let him treat Asher like a child.
As I read through the book, I enjoyed it more. It is a book that I will keep on my bookshelf and read again. Although the violence and drinking wasn't so great, I can look past that and see Greene's characters in a religious sense. It was definitely a book that made me think and want to discuss with others.
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3 comments:
I too thought there were many semblances between several characters at times to Jesus. At one point, I wondered if the donkey would actually speak as in the bible. That would have sent me over the edge =)
You also make an interesting point to consider what one would do if they were in that same situation of persecution. Thankfully, most of us will never have to face that situation in that manner. I do think Christians have to stand up often for their faith, it can be slammed from many angles, but to no degree do we as Americans have to deal with what the participants in the novel did. But, how I would fare in a similiar situation, hmm, not sure I would have the tenacity to survive as the whiskey priest did. Hard to say though not ever having had any experience that ever parallels his in any degree of severity. Makes you think though doesn't it.
I agree with you that religious leaders are only human but I often think to myself if they are not able to overcome then what makes them different from the rest of us. And it happens in all faiths. I can agree that I don't know what I would do in that situation. I don't think anyone honestly knows what they would do.
Thank you for pointing out the symbols and the connections between the book and the bible. They are interesting points that I seemed to pass over. It is easy to become discouraged over the violence and killing. For me it was a very close connection with the actions in the Holocaust, but on a much more local and smaller scale. The Nazis also had no problem persecuting those who dared cross them and especially those Germans or in other European countries who dared to hide Jewish people.
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