The Expanded Allegory in The Power and the Glory Mexico. Drawing on his own observations of a small town torn between the secular government's anti-religious laws and the religious beliefs of the population, Greene created the story of a Catholic priest pursued by the police to illustrate the conflicting relationship between the Church and State. Greene 2-4). Greene used his experiences in Mexico to create an extended allegory that illustrates the conflict between the two worldviews and, in turn, reveals his own values and philosophy. Drawing on his experience in Mexico, Greene developed a "whiskey priest", a character introduced to Greene by a friend in Mexico in the story of a drunken priest who baptized a child under the wrong name, to embody the religious worldview. The priest, who remains anonymous throughout the novel to emphasize his allegorical role, is less an individual than a symbol of "the Church [and] the cumulative wisdom of the past, in short, Western humanism" ( DeVitis 89). The priest is, however, considered a traitor to the state and his religion. The last Catholic priest in a secular Mexican state, his photograph hangs next to that of a notorious American gangster on the wall of the police station. The priest's penchant for gin, his cowardice and his moral weakness make him a traitor to his faith and his religious order. On the allegorical level of the novel, the priest's flight from the police is considered a "flight from God" and a flight from becoming a saint (DeVitis 90). Refusing to accept his fate of being captured by the police and becoming...... middle of paper......this in heaven" (Hynes 67). It was only after the execution of the priest that the lieutenant is forced to realize his own destiny the void and Greene reveals his religious compassion Although often criticized for being "primarily Roman Catholic", The Power and the Glory masterfully illustrates the intense conflict between the. secular and religious worldviews (Hynes 70) by developing complex allegorical characters, Graham Greene achieves an almost mythic quality. Works Cited: Allot, Kenneth and Miriam Farris, The Art of Graham Greene New York: Russell & Russell, 1951. DeVitis, AA, Graham Greene New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964. Greene, Graham, The Power and the Glory New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Hynes, Samuel ed., Graham Greene: A Collection of Critical Essays, New. Jersey: Prentice-Hall., 1973.

Essay / The Expanded Allegory in The Power and the Glory Mexico. Drawing on his own observations of a small town torn between the secular government's anti-religious laws and the religious beliefs of the population, Greene created the story of a Catholic priest pursued by the police to illustrate the conflicting relationship between the Church and State. Greene 2-4). Greene used his experiences in Mexico to create an extended allegory that illustrates the conflict between the two worldviews and, in turn, reveals his own values and philosophy. Drawing on his experience in Mexico, Greene developed a "whiskey priest", a character introduced to Greene by a friend in Mexico in the story of a drunken priest who baptized a child under the wrong name, to embody the religious worldview. The priest, who remains anonymous throughout the novel to emphasize his allegorical role, is less an individual than a symbol of "the Church [and] the cumulative wisdom of the past, in short, Western humanism" ( DeVitis 89). The priest is, however, considered a traitor to the state and his religion. The last Catholic priest in a secular Mexican state, his photograph hangs next to that of a notorious American gangster on the wall of the police station. The priest's penchant for gin, his cowardice and his moral weakness make him a traitor to his faith and his religious order. On the allegorical level of the novel, the priest's flight from the police is considered a "flight from God" and a flight from becoming a saint (DeVitis 90). Refusing to accept his fate of being captured by the police and becoming...... middle of paper......this in heaven" (Hynes 67). It was only after the execution of the priest that the lieutenant is forced to realize his own destiny the void and Greene reveals his religious compassion Although often criticized for being "primarily Roman Catholic", The Power and the Glory masterfully illustrates the intense conflict between the. secular and religious worldviews (Hynes 70) by developing complex allegorical characters, Graham Greene achieves an almost mythic quality. Works Cited: Allot, Kenneth and Miriam Farris, The Art of Graham Greene New York: Russell & Russell, 1951. DeVitis, AA, Graham Greene New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964. Greene, Graham, The Power and the Glory New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Hynes, Samuel ed., Graham Greene: A Collection of Critical Essays, New. Jersey: Prentice-Hall., 1973.

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