Graham Greene's novel The Power and the Glory

Greene does not want to write simple propaganda for the Church. At the same time, it is clear from his loving portrayal of the flawed whisky priest that he has a real respect for the representatives of that Church and the good that they do in the world, with all their flaws and shortcomings.

Therefore, his novel brings the Church down to earth, shows this single corrupted individual priest is a man who struggles mightily against his own devils and against the devils haunting the people of his country. He does drink and indulge his other desires, to be sure, and if this were all he did he would be a thoroughly corrupt priest and man indeed.

However, he also risks his life---and finally pays with his life---in bringing the word of God and his own care and love to the people he serves.

The basic story of the priest is simple. The land is ruled by a socialist/atheist police official and the Mass of the Catholic Church

. . .
the priest were merely unwilling to do his duty, to minister to the people, then the novel would not be compelling as it is. What makes the priest's struggle fascinating is not merely that he is tired, not merely that he is flawed, not merely that he does what he does with a certain measure of unwillingness. What makes his struggle compelling is that he harbors a great deal of bitterness, even rage, at the position he is in. This response is often incited and intensified by the alcohol he consumes. The priest is angry at the woman who he must go minister to. He is angry that he is going to miss his boat. When Tench suggests that if he is not a doctor there is nothing that the priest can do for the woman if she is dying, the priest barks back at him: You know nothing," the stranger said fiercely. "That is what everyone says all the time---you do no good." The brandy affected him. He said with monstrous bitterness, "I can hear them saying it all over the world" (17). But this bitterness is not long-lived, and it is replaced in this instance by gratitude to Tench for allowing him to rest for a moment out of the sun. Still, there is always the underlying notion that the priest is doing his work in a world which does not apprecia
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2270
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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