The Power and the Glory juxtaposes two conflicting beliefs about salvation and social order. In the priest, we get a man grudgingly bent on saving souls through his non-violent priestly duties. In the character of the lieutenant, we see a man intent on saving the world by shedding blood. The lieutenant trusts in violence to make a final and eternal purge of everything he calls evil. Pretty crazy, huh? For him, violence is the primary means of saving and ordering the world. He will cure the world from behind a gun. He's a firm believer in the saving power of destruction, and he's definitely the kind of guy we would not want to run into alone in a dark alleyway.
Questions About Violence
- Why does the priest never consider fighting to be an option for him?
- Why do both the priest and the lieutenant not include killing among the worst of sins?
- Does Greene seem to believe that violence is necessary for the social order? Why or why not?
- Why does the novel depict violence either "off screen" or from a distance?
Chew on This
The lieutenant's reliance on violence proves to be effective.
The lieutenant's reliance on violence proves to be ineffective.