How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph.)
Quote #4
The jefe was silent. He studied the lieutenant unobtrusively with little astute eyes. Then he said, "You know I trust you. Do what you think best."
"Will you put that in writing?"
"Oh—not necessarily. We know each other."
All the way up the road they fenced warily for positions.
"Didn't the governor give you anything in writing?" the lieutenant asked.
"No. He said we knew each other."
It was the lieutenant who gave way because it was he who really cared. He was indifferent to his personal future. He said, "I shall take hostages from every village." (1.4.90-6)
Ah, politics. Everybody trying to cover their rears…and for good reason. If things go downhill, there must be someone to blame. There's always got to be someone to blame.
Quote #5
Then the altar stone went—too dangerous to carry with him. He had no business to say Mass without it; he was probably liable to suspension, but penalties of the ecclesiastical kind began to seem unreal in a state where the only penalty was the civil one of death. (2.1.3)
Within the institutional church, the bishop has authority over the priests in his diocese. Technically, the whisky priest's bishop is still in charge of him, despite the distance and total absence of communication. In practice, however, the persecution has pretty much made the power of the bishop and his policies meaningless.
Quote #6
Out of the huts the villagers were reluctantly emerging—the children first: they were inquisitive and unfrightened. The men and women had the air already of people condemned by authority—authority was never wrong. (2.1.110)
It's important for authoritarian regimes to nurture a belief that they can do no wrong. If they can be wrong, then they can be questioned. If it can be questioned, then it can be corrected and potentially replaced. It's similar to why dogs wield so much power over their owners—they can do no wrong, and you can't question them even if you want to. Is it a coincidence that dog is God spelled backwards? We don't think so. Anyways, back to the story.