Everybody in The Power and the Glory lives in a state of fear: the people suffer from poverty and illness, the religious are persecuted for their faith, the clergy are hunted and killed, and the agents of the government look over their shoulders. Parents fear for the lives and souls of their children, whose only contact with God are old stories and the occasional appearance of a whisky priest—a less than, uh, ideal role model. It's a real dog eat dog world in these parts. For Greene, fear is a natural response to dangers but to quote Yoda—a path to the dark side as well. Fear can keep you alive, but it can also kill your soul.
Questions About Fear
- What is the link between fear and despair in the novel?
- The lieutenant claims that he's not afraid of other people's ideas, and yet he's willing to murder innocent people to purge the country of certain ideas. Does he only despise the ideas of the Church, or does he also fear them?
- In the prohibited book the mother reads to her son and two daughters, the martyr Juan is depicted as free of fear. The son, Luis, scoffs at this depiction. What do you think?
- What does the whisky priest fear most?
Chew on This
Both the lieutenant and the priest try to motivate people by instilling fear: the lieutenant with a gun and the priest with the doctrine of hell.
Because the priest loves his daughter, he cannot escape his fear for her future. Fear comes with love.