The Passion, one of the major stories in the New Testament, is parallel to the novel, The Power and the Glory, and is used as an extended metaphor throughout the novel. There is one character from the beginning to the end that is a "Christ figure", the priest, and Graham Greene uses ironic symbolism to help relate to the Passion. The priest has events throughout his life that are parallel to the life of Christ.
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In Mexico the priest, a man who was wanted by the government, had his own mission. His mission was to escape. Day and night he journeyed through Mexico because Carmen was his destination. Dawn was near, and the priest needed a place to rest. He saw a man in the distance and asked to sleep in his barn. The man was more than happy to let him in. The priest lied down on a bed, opened and closed his eyes, but could not fall asleep because the man wanted, "confession, father, will you hear our confessions?" (44) The priest was irritated with this man, all he desired was to fall asleep. This scene is parallel to the scene in the Bible, Jesus' prayer in the Garden. The time has come, crucifixion, just around the corner. Jesus led his disciples by a garden, in Gethsemane, to pray. When he returned, he found the disciples sleeping. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (Matthew 26) Jesus went back to the garden to pray two more times, and every time he returned, the disciples were lying on the ground with their eyes closed. This story relates much like the scene in the novel. The priest represents the sleepy disciples and the man represents Christ. The two scenes are parallel, but the difference is they are flipped. They are pure irony because the priest and the disciples were meant to support , not tear down.
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The priest was off; he continued with his journey to Carmen, when he mistakenly appeared at his hometown. There he discovered a surprise like no other, a surprise of shame, a surprise of denial. This event changed his life forever because he discovered his family. The priest walked toward his family, Maria and Brigitta, but strangely didn't recognize his daughter. "He had satisfaction, but it was connected with his crime; he had no business to feel pleasure at anything attached to the past." (62) Humiliation, was all the priest felt, denying the fact that he couldn't recall the looks and actions of his daughter. At this scene, the priest represents one of Jesus' disciples, Peter. Peter was a loyal disciple to Jesus, but "'I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.'" (Matthew 26) Peter denied the fact that he would do an action such as that. As Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, a woman said, "You also were the Jesus of Galilee." (Matthew 26) Peter denied the thought. Then Peter walked out into the gateway, where another woman said the same thing, Peter rejected Jesus. One last woman said that Peter was one of Jesus' disciples, but Peter disowned Christ and at last the rooster crowed. Peter, full with humiliation, wept because he felt shame for denying his own brother. These two scenes relate to each other. The priest represents Peter, and the daughter represents Jesus. What caused the denial was, for Peter and the priest, was fear and humiliation. The priest was full of shame that he denied what he was seeing right before his eyes and Peter was full of fear, that he panicked to the point of shame. The ironic symbolism is used to help make the scenes more powerful. The priest had strong conviction, so strong he won't let himself believe that Brigetta was right before him. This is truly ironic because a priest is a "Christ figure" and people think of priests, doing no wrong. Not remembering his own daughter is depressing and Peter was a follower of Christ and denying Christ three times is ironic.
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As he left his home town and said his final goodbyes, he rides on his donkey to Carmen once again. He had a peaceful ride until he saw a man alongside the road. "He had only two teeth left, canines which stick yellowly out at either end of his mouth like the teeth you find enclosed in clay which have belonged to long-extinct animals." (84)His name was mestizo and he lived his life like a dog. After the priest became acquaintances with the mestizo, he found himself in jail. He wondered how he appeared there and finally realized that the mestizo turned him in. He rejected and betrayed the priest. The mestizo represents Judas--a traitor to Jesus, once a disciple, then a traitor. On the last supper, the final meal with Jesus before his crucifixion, Jesus predicted that Judas was going to betray Jesus and turn him in for money. Judas asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over." (Matthew 26) Judas finally gave Jesus away. Judas, finally realized the crime he had done, then hung himself. These two scenes are very much parallel because the priest represents Jesus, and the mestizo represents Judas. The mestizo and Judas were traitors because of their conviction. Their conviction took over their conscience, what was good and what was evil. The scenes are very much ironic. A disciple is a follower of Jesus, and Judas was one of them, until he was tempted by money to turn Jesus in. The mestizo was once a friend of the priest, but was turned in for money. The scenes are very ironic because Judas and the mestizo, instead of being a follower, they are traitors.
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After many days in jail, the time has come and this was the priest's final moment of living. The shooting squad put him in position and the lieutenant gave the order. The priest fell on the floor, blood everywhere, taking a sacrifice. "There was a sense of abandonment, as he had given up every struggle from now on and lay there a victim of some power." (97) That was the last priest standing, no other priest for a hundred miles alive. The priest dyeing represents Christ dyeing on the cross. Jesus-- with the crown of thorns on his head, his body with whipped streaks across his body, and weak from carrying the cross-- was nailed in the hands and in the feet for doing nothing wrong. Three hours later Jesus announced, "It is finished." The curtain the palace hall split into two because God rebuked Jesus for taking all the sin from us. These two scenes are very similar. They both sacrificed themselves to save their loved ones and kept harm away. This is very ironic because the priest and Jesus were both sent to preach about God but instead, they were both executed. The good was being executed for nothing they did wrong.
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Silence came upon presence of the priest's death. Until three days later, when a man knocked on a boy's door. The boy opened the door and a man stood right before him. The boy looked at his face and realized that it was another priest. Hope has come again. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is parallel to this scene. Jesus Christ died on the cross and was placed inside a sealed tomb. Three days later Mary, Jesus' mother, traveled to Jesus' tomb, but saw nothing, it was empty. A white cloth was folded neatly where Jesus had laid. She later saw him standing right before her, with his hands and feet pierced with holes. He came alive again, hope was alive again. A new priest coming again represents the resurrection of Jesus. A new priest coming is like Jesus rising from the dead. Although the resurrection of human is very un-likely and very ironic, but since Jesus is not a human he has the ability to anything, like raise from the dead.
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The priest and Jesus are very much alike. Graham Greene made the life of Christ and the life of the priest parallel to each other using ironic symbolism and what Green is trying to show us is the message of the Passion. He used the scenes from the novel and compared them in a brilliant way to the Passion, making it significantly parallel.
