The Power and the Passion

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.

Uncomfortable Moments

In life, there are many things to converse with other people about, but some subjects make people uncomfortable or lose interest. In the novel, Life of Pi, Pi-- a boy who was named after a swimming pool-- discovers many different uncomfortable conversations called taboos. With new taboos, Pi will break away from his old conventions and create new ones that will help him survive throughout his journey in life.

Before Pi's journey into the ocean, he discovered his first taboo in a temple in Munnar. That temple was where he discovered not just one religion, but three. Pi's desire was to become a Christian but his father agreed that it was a necessity to have a religion. "Father, I would like to be a Christian, please'… He smiled. 'You already are, Piscine-- in your heart. Whoever meets Christ in good faith is a Christian. Here in Munnar you met Christ'" (57) All pressure is on Pi. Hindu, Muslim, and Christian surrounded him and made Pi's eyes boggle all over and his head pound. Choosing a religion for Pi, is like trying to choose between three different job offers. One decision will change your life and that pressure on deciding, was the same pressure for Pi; he didn't want to disappoint his parents and when Pi made his final decision, he broke away from his convention. His convention used to be only having one religion, but now with taking all three religions, that convention snaps like a stick and becomes a new one.

Religion isn't the only taboo, fear is another aspect in Pi's life. Pi first experienced this fear in the zoo with his father. Pi was about 8 years old, when he was first introduced to the dangerous world of tigers. Pi stared at this bold, hungry, beautiful tiger. The goat was placed into the cage, and Pi was in shock when he saw the hungry tiger jump on top of the goat, and chewed it to pieces. Pi's instant reaction was to hide behind his mother in fear. "I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life." (161) This quote means, if humans didn't have fear, then we wouldn't be afraid of anything including death. We wouldn't care if we killed ourselves because fear took over life. Pi experienced this fear with the tiger and he did not let fear overcome his life. With this fear, he took one step closer from breaking this convention of relying on other people to protect him.

The number one fear in life is death. When Pi turned 14 years old, he found himself on a lifeboat with four animals. An orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and finally a Bengal tiger. Things became quiet on the boat, until one day. Pi was fishing for some food and everything around him seemed too calm, then all of the sudden a fish comes jumping up onto the boat. Immediately, Pi grabs the fish and stabs it with the knife like there was no tomorrow. Death represents paradox and without death, life would be meaningless because if humans make a mistake we will have eternity to fix it. That is why Pi's reaction is suddenly surprising because he knows that he does not have eternity to live.

Throughout life, taboos will be in every conversation -- even just a simple conversation or a discussion. Through Pi's life, he experienced taboos everywhere, when he was viewing a tiger attacking a goat or trying to survive in the ocean. These taboos, made Pi feel uncomfortable, it took him out of his comfort zone. When he breaks away from his comfort zone, he breaks away from his old conventions and creates new ones, new ones with experience, new ones with maturity, and new ones that will help him survive through life.

Great Expectations Essay

In the novel Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, the concept of love, is hard for many people to grasp upon, but is mastered by two men, Joe and Wemmick, who share this love with a boy named Pip, whose love was sucked out of his heart. Joe and Wemmick share a common personality, a personality that is warming, a personality that is calm, and a personality that is friendly. They share the personality of love.

Joseph Gargery -- a young man, who is unintelligent and works as a blacksmith -- lives his life with an abusive wife towards him and a young lad named Pip. With this hard life by using all his strength pounding steel or keeping promises, Joe's love will never fail. After a terrifying day at the graveyard, Pip was relieved to see Joe. These two young peers were enjoying themselves, they heard Mrs. Joe dashes through the door. The love for Pip is so important, that he had to act fast to protect Pip from Mrs. Joe. As Joe was telling Pip to hide behind the door, Mrs. Joe comes barging in from outside and starts poking Pip and Joe with a stick. Joe's protection for Pip is like a guardian angel. His love is so bright, that it would be painful for him to leave Pip in the dark. "But I loved Joe- perhaps for no better reason in those early days than because the dare fellow let me love him- and as to him my inner self was not so easily composed." (pg.40) This quote means is that Pip will be lost without Joe's love. Joe developed a bond between Pip and him. With Pip's life being so horrible, Joe is Pip's healthy escapism. Without Joe's love, Pip's heart will crack and his life will be unfulfilled. Joe's love is like a warm, rambunctious, fresh out of the oven cookie, it stands out like black on white, and you cannot get enough of it.

Joe's love is shown all day every day, where Wemmick's love is only noticed when he is in his comfort zone, his household. Everyday Wemmick steps out of his comfort zone and goes to work, where his love becomes hard as stone. Wemmick works with Mr. Jaggers and concentrates on his work-- very strict and never wanted to be interrupted. His stone heart at work melts when he steps into his household, but not just his heart, his personality changes to a whole different person. Wemmick's house is an imaginary place where all your expectations and thoughts escape your mind and is known as his "castle". Pip was invited over for dinner and as soon as Wemmick stepped into his house, he instantly turned into a generous, warming, gentleman. Right in this household is like Joe. Wemmick loves Pip, protects Pip, and is generous to Pip. His love is like an owl, when people are around him he hides, when he is all alone, his love exposes and feels more comfortable.

Wemmick's love only peeks out when he is at home, and Joe's love appears everywhere and all the time. These two men have conquered the concept of love, but they mastered it in different ways. There is one way where Wemmick and Joe share the same type of love. A love that will never fail, a love of warmth, a love of strength. Both Wemmick and Joe have a strong heart. In hard times or just inside your comfort zone, their love is strong, nobody can take it away from them. A love of strength doesn't just mean nobody can take it away from the keepers, but their love also involves compassion and trust. Joe and Wemmick are the 2 men who have the true meaning of love. Pip, who was a poor boy, is now rich because of the love that Joe and Wemmick brought to Pip. Without this love, Pip would have never reached his great expectation.

Love is a hard concept for so many people to grasp, but Joe and Wemmick have no hard time mastering it. "The stronger will win at the end, but the stronger has to be found out first." (pg.392) Joe and Wemmick are the two men who are strong in this world and will love at all times. There are stronger people out there, that have the true meaning of love. Joe and Wemmick are two very alike men who share the love for people and that love will never perish. They have compassion for those who are in need of love. Joe and Wemmick, together, are like the sword stuck in the stone. Many people will try to take it away, but the ones who are need will get the prize.

One out of 365

All in history, the American Revolution, Civil War, World War I and II, veterans have been honored for their dedication, commitment, and bravery on one day, Veterans Day. Veterans are people who serve in a military force. They put their life on the line to protect our country from the enemies of the world. They travel miles and miles away from their home to give us the freedom. Soldiers have left behind their most precious possessions for our country. For every soldier that is killed in a war, one innocent individual has freedom. These soldiers risk their lives to give us freedom. They go through the pain and suffering for us, and we only give them one day, out of three hundred and sixty five? Soldiers deserve more than just one day, they deserve to be honored ever day.

All throughout the history of America, Veterans have protected us in unexpected ways. On September 9^th 2001, two planes flew right into both of the Twin Towers demolishing the buildings and millions of innocent lives. The Twin Towers are now debris on the ground. Not all firefighters made it out of the building. Their lives have been lost for another person and they deserve glory for risking their life to save another’s. World War II was one of the major wars in America. It all started when the Germans attacked Poland. America realized they needed to help. That is when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. America was furious and needed to fight. World War II had many lives lying on the battlefield, but there were some who made it through the war. My grandfather’s both served in the navy back in World War II. They both have been honored for their dedication and bravery for exposing themselves to danger.

Every war in America, soldiers have been remembered for helping America become a free country. Honoring the people who risk their lives for us is very important and they should be honored every day. If we don’t honor these men and women, then their bravery, commitment, and dedication is all a waste. Take the time to give our veterans of America, the glory that they deserve every day, 365 out of 365.

The Good Earth Essay

In the novel, “The Good Earth”, Wang Lung was an ordinary farmer who lived a happy life working until one object turns him into a monster. This item didn’t just make him rich; it took his personality and turned him into a demon. This object is money. The wealth that he collected isn’t the best possession for Wang Lung. Money has corrupted him and coins have replaced his pupils.

Wang Lung was a farmer who loved to work all the time. He was working for as long as he could remember. He was an innocent and inexperienced man, until one day when Wang’s father wanted to purchase a slave. He said specifically, “Not a slave too young, and above all, not a pretty one.” (pg. 8) Wang’s father doesn’t want to have a pretty slave because then the beautiful slave will be distracted about her beauty and won’t concentrate on her chores. Wang starts walking to the head house, the House of Hwang. The House of Hwang is a place where lazy, selfish, and nasty people live, that sold slaves. The whole house is full of money and riches. When he approached the House of Hwang, a guard at the gate, had a huge mole with hair growing out the center of the mole. The guard humiliated Wang in front of the house for purchasing a slave for a wife. He was greatly ashamed and he purchased his slave, O-lan. The ruler – a fat man whose skin is oily and yellow – humiliated Wang because he was poor and had a slave for a spouse. This is where Wang’s tolerance acted up. His solution was to buy land from the head house. When he bought land from the House of Hwang he has just experienced the power of money and realized that money is a powerful object.

Eventually after buying land from the House of Hwang, it occurred to him that he didn’t need all this land. His farm land isn’t even farm land anymore because the soil is so rich. “All the money in the world would not tempt me to wake the old tiger. He sleeps with his new concubine, Peach Blossom, whom he has had but three days. It is not worth my life to waken him…. And do not think that sliver will waken him- he has had sliver under his hand since he was born.” This quote means that even though he bought land from the head house, it doesn’t mean that he will he will use it for evil. Wang Lung made this land useful by providing food for his children. A little while later, Wang Lung has experienced a drought on his land. No crops would grow no rain for months, no food for the children to stuff their faces with. The only thing left to eat was the ox but Wang loved this ox and could not kill it. O-lan had to eat something so she then took a knife and killed the ox. Killing the ox, symbolizes power. She cooked the ox and the family had it for dinner. After the ox was gone, there was no food to eat. This was a problem for Wang. O-lan and the children were starving of hunger, they needed to eat.

The past couple of days, there was nothing in O-lan and the children’s stomach. Although, in the south there were loads of food and the chances of living was high. Wang decided the south was the right way to go to survive. They packed up and took a train down to the south. They finally made it there and as soon as they were there, they had no idea what was going on. People there, spoke a different accent so it was difficult to understand. They had no place to live, they lived as hobos on the street. Sitting at the edge of the road and begged for money and food, wasn’t enough to survive. O-lan turned her children into thieves and Wang Lung was furious and against this idea. One day when he returned from begging on the streets, he finds out the only way to survive is to steal. He appears on the streets and walks up to a man and steals his money. When he returned to his house, O-lan put money in the walls for safe keep. She was afraid of losing money, so O-lan puts the money into the wall of their house. Now that they are rich Wang wants to go back to his old land and buy some of the property from the House of Hwang.

Wang and his family made it back to his home. With the money that he stole, Wang bought land from the House of Hwang and it is making Wang Lung more and more popular. Right before Wang Lung finally has peace in his house, his uncle and relatives come to town. To Wang this was major trouble because his uncle always relies on Wang. "When a man's house is full of wild dogs, he must seek peace elsewhere.' And all the old fever and pain burned in him and he was still never satisfied of his love. “(pg.) Wang cannot stand his uncle. The more money Wang gets the more he spends. Wang Lung used the power of money to develop more rooms in his house. Everything his uncle does, he gets upset. Wang had only one option, buy more rooms for his uncle. Anger is taking over Wang Lung. The money is starting to take control of his emotions. To help him be happy he decides to spend money to buy more rooms for his uncle and his uncle’s relatives. Wang’s uncle took over his house with his relatives. "They cannot take the land from me. The labor of my body and the fruit of the fields I have put into that which cannot be taken away. If I had the sliver, they would have taken it. If I had bought with the sliver to store it, they would have taken it all. I have the land still, and it is mine." His uncle was getting on Wang Lung’s final nerves, Wang finally kicked them out.

After Wang’s uncle was kicked out, his children are following Wang’s footsteps. In the real world, parents naturally know the feelings of their children, but Wang Lung doesn’t know the feelings of his children, because of money. Wang Lung spent money for his eldest son to go to school. Wang wants his son to teach him how to read and write. His son was sick of school, so one day he decided not to go and his father found out and he instantly was enraged. Wang Lung was absolutely furious. A bamboo stick was standing right next to him. Wang grasped it into his hands, and has hard and as painful as he could wacked his son with the stick. Money equals power and since Wang Lung is wealthy, it will make it easier to beat up his son. The more money he spends, the greedier he gets. In the real world, as kids are raised by their parents, the children respond and react the same way their parents do. It comes naturally. His children aren’t any different. Wang Lung covets money so much, he is blinded. Dollar bills have covered his eyes. He doesn’t realize that his children are taking advantage of his wealth. His kids are becoming selfish kids because they will ask for a possession and their father thinks that money is the solution. Wang Lung isn’t familiar what is happening around him because of wealth.

The Good Earth novel, relates to an archetype and this archetype is a story in the Holy Bible. This book of the Bible is Job. Job was an ordinary man who stayed faithful to the Lord. He would go through any situation in his life, happy or sad times, and still will stay beside God. One day the devil came from the earth and the Lord wanted to prove to Satan that Job is a faithful servant. The Devil wanted to prove God incorrect, so the Devil first took away his family. Job was still worshiping the Lord. He gave Job boils, and he was still faithful to the Lord. The Devil took everything from Job and he was still by God’s side. For the reward for being faithful, the Lord gave him double of everything Job lost. Wang Lung relates to Job. Every good deed that Wang Lung acted, there was a terrible reaction. When Wang Lung paid more attention to O-lan, the crops would die. Wang Lung tries to make good choices, but it is not possible because of his wealth.

Wang Lung started out as a nice unselfish man. When his riches took total control over his emotions, he had no feelings about his others, no feelings about his family, and even no feelings about himself. Therefore, his life gets worse and worse and he can’t do anything about it. Coins have replaced his pupils. He will tackle any obstacle that darts – even his family -- in his way to receive his most prize possession, money.