In a small seaside town in southern Mexico , during the most brutal period of religious persecution, Catholic priests either escaped, were killed, or got married. Depraved priests were on the run and radical lieutenants were hunting.
This is the work of the famous British writer Graham Greene . The author has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature 21 times. He has a 67-year writing career and has created more than 25 novels. He is famous for his two months in Mexico in 1938. This " power and glory " was created based on personal experience.
01 The Fugitive Priest
This unknown priest was born into a family of small shopkeepers. He was educated and trained in the United States. However, he did not consciously abide by the canon rules. The reason why he was said to be degenerate was because he liked to drink, and because drinking had some effects. gave birth to an illegitimate child. Priesthood was nothing more than a vocation to him.
This priest, who had been on the run for eight years, did not estimate the seriousness of religious persecution at the beginning. He thought that it would not be long before he would live the same glorious life as before. It was not until the later stages of his escape that he Get ready to escape, the story begins here.
When he was preparing to escape at the pier, he met a child whose parents were sick and were looking for a doctor for a long distance. He couldn't bear to walk more than 20 miles to a banana plantation to see the child's mother, so he missed the ship's schedule.
After escaping from the banana plantation, he trekked all the way to the small village where his child and his mother lived. It happened that the police who were searching for him also arrived here. Although the police captured a person in the village as a hostage, no one in the village betrayed him. , especially when he heard that the parish where he served killed a hostage because of him, he felt deeply guilty.
In the process of escaping, he met a mixed-race man. When he realized that he wanted to betray himself, he dumped him and fled to the city. However, he was caught by the police and thrown into prison for drinking.
In prison, he felt that he would definitely die. Unexpectedly, the people in the prison protected him again, including several hostages who knew him. Because he had been on the run for many years, his appearance had changed so much that the police did not recognize him.
He fled all the way and was preparing to cross the border. Just when he had reached the other side of the border and was preparing to continue his career as a priest in the city over there, the mixed-race man found him again and begged him to give the final blessing to the American fugitives who died frequently. Prayer, even though he knew that it was a trap for the half-breed to ask him to pray the last prayers for American criminals, but in order to free himself from the sins of the dying man, he actually agreed, which led to his eventual arrest. The lieutenant
02 is chasing
Lieutenant is a radical social reformist. In order to carry out the governor's orders to the letter, he does not hesitate to personally search and arrest in various villages, even when the rainy season comes, the villages belonging to this city will become Zeguo. , and never give up efforts.
What's more, in order to force people to tell the priest's whereabouts, he even killed several innocent hostages.
However, when he really caught the priest, he did not feel the joy of victory. Instead, he felt that life had no purpose and no meaning.
When he first let the priest go in prison, he saw that he was pitiful and gave him 5 pesos. Later, when he was about to execute the priest, in order to satisfy his last wish, he broke the law and prayed to Father Jose for him (it did not come true) ).
03 The Light of Humanity
Although Lieutenant is willing to help the weak, behaves with self-discipline, and is more like a priest than a priest, in order to realize the ideal of social reform, he kills innocent people indiscriminately and only maintains power. His behavior has gone to the opposite side of human nature.
At first, the priest just walked on this difficult road involuntarily. He was a timid, weak-minded, greedy for money, and not religious enough. However, during the escape process, his thoughts slowly changed. Mercy and forgiveness occupied his heart, the light of humanity gradually appeared and strengthened, and he finally embarked on the road of martyrdom.
As mentioned in the introduction:
No matter what kind of ideal it is, social, political or religious, if it deviates from human factors and indulges in the maintenance of power, it will inevitably lead to the abyss of real evil.
