The Power and the Glory

Characters

1. The Priest
The protagonist of the story, he is not given a name. He is a Roman Catholic priest
on the run from the authorities in a Mexican state that has outlawed religion.

2. The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is the antagonist of the story and is also never given a name. He is an
atheist who has an intense hatred for the Catholic Church.

3. The Mestizo Man

Referred to as "half-caste," the priest rst encounters him lying in a hammock on his
way to Carmen. The man has only two teeth that look like yellow fangs.

4. Mr. Trench
A British dentist living in Mexico, trying to make enough money to move home but
the currency value keeps dropping making his savings worthless.
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5. Chief of Police
Sometimes called the jefe, he is the lieutenant's boss. He however does not have a
serious commitment to nding the priest.

6. Father Jose
A Catholic priest who has chosen to marry his housekeeper instead of being killed.

7. James Calver
The wanted American referred to as "the Yankee." He robbed a bank in the United
States and killed two federal agents.

8. Brigetta
'The priest's young daughter he fathered after he spent one night with her mother.

9. Maria
The lover of priest , mother of , Brigetta.

10. Miss Lehr

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A German woman living in Mexico with her brother. She is a Lutheran who lets the
priest stay with her for several days.
11. Mr. Lehr
A German man living in Mexico with his sister. He is a Lutheran but lets the priest
stay with him and say mass in his barn.

12. The Governor

The head of the state from which the priest is trying to escape. It is his polices that
have outlawed religion and called for all priests to be killed.

13. Captain Fellows

An English businessman in Mexico, he runs a banana business. His wife and
daughter live on a remote plantation.
14. Mrs. Fellows
She is often sickly. She is a teacher to her daughter, Coral, before her death. At the
end of the story she is on her way back to England with her husband.

15. Coral
The young girl living on the banana plantation who helps the priest hide and brings
him food and beer.
Part 1 chapter 1
The novel opens with Mr. Tench, an English dentist living and working in a small Mexican town,
heading from his home to the riverside to pick up a canister of ether that he has ordered. The
ships have come in, and Tench stands in the blazing Mexican sun, watching the rickety boats
and continually forgetting why he has come to the river. He meets the stranger, a mysterious
man who is waiting for a boat to Vera Cruz. Tench is interested in speaking with the man
because he speaks English and, upon learning that the stranger has a bottle of contraband
alcohol with him, becomes even more interested. Tench invites the stranger back to his house
to share a drink.
At Tench's home, the two men talk and drink for some time. Tench tells his guest that he left
behind a family in England, but he has given up writing letters to his wife. The stranger looks
like he has not been taking good care of himself. He seems wary and somewhat anxious. He
makes strange comments that make Tench pause and wonder about the man.
The men are interrupted by the boy who knocks, seeking help for a woman, his dying mother.
Reluctantly, as if he had no choice, the stranger agrees to accompany the boy back to his
house. He is aware that doing so will mean that he will most likely miss the boat to Vera Cruz.
As he takes his leave of his host, the stranger tells him that he will pray for him. After his guest
departs, Tench discovers that the stranger has left his book behind. He opens it and nds that
it is a religious book about a Christian martyr, an illegal document in this state. Unsure of what
it is, but dimly aware that he shouldn't have it in his possession, Tench hides the book in a little
oven. He suddenly remembers that he forgot to pick up the canister of ether, and runs down to
the river only to nd that the ship has left the dock and is drifting downriver. On the boat, a
young girl sings a sweet, melancholy song. She feels free and happy but she does not know
why. Elsewhere, the stranger, walking along with the boy, hears the boat's whistle and realizes
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that he has, in fact, missed it. He feels despondent at being unable to leave, and angry towards
the boy and his mother for keeping him from his boat.

Part 1 chapter 2
At the police station, the lieutenant observes his squad of ragtag policemen with distaste. A
stern man, he metes out punishment to a group of prisoners who have been jailed for minor
offenses and waits for the jefe, or chief, to arrive. The jefe informs the lieutenant that he has
spoken with the governor, who believes that there are still priests at large in the state. The
lieutenant is skeptical, but the jefe produces a photograph of a plump priest cavorting with
women at a rst communion party. Upon seeing the photograph, the lieutenant feels anger
welling up inside of him. He is outraged at the way the priests behave, or at least at the way
they used to behave before Catholicism was outlawed, believing that they lead lives of
indulgence and wealth while the people who they supposedly served remained in poverty and
misery.He pins the photograph to the wall next to a photograph of James Calver (who is
referred to simply as the gringo throughout the novel). The gringo may be a bank robber and a
murderer, the lieutenant argues, but he actually in icts less harm on society than a priest does.
The lieutenant feels that to apprehend and execute a priest is a virtuous deed because it helps
to heal the entire state. Talking himself into an angry, determined state of mind, the lieutenant
vows that he can catch this priest within a month. He concocts a plan to take one hostage from
every town, and kill him if no one in the town comes forward to report the priest's whereabouts.
After all, it would certainly be worth a few dead peasants to be able to apprehend the last priest
in the state—or so the lieutenant argues. The lieutenant returns to his small, spare room, and
thinks with bitterness about the beliefs that religion propagates. He thinks that there is no
merciful God, that the universe is cold and dying, and that existence is purposeless.
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Meanwhile, in another part of town, a woman reads to her family the story of Juan, a young boy
who was murdered because he believed in God and in the Church. A boy listens to the woman
(his mother) read and soon we learn that this is the boy who called at Mr. Tench's house for
help for his dying mother. His mother is not dying at all, it turns out, and she and her husband
have a conversation about the whiskey priest, the stranger from chapter one, who has taken his
leave of them. They also discuss Padre Jose, a priest who, at the state's insistence, agreed to
get married and abandon the priesthood.
In yet another part of town, Padre Jose sits on his patio watching the stars and thinking
despairingly about his own life. Too afraid to face execution, he opted to give in to the states'
demands and leave the Church forever. Now, he thinks, he must live out the rest of his life as a
symbol of cowardice and poor faith. Some children mock him as his wife calls him to bed.
Part 1 chapter 3

Captain Fellows is an American living in Mexico with Mrs. Fellows, his wife, and his young
daughter, running the "Central American Banana Company." He returns home one day and his
wife informs him that his daughter, Coral Fellows is speaking with a police of cer about a priest
who is at large in the area. The police of cer is the lieutenant from Chapter Two, who is
beginning his search for the priest. After a short, tense conversation with Captain Fellows, the
lieutenant departs. Coral then informs her father that she refused to allow the lieutenant to
search the premises, because the priest is hiding in the barn. Shocked, Captain Fellows asks
his daughter to bring him to the priest's hiding place. He tells the priest that he is not welcome,
and the priest, with characteristic deference to others' wishes, says he will depart. He asks for
some brandy, but Captain Fellows refuses to break the law any further than he already has That
night, Mr. and Mrs. Fellows lie together in bed, lled with anxiety and trying to ignore the sound
of Coral's footsteps as she heads to the barn to bring food to the stranger. Curious, generous,
and sensitive, Coral listens carefully to the priest's description of his troubles. With innocent
logic, she asks the priest why, if he is so miserable as a fugitive, he doesn't just turn himself in.
He explains that it is his duty to remain free as long as he can, and that he cannot renounce his
faith because it is out of his "power." The girl listens without judging, then teaches the priest
how to use the Morse Code so that he can signal her if he ever returns.
The priest then makes his way to a small village where he nds a small hut to sleep in for the
night. Desperately tired and wanting only to sleep, he is beset by villagers asking him to hear
their confessions. After some time, he grudgingly agrees to forgo sleep and perform his
priestly duties for the people. He begins to weep out of frustration and sheer exhaustion, and
an old man goes outside and announces to the villagers that the priest is waiting inside for
them, weeping for their sins.
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 Part 1 chapter 4
Mr. Tench sits at his worktable, writing a letter to his wife Sylvia, with whom he has
not had any contact for many years. He nds it hard to begin, his thoughts drift, and
he thinks about the stranger who visited his house. Someone knocks at the door and
he abandons the letter for the time being.
Padre Jose walking in a graveyard, meets a group of people who are burying a little
girl. They ask him if he would say a prayer for her, but Padre Jose, aware of the
danger he is in, refuses. Living under the constant surveillance of the local
authorities, he knows that he cannot trust people to keep secrets, and performing
such a ceremony among so many people would be dangerous indeed. The people
begin to cry and plea for him to help them but, feeling disgraced and useless, Padre
Jose continues to refuse their request.
A woman again reads her children the story of Juan, the young martyr. The boy, in a
t of anger, declares that he doesn't believe any of it. His mother angrily sends him
out of the room. He tells his father what has transpired, and his father, rather than
becoming angry at his son's unruliness, simply sighs. Not a man of much faith, the
boy's father tells him that he laments the passing of the Church, since it provided a
sense of community.
While teaching Coral Fellows a history lesson, Mrs. Fellows complains of fatigue and
puts her book down. Coral takes the opportunity to ask her mother whether she
believe in God. Her mother asks Coral to tell her with whom she has been talking to
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about such things. Coral then goes out to check on a banana shipment and, realizing
her father has not taken care of business and is nowhere to be found, gets to work.
Then, she begins to feel ill.
The lieutenant nds the jefe playing billiards and asks him if he has spoken with the
governor. The jefe says that the governor has authorized the lieutenant to use any
means necessary to apprehend the outlawed priest, on the condition that he catch
him before the rainy season begins. The lieutenant tells the jefe that he will
implement his idea to take hostages from the villages, and that he will start at the
priest's hometown and parish, Concepcion. The lieutenant takes his leave of the jefe
and heads towards the police station alone. Along the way, a boy throws a rock at
him and, when asked what he is doing, the child answers that he was playing a
game, pretending that the rock was a bomb and the lieutenant was a gringo (a
foreigner). Pleased with this response, the lieutenant unthreateningly shows the
young boy his gun, and walks away wishing that he could eliminate everything from
the child's life that keeps him in ignorance. He is further charged with a sense of
purpose to nd and execute the priest.
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