The Power and the Glory

Author's Note: This is my response to chapter four and the prison cell scene. I am not really proud of this essay, and it was really kind of a meet-the-dead-line sort of writing. I thought the sub-theme in this part was pity, and kind of a judgement theme.

In contemporary society the first thing people do when placed in a social situation is judge their acquaintances, and they measure themselves against each other. We try to make ourselves feel superior to others in whatever way possible. A comparison can be made with any part of a person's behavior or appearance. The Power and the Glory demonstrates that when we are stripped down to the most basic parts of our personalities we all have flaws, and nobody is perfect.

When the priest is thrown in prison he converses with several of the other inmates who all have different opinions on how to live life. The priest talks about his beliefs, and a man laughs at him saying that believing in God makes a coward out of men. A woman acts pious and tries to be holy to solve her problems in life, but by doing so she acts as if all other people are inferior to her. She looks disdainfully upon the other people in the prison cell, but fails to realize that she has faults, and that she is just as bad as anyone else. The man who laughed at the priest is ignorant and prefers action over thought, but the priest realizes that all the people in the prison cells are flawed, and have different things that are wrong with him. This part is preaching that different people have different ways of solving the problems in life, and hold different values. Even if the values are flawed its better to stand for something. In addition we can't look down on people because we are all flawed and all human.

No matter how hard one may try to separate himself from others around him, one always looks the same as others in the end, because everyone has problems and flaws, and we must realize that just because a person isn't perfect doesn't mean that they must be ostracized, so it is futile to pity, and understanding must be exercised.

Author's Note: This response is to the first chapters of part two, and about the way guilt influences humanity, and how it can motivate us.

It is in human nature to fail, and act selfishly towards others, but when we look in retrospect we realize how wrong we can were, and we strive to get better. People either self-destruct from guilt, or they become motivated to better themselves, and The Power and the Glory shows how we should use our guilt and learning experiences to act morally next time a situation arises.

When an individual does something that they know is wrong and immoral they feel terrible as they watch the people they have wronged suffer, and this makes us strive to do better, because it can literally hurt to watch one's friends struggle. This is evident in real life, and in philosophy. An example of this would be when Judas betrays Jesus in the garden, and hands him over to the Romans in exchange for gold and silver. After the betrayal and the cruxifiction Judas feels so bad he hangs himself, because he realizes that the monetary gain is not worth it. However while we can feel motivated by the guilt to improve next time, it can also destroy us, because like the Bible says watching friends suffer is hard to bear. After cheating people it lowers our self-esteem, and we hate ourselves, so it can tear us apart, and ruin us,

Guilt's influence on our lives is exemplified in The Power and the Glory when the priest travels to the village where his former lover and illegitimate child live. He sees the poor way they live with low status in their village. His daughter is wise beyond her years, but the knowledge tortures her, and the other children laugh at her, because she has no father. Only his lover Maria knows that he is a whisky priest, and the other villagers her-worship him. The fact he abandoned them makes him feel terrible, and he wants the chance to redeem himself, because he desires the chance to relive his past and raise his girl.

Guilt makes us feel like we are evil, worthless beings who can do nothing, but bad. However at the same time it can motivate us to do better when we are given the chance and improve us ourselves as people. The Power and the Glory stresses that we must trust our feelings, and give ourselves the chance to do better next time.

 Author's Note: Chapter four of the Power and the Glory  talked all about how heroes have faults and how we glamorize people, and how we feel like we can't live up to expectations of others.

Withered hands reach out,
hands that have seen tough times.
People that have lived and lost.
They reach out to me?

I am nothing,
a commoner.
What do they mistake me for?
I cannot help them,
I have nothing to provide, to give.
Why don't they know I am worse than them.

My inner demons burn my soul,
a fire that never stops.
A parasite eating me from the inside,
and they expect me to carry them on my shoulders.
I am not a hero, I am only human,
with limits and faults, but humans can do amazing things,
perhaps  it is my turn.



Author's Note: The third chapter talked a lot about fear with Captain Fellows' wife living in constant fear, and the priest's attitude. This short story is about living in fear.

Residents of Gorosburg, Mississippi remembered the curious incident that occurred in 1995. It was pretty hard to forget after what that man did to himself. His name was Joseph Blanton, or something along those lines, he pretty much kept to himself, and the neighbors only found out about his problem when the police cars came roaring down the street like hornets. The officer in charge of the investigation, Sergeant Lance Jones stepped out of his car, and confronted Blanton's wife Stacy who had ran out of the sobbing upon their arrival.

"He's in the attic. He hasn't come out in God knows when, and the doors locked," cried Mrs.Blanton.

"Has he shown any signs of strange behavior recently?" inquired Jones as they proceeded into the household.

"Well I knew he was a little bit different ever since his father died in that boating accident. Ever since he's been kind of a safety freak if you know what I mean. He won't use anything sharp like a knife, because he thinks he's going to maim himself or something, and he won't travel in cars or airplanes. If he does go anywhere he rides his bicycle."

"Haven't you contacted a psychiatrist or anything?"

"Yes but they tested him and couldn't find anything seriously wrong. They just said keep an eye on him, and contact them if his behavior changed dramatically."

"So is there anything else you've noticed?"

"He changes the fire alarm batteries daily, and locks the windows and doors at all times. I don't know, maybe he thinks someone's after him."

"That's interesting." They reached some steps on the second floor leading up to a door. "So this is the attic?"

"Yes, the doors locked, but it's pretty thin. You can break it down can't you?" Mrs. Blanton questioned. She seemed worried about what was on the other side of the door.

"I think I'll be able to. Could you call out to him to make sure we give him a warning?"

"Yeah. Hey Joe! Are you in there? I'm going to come in Joe." Mrs. Blanton nodded to Jones and he took a step back and hit the door with his shoulder, once! twice! The door finally swung back on the third try. The attic was a small, concrete windowless room. Jones noticed a dying potted plant in the corner, but the strangest thing was the amount of smoke detectors on the ceiling. There must of been at least seven detectors, and Mr. Blanton was standing on top of a ladder trying to adjust the batteries with his fingers. Jones assumed this was because he dind't want to use a sharp screwdriver.

Blanton turned around with a dazed smile. "Oh hello sweetie. I've just been changing the batteries on the smoke detectors. You know how often they run out. Jones' eyes widened as he looked on the walls. Drawn in chalk was a group of roughly ten cartoon people. A drawn window was on the opposite wall.

"I see your looking at my friends. They're really quite a bunch. Stan served in the military and Carol is a professional soccer player. Whoa wait!" Blanton was addressing Jones. "Why do you have those handcuffs? Do you know you could lock yourself up with those? Jones advanced on Blanton while Mrs. Blanton hid her eyes behind her hand.

"Hey wait what are you doing?" Blanton screamed. "Where are you taking me? Please I need to take my vitamins and pills I'm going to get sick. I'm burning up already." After being taken Blanton didn't know why they had put him in this room, but it was very soft and comfortable he thought.

"I am safe," Blanton said aloud. "At least I am safe."
Author's Note: I'm not exactly sure if I was right, but it seemed like fear was the sub-theme that was played with a lot during chapter three, and it made me think about how we can't live in fear, because when you live in fear and don't take risks you aren't living, so in the communist dictatorship in the Power and the Glory the people all fear being persecuted, and tainted by what the Government calls illegal.















Author's Note: This is a response to the first two chapters of  the Power and the Glory. I thought the chapter spoke a lot about control and power, and the effect it has on civilization.
The countries and governements of the world constantly grasp for more power. Anything that will extend their influence over the rest of the world, and control the people of America. The two chapters of The Power and the Glory shows how control and power influences people into a state of resistence.


Communist regimes thrive on stopping the flow of information in the country, and slowly introducing their biased opinions into society. This throw the society and people into a state of submission while the people fight among themselves. In The Power and the Glory all levels of citizens show this fear of the government and struggle to comply with the rules laid down by the dictator. The lieutenant of the police dreams of the old ways when religion was allowed, and is indifferent, because all free will was squeezed out of him by government propaganda, etc. In additionn, when the chief of police begins to question the orders given to him by the Governor. While doing this the chief began complaining of a toothache while thinking about the orders. The teeth symbolize control, and when the chief of police complains about his damaged teeth it symbolizes how he has lost control of his life, and that he doesn't control how the police are run even though he's the chief. The police are the government's personal hit squad for whoever they feel needs to be eliminated.

While the chief of police is controlled by the government, the Governor's control does not capture all of the citizens. The priest on the run is driven by his own motives and uses his past to drive him. The priest had plenty of opportunities to change his lifestyle, but instead of acting like a refugee, he began living on the run blessing people, etc. When the priest had the chance to escape to America on the boat, but doesn't, it shows how people break free from control, and how free-thinkers exist even in communist society.

Control crushes all resistance, and has a domino effect. As a government gets more control more people join the cause of the government as they feel it gains control. This is evident in the first two chapters of The Power and the Glory which show how easy it is for a government do influence people, and crush resistance.