In What Ways May the Lieutenant and the Priest be Compared and Differentiated in Part One of the Novel Essays

In What Ways May the Lieutenant and the Priest be Compared and Differentiated in Part One of the Novel Essays In What Ways May the Lieutenant and the Priest be Compared and Differentiated in Part One of the Novel Essay In What Ways May the Lieutenant and the Priest be Compared and Differentiated in Part One of the Novel Essay Greene has created two fascinating and complex characters. The first part of the novel revolves, most of the time, around these two characters. The whisky priest and the lieutenant may seem to be opposite characters but they share many characteristics which makes the relationship between these two main figures an uncommon and complicated one. In this essay I shall explore the differences and the contrasts between these two characters. The main factor which unites the characters of the whisky priest and the lieutenant is that both characters are dominated by their ideals, that is, both characters not only are willing to die for their ideals, but they are also willing to live solely to fulfill them. The lieutenant believes that he must eliminate the church in order to create a better world. He has very strong motives, these have undoubtedly emerged from his past: he rememberedthe churches of his boyhooddemands made from the altar steps by men who didnt know the meaning of sacrifice. He believes that suffering is the path towards a better world, future. The lieutenants ideals live on with the essential objective of creating a better world for the future and for the people who have been humiliated and cheated by the church. The lieutenants ideals are clear in the following fragment: All they want is your money. What has God ever done for you?. One factor which differentiates the priest and the lieutenant is the origin of their idealistic-dominated lives; the lieutenant pursues his objective because of hate and moral obligation: The new children would have new memoriesIt infuriated him to think that there were still people in the state who believed in a loving and merciful God. Whilst the ideals which the priest represents were born out of ambition and continued to live on inside him with the same forces: power and money: he had ambitionHe talked for a long while, enjoying the sound of his own voice Although later on the priest follows his ideals because just by living on he represents the opposite and necessary pole of the lieutenant. The priest is obliged to keep living on for his religion dictates that he must never take his own life and it seems to the reader that if it were the priests decision he would definitely have committed suicide. The lieutenant on the other hand has not the obligation to keep on living nor is he compelled to go further with the persecution. This is one of the most definite contrasts between the two characters. The fact that the priest is obliged to keep on living in suffering and in the opposite way of how he lived not only adds to the constant irony of the book but it also helps to undermine the faulty and sinful life which the priest use to have: He thought with envy of the men who had died: it was over so soon. The priests suffering redeems his shameful life and helps the reader become more sympathetic with this character. Greene makes the characters ironically similar and different. He does this in some ways to alter our perceptions of what can be judged or how we can judge. Ironically the lieutenant lives like the priest should live according to catholic teachings whilst the priest lives in the opposite way in which he should. Definite proof of the priest-like life of the lieutenant can be found in the following passage: there was something of a priest in his intent observant walkHe was a mystic toohe felt no need of women. The priest on the other hand has many sins, he does have a weakness for flesh, he is an alcoholic and he was initially, in the past, interested in money above religion. It is very difficult to judge in terms of who is nobler, it is clear that the lieutenant has more control over his actions and person and that although he is essentially looking for power, he has adopted a cause which he is convinced will make the world better. The priest stands up against violence and murder but h e began as a priest looking for power and money and he was not convinced by the catholic cause, he was simply searching for a better life for himself. Who is nobler, he who lives according to his ideals because he believes? Or he who lives according to his ideals because it is the simplest choice in life? The answer seems evident in this novel, but it is not. Greene manages to create an atmosphere were one is forced in the end to become sympathetic to one character even though the sins are always present. Even though the priest lives on without being a firm believer since the begging of his priesthood, we do feel more sympathetic with him. A possible answer is the obvious difference amongst the two characters: ideology. And the other which I believe is much more important is the methods through which they pursue their objectives. Although it is very probable that the reader is more sympathetic to the priests religious ideals I feel that the readers will be much more compelled by the obliged pilgrimage which not only puts his life in danger but which also lights the scattered candles of hope throughout the book. A significant contrast between the characters is the fact that one of the two seems to be much more human than the other, subsequently we feel more identified with this character. The lieutenant has no sympathy at all with the weakness of the flesh, he kills indiscriminately and much less of his past is revealed, as if he had been born just as the persecutions had began, he embodies the persecutions. The priest on the contrary has weaknesses, he fears, he suffers, he has had temptations and above all he has compassion for the half-hearted and the corrupt. The priests compassion and weaknesses make him more human, and thus make us share more sympathy for him even though he does not suit our idea of a good priest. The most primitive comparison between these two characters is that the lieutenant is willing to kill the priest out of hatred whilst the priest feels compassion for the type of person the lieutenant is. This is the most definite difference amongst these two entwining characte rs. In conclusion, these two dark question marks remain being a mystery individually at the end of the first part, but if seen as a whole one may discover that the two characters need each other to exist as they do. The priest needs the persecution to become a real priest worthy of our sincere sympathy whilst the lieutenant needs of his prey to have a vehicle to save the future generations. And though completely opposite in many aspects, one cannot draw a line across either of them without inevitably understanding the fundamental ways in which they exist and thus in which they are similar.