Graham Greene: Power and Glory

The story takes place in Mexico in the first third of the 20th century, during the severe persecution of the Catholic Church. Churches are closed, bishops and priests exiled or executed. The celebration of Mass and the administration of the sacraments become a capital crime. The last priest is fleeing from the revolutionary power. Not only the geographical and historical coordinates, but also many of the characters in this novel have a realistic basis. In 1938, Greene traveled to Mexico to gather material for a book on the persecution of the Catholic Church. He traveled through several Mexican states under incredible hardships; Two of them, Tabasco and Chiapas, become the setting for the novel Power and Glory. The last priest in the country, fleeing from the revolutionary power, is far from the image of a martyr for the Church: He drinks, he sins against all the commandments, including the sixth, he fears death and pain. His opponent, the representative of the revolutionary power, is, on the contrary, strong, does not doubt himself or his truth, and literally goes over corpses to assert it. Their "game" of life and death keeps the suspense going from the first to the last chapter.