A Selfish Humanity

The Power and the Glory

Pgs. 30-49

September 25, 20o7

6:00 P.M.

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..... This section of the book really emphasizes the selfishness of society and humanity. Two examples of this are: when the stranger arrives at the hut community and when Padre Jose is summoned to say some prayers at a little girl's funeral.

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...... After being on the run for a long time and constantly fearing for his life, the stranger priest reaches a hut community which receives him with open arms. Soon a man comes to greet the traveller, and informs him that the community has very little to offer him. They "have no food," they can't offer him a hammock, and they only have coffee to drink. However, in the next paragraph the author describes "a stack of maize" while "rats rustled among the dry leaves (43)." The aren't willing to share their provisions with this hunger-stricken human being; however, they expect him to fulfill their expectations. The priest is absolutely exhausted, he wants to sleep, knowing that for the first time danger isn't a step behind. Although they couldn't give the priest food or offer him a hammock, the least they could give him the peace and quiet that he deserves in order to rest. But he people immediately wanted him to say mass, baptize a boy, and hear their confessions; they wanted him to satisfy their needs first, after all there was a risk that he could be taken away any minute. "It would be a pity if the soldiers came before we had time...such a burden on poor souls...father...(44)." All they want from him is to satisfy their moral and religious needs, and then he can continue his race against time. I mean why care about everything that this poor man had been through, right? He could be dead tomorrow, but instead of helping to protect him they just want to squeeze him out of his las breath of life. This is clear evidence that people don't think they need to give in order to receive; there's a mentality to get and gain for yourself before you give anything back. That's the selfish essence in humanity; we are not a very philantropic society.

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......Another example of human greed would be the scene with Padre Jose in the cemetery. Padre Jose was just taking a stroll through the cemetery which "waken[ed] a faint sense of homesickness which was better than no feeling at all (47)." He was taking advantage of the "sense of intimacy" that the cemetery provided; after all, "Life here had withdrawn altogether (47)." He was contemplating what his life had become, what had been erased from the past, and how he had made it through the days. Time passed as he analyzed how empty and void his life had become; however, this peace didn't last for long. There was a burial taking place at the far corner of the cemetery, and as soon as the grieving family saw him they wanted him to say some prayers for the dead girl. "They all watched him hungrily; they had been quite resigned until he had appeared, but now they were anxious, eager...He ducked and dodged away from them...They smiled at him waiting. They were quite accustomed to people dying, but an unforeseen hope of happiness had bobbed up among the tombs: they could boast after this that one at least of their family had gone into ground with an official prayer (48)." If Padre Jose practiced such prayers he would greatly endanger his life; it could be like committing suicide. However, the grieving party wasn't concerned about that; they made all kinds of promise to keep quiet in exchange for the prayers. However, "he could trust no one. As soon as they got back home one or other of them would certainly begin to boast (48)." They are willing to risk this man's life in order to get some prayers for their dead relative. How could you ask so much of one person? Risk your life for someone else's peace when they aren't willing to risk their peace for someone else's life? How can people be so selfish? Why do they want to kill this innocent man oppressed by the turns of life? Isn't he tortured enoguh with himself? He already had to give up his beliefs in order to life (he even had to abdicate to his vote of chastity and marry).

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..... These two examples really open human selfishness as a possible theme in this novel. It opens the reader to begin searching for new answers within the text, and to connect with the characters at another deeper level. Human Selfishness could definitely be a recurring theme in the text.