Questions of Life

An essay response to the novel, The Power and the Glory.

Throughout the novel, The Power and the Glory, the purpose of life is frequently questioned. Why are we here? What should we do? What is the point? All of these questions deal with one theme that will lead you to a better life: conviction. Convictions give us a feeling a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling that we have left an imprint on the world; if we did not have these feelings, what would we do with our lives? Without a strong belief in a cause that has a home in the heart, people will look back on their lives with remorse, feeling they have achieved nothing.

There are several characters in this novel that represent people who follow their beliefs with a passion, but also some who struggle to dedicate themselves entirely to a cause. "Mr. Tench stood in the shade of the customs house and thought: what am I here for?" (8) Going listlessly through the motions of life, Mr. Tench represents the people who have not found a cause to devote their entire life to; in result of this, he finds himself questioning the decisions and actions of his life. For a few short moments, after meeting the priest, his mind is cleared and he is able to comprehend what exactly had been going wrong -- his ether, his job, his family -- but a lifetime of bad choices soon brought the rains back and turned his mind back to the foggy mess it was before.

Mr. Tench may represent the people who haven't yet found the cause to which they dedicate their life, but the lieutenant represents the people who have convictions for the wrong things. Feeling that religion gives people false hope, the lieutenant wants to rid the world of these faiths and give the children the childhood he never had. "He would eliminate from their childhood everything which had made him miserable, all that was poor, superstitious, and corrupt. They deserved nothing less than the truth -- a vacant universe and a cooling world, the right to be happy in any way they chose." (58) Although his beliefs would bring despair to the people, at least he had a conviction to which he dedicated his whole life.

The lieutenant demonstrated strong convictions throughout the novel by sticking with his belief no matter how grueling the journey or how fanatic the predicament, yet when Padre Jose entered a tough situation, the first thing to be abandoned was his faith. When he became a priest, he made a commitment to follow the Lord and help others through life by helping them see God. With a dedication as serious as this, there was bound to be some hardships; the fact that he could not find his way through these problems measures just how shallow his convictions were. When he married and left the priest hood, Padre Jose backed out of his lifelong promise, leaving him feeling lonely and foolish; there was no longer any point to his life except to entertain the town children with his embarrassment.

The Lehrs -- not unlike Padre Jose --had troubles with their convictions, except their predicaments dealt with being to engrossed in the laws to have a true passion."Mr. Lehr and his sister had combined to drive out savagery by simply ignoring anything that conflicted with an ordinary German-American homestead." (163) When anything crossed the line of legalism, the Lehrs felt that it was absolutely wrong and corrupt; this meant that if any of their beliefs required them to do anything against the rule book, they would back away since it simply could not be done. Sometimes rules get in the way, keeping us from reaching success, yet if we truly believe in our cause, we would not hold back. If this is so, it is conspicuous that the Lehrs had their priorities in the wrong order and needed to take a step back in order to have seen what they should've been doing with their lives.

While the Lehrs felt they couldn't go against the law, Coral Fellows was completely the opposite -- she was ready to do anything to help the causes she believed in. "She was ready to accept any responsibility, even that of vengeance, without a second thought. It was her life." (42) Coral was ready to drop everything and help the priest if needed, worrying not a single bit about the outcome of her own life. She symbolizes the type of people who do not care what they look like to their coworkers or to their peers; not only do these people follow what they believe in without minding what other's thoughts are, but they are usually the most successful people in the world since they will not regret anything.

In our world there are a limited amount of people who are as strong as Coral, but there are many more who are like the priest. Whenever a tough situation arrived at the priest's doorstep, it seemed like all he did was make mistakes. In the end, however, he was always able to pull through and stick with his faith. "When he was gone it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake? even if they were corrupted by his example?" (65) For a while it seemed as if all he could do was wait to die and drink brandy, leaving many people feeling as if he was just as bad as Padre Jose, yet he eventually realized that his life's purpose was to teach others. Once he became aware of that, the priest chose a different route on the path of life, one that led him to do more with his life.

We may not always make the best decisions, but in the end, sticking with your convictions is what counts. "One of the oddest things about the world these days was that there were no clocks -- you could go a year without hearing one strike." (100) Sometimes, it will be hard to tell whether or not we are really here, doing what we are supposed to do. The only way to truly know that the clocks are ticking, that time is moving, that we are doing something is to live life with no doubts of your beliefs. If you give your whole life to the cause of your choice, bad decisions will not be evident and prevailing through life will be no problem.