er and the Glory, Greene’s portrayal of the main character, the “whisky” priest, is degrading for a leader of the Roman Catholic church. His teeth are described as being ‘spiritually unfit’ for the sacrament of the Eucharist. The “whisky” priest appears to be a drunken failure. This image could be seen as a priest with an addiction that is just a part of someone’s life, or it could be seen as Greene’s way of setting up the Roman Catholic church’s image of the last priest as weak and irresponsible. In the book, the “whisky” priest is with the governor’s cousin, the jefe, and a beggar in a hotel room. The priest has wine that he uses for saying mass in the towns he passes through. They end up getting drunk from the wine for mass until it is gone, leaving no way for him to celebrate the consecration at the next town. The image here of the priest is a failure with no control and no care for people who are counting on him to say mass for them.Greene married Vivien Dayrell- Browning in 1926, which turned out to be a relationship that didn’t last. From the 1920s through the 1930s Greene recalled he had been with at least forty seven different prostitues. In the novel the “whisky”priest has illicit sex with a woman by the name of Maria. Their daughter named Briggita was conceived in sin. Does the priest even think of the future he is setting up for his child? Maria and Brigitta were abandoned by the priest early in the marriage. Not only does this whole sequence cause much confusion to the reader, it also shows the priest as a man who cannot follow his vows as a priest. It shows the priest as both a spiritual and physical parent. It leaves a woman and child poor and alone. This conception of authority in the church leaves the church helpless and subject to however Greene wants to make it appear. The adultery seen here in the book is ...
