Concerning his physical appearance, it is remarkable that his teeth are referred to as “canines” (Greene 84), reminding the reader of the mongrel with the broken back that roams the banana station which the priest uses as a shelter after his release from prison (cf. Greene 140). This comparison can be expanded by both creatures being in a desolate physical condition and of mixed origin, as signified in the denotations used for reference within the novel (half-caste, mestizo, mongrel). Animal connotations and the primal urge of feeding are introduced into the context of the mestizo's character, his need to earn a living in order to survive is expressed through the hunt for his prey. The predominant colour in correlation with the half-caste is “yellow” (Greene 86), the colour that usually is a synonym of fear and dread. This fear might be of repressions from the regime or of fear of survival due to extreme poverty, however, the nameless priest is well aware of the calamitousness his people has to endure. This can be seen as one of the reasons for his understanding of the impending betrayal.
In the end, the half-caste depicts an evil and early foreboding of the disastrous end the priest and the story as a whole are heading to. This evil contains a definite necessity, for it is the driving force behind the clergyman's emergence as the martyr he was set up to become. Like the vultures, the continuous appearance of the mestizo overshadows the protagonist's path and he is established as a constant reminder of a morbid fugacity.
4 Conclusion
The Power and the Glory, which is, according to Woodman, mainly concerned with “the tremendous spiritual drama of salvation or damnation in Catholicism” (140) presents the full scape of Greene's ability and skill to develop a multi-level story line and a plot that, though complex and extensive, never shows a hint of dubiety. Throughout the novel, the reader is bound to experience an atmosphere of suppression and persecution while the protagonist and his supportive characters are engaged in their lives of longing and desolation, hunting and being hunted, love and indifference. Whole new aspects of faith and religion are highlighted and common conventions regarding character development are overturned for the sake of his characters' uniqueness.
Greene's use of symbols and allegories in The Power and the Glory must be deemed an extraordinary literary achievement both for its subtlety and for the effectiveness of his images. The analysis of some of his instances of symbolism has clearly shown that under the obvious surface of character depiction, there is an entire network of correlations and interdependences that contributes to the epic extent of his work. The idea of creating a set of very diverse and individual protagonists, though difficult it may be to implement their particular modes of action, has successfully formed the structural basis for a compelling and thrilling novel. Moreover, designing the characters in the fashion of a radial shape with the nameless priest at the very centre and his supportive characters as the corresponding spokes of the wheel presents Greene as an expert in evaluating social relationships in regard to their potential value for a plot.
The numerous layers of thinkable allusions between the different figures of The Power and the Glory and the fact that Greene enhances these underlying foundations of his work with additional symbols in environment or setting give an even more elaborate facet to his novel. Without question, his writing, especially in The Power and the Glory, has, not least through the application of said symbols, transcended the boundaries of average plot lines and established a new understanding for interdependent character preconditions and developments.
