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MonkeyNotes-The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The novel The Power and the Glory deals with religious
persecution in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
There were clashes between the state and the church and under the
presidency of Plutarco Elias Calles (1924-28), anti-clerical
measures were adopted and organized religion was banned. Calles
believed that the Catholic Church was responsible for spreading
superstition and that priests were corrupt, greedy, and responsible
for the poverty in Mexico. Calles formed the National Revolution
Party, which was a coalition of military, labor, and peasant
organizations and he totally excluded the church from the party.
In fact, churches were closed, and religious persecution was the
policy of the government. Many priests were shot as traitors, and
people possessing Bibles were heavily fined or imprisoned. As a
result, the Catholic Church suspended all religious ceremonies
and sponsored the Cristeros rebellion in Western Mexico. The
majority of priests fled the country or left the church. It is against
this backdrop that the action of The Power and the Glory takes
place. In the novel, there is religious persecution in some
provinces of Mexico, whereas in others, priests are safe.
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