Peer-Reviewed Books

As an eldest child, I found this overwhelming feeling of self- disappointment painfully accurate as I try to be the “perfect” example to my younger siblings. To me, the priest is a kind of untouchable figure, revered, set as an example, but in reality, he is just as prone to be bad as those who look up to him are. Greene humanizes the priest through his flaws, but, at the same time, keeps him elusive, aloft, and separate from us earthly humans by not naming him. In the end, the priest becomes a legend despite his many shortcomings, which leaves the novel on a note of hope after the defeat of a hero. 

But the dual morality isn't just present in the people of Tabasco. The setting also contrasts the beautiful with the brutal and pointless. As the priest meets people along his long-winding road, people who both shun him and help him, the rain falls and the thunder echoes continuously. The rain of the evening symbolizes rebirth, but the floodwater leaves the earth more soggy and diluted than pure and clean. Every day seems to lend the same atmosphere of death and sin, even as the thunder and rain approaches the mountains, seeming like God’s punishment for the unbelieving. And the vultures, omnipresent, cheer on death and mock the living. Deformed, they cower over the sick and weak, moved by only a primal instinct to survive. 

Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, is the Judas figure. Unnamed as well, except for the caste he belongs to (or rather, doesn’t belong to), he follows the priest like a shadow. The priest can barely remember almost anything from his days before hiding, but even he recognizes the half-caste as a Judas figure. But the half-caste denies that he will betray the priest for money until the very end. 

The story begins with a series of interactions with side characters – a dentist who wants to escape Mexico, a young girl who has no father, a family on a banana plantation – and in the end, at the moment the lieutenant takes aim, like on the cover, the dramatic fall is seen by all. And with such a merciless shot, the older minds are pierced into a stark reality, and the dentist turns away and makes plans to escape. The young boy, who we saw earlier touching the gun of the lieutenant, curious and friendly, dreams of rebellion and of the priest’s younger days, and wakes up to a faint knocking on the door.  Another priest has come. Hope is here. 

Gaia Daniel is a sophomore from Minneapolis, MN, taking AP Lit with Mrs. Inspektor, AP US Gov with Mr. Munson, and AP Macro with Mr. Burns. Outside school, Gaia is a prizewinner of national and international piano competitions, most notably recently being named a ‘25-'26 NPR From The Top Fellow.