Chapter 2: The Capital and Chapter 3: The River (Page 19-45)

In chapter 2 Mr. Greene talks about the situation. The socialists have taken over Mexico "...young men in red shirts milled boisterously round the gaseosa stalls" (page 20). They have prohibited the catholic religion, so they are persecuting and killing the priests and all those who continue practicing Catholicism secretly. "So-and-so found wearing a holy medal under his shirt 'fined five pesos"(page 21).

In this chapter two different points of view are presented. The lieutenant is against religion and is indifferent to the assassination of the priests. He seems to have a certain resentment against them and he remembers when he was younger and they were still accepted. They are looking for an specific priest that they haven't been able to capture so he proposes: "I will tell you what I'd do. I would take a man from every village in the state as a hostage. If the villagers didn't report the man when he came, the hostage would be shot-and then we'd take another" (page 24). This is a very cruel plan, there has to be a lot of hate in the lieutenant's heart for him to be willing to kill innocent villagers in order to capture one priest.

The second perspective we see is the married priest. He is miserable living with his house keeper/wife. "He thought with envy of the men who had died" (page 29). The only thing he holds on to is the fact that he can turn a cracker into the flesh of God. He feels ridiculous and helpless. Poor Jose, there is nothing he can do to fix his situation.

In chapter three there are many more perspectives. A foreign family who live in a banana plantation each have a different view of life. Captain Fellows comes home and finds a lieutenant waiting to talk to him about hiding a priest. He assures the officer that there is no priest in his plantation, but then he find out his daughter is hiding this priest.

Captain Fellows is an absent man. He likes acting happy and convinces himself that he is. He is very patient with his wife and is tranquil the whole time. Mrs. Fellows is a scared woman. "Terror was always just behind her shoulder: she was wasted by the effort of not turning round" (page 33). The thing was that she was terrified of death and panicked whenever this subject came up. Their daughter, Coral, is a great person. She let the priest stay and fed him. she is a very intelligent and firm young woman, and unlike her mother she is fearless. She spoke to the lieutenant and lied without hesitating.

The lieutenant's point of view is also described. He is as firm as Coral, and is wiling to do whatever it takes to capture the priest. I think he is the same man we see in chapter one, who is willing to kill innocent people in order to capture the priest. This man doesn't like the Fellows. "he had not been discourteous, he had waited till he supposed that they no longer watched him before he got rid of his hatred..."(page 36).

The priest who once was the stranger Mr. Tench met is the one being followed. He is an alcoholic and he is desperate in his situation. Coral was very nice to him, but he couldn't stay, so he started walking. He reached a village where he was warmly welcomed. They all were believers and hadn't seen a priest in five years. They want to confess themselves and even baptise a child. The priest was very tired and tried to leave for the next day so he could sleep. But the people were anxious.

I love that there are so many points of view presented. This makes the novel more interesting and it allows the reader to reach conclusions based on a omnipresent view.