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GRAH GREE NOV by Mrs Amanda Lingen
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aking into consideration his ‘Catholic’ novels, (Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The Power and the Glory and The End of the Affair) it seems that Graham Greene’s writing centres on paradox. Greene’s faith as a Roman Catholic, which was by no means unquestioning or orthodox in its nature, gave a theological framework to his writing. He famously described himself as a writer, ‘who happens to be Catholic’, suggesting that he is not specifically a Catholic writer, but rather, as part of his philosophy and outlook, faith naturally enters his writing. While these novels are in no way dogmatic, they contain many Catholic characters and probe the place of Catholicism in a predominantly sceptical and secular twentieth century society. It is in the questions of faith and doctrine that most of Greene’s paradoxes can be found and these paradoxes are dramatised through his protagonists - Pinkie, Scobie, the whisky priest and Benedrix. Let us consider Brighton Rock, Greene’s first major ‘Catholic’ novel. The novel contains a double discourse: it is at once a detective story, with Ida Arnold determined to solve the mystery of Hale’s murder, and a mystery of the mercy and nature of God. The very distinct secular and religious paths cross, or rather clash, in Brighton Rock in the battle between the worldly Ida, who insists on the moral justice of right and wrong, and the Catholic Pinkie and Rose, who exemplify evil and good respectively. Ida dismisses Rose’s theology, retorting, “That’s just religion”. Similarly, Rose is unable to react to the moral standards Ida holds by: ‘[Ida] “I know one thing you don’t. I know the difference between Right and Wrong. They didn’t teach you that at school.” Rose didn’t answer; the woman was quite right: the two words meant nothing to her. Their taste was extinguished by stronger foods - Good and Evil.’
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