engleski

Graham Greene's Catholic Cycle of Novels

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Catholicism on Graham Greene´s literary work and to analyze the themes explored in his Catholic cycle of novels. In the first part, the major events are described that prompted Greene to turn to Catholicism. Besides having his faith as a lifelong source of inspiration, the events in Greene´s childhood and his close study of the French Catholic novel prove to be a significant influence in his writing. The thesis then looks at Greene´s development as the leading representative of the revived genre of the Catholic novel. He is placed in the category “Catholic novelist” by publishing a series of novels between 1938 and 1955 that overtly treat Catholic matters. Brighton Rock examines the two opposing concepts of good versus evil. The Power and the Glory shows the battle of an individual between damnation and salvation. The Heart of the Matter studies the virtue of pity and its catastrophic effect that results in the sin of suicide. The End of the Affair explores the painful sacrifice and associated spiritual progression of a person. The thesis recognizes Greene´s profound preoccupation with the French Catholic novel whose key attributes are found in his series of Catholic novels. The themes that recur and dominate Greene´s narrative are identified as “the sinner at the heart of Christianity, ” “the idea of voluntary damnation” and “the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God”. These results suggest that Greene´s Catholic novels distinguish oneself due to the depiction of its characters and the implied closeness of sinner and saint. However, the mentioned characters are self-aware of their fallen nature and selflessly offer their salvation for the sake of others and therefore experience “the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God”. In his Catholic cycle of novels, Greene introduces a new humanistic approach to salvation, which doesn´t rely on Church dogmas, but focuses instead on the needs of its believers and takes the weakness of the human nature into account.

Catholicism, faith, Catholic novel, mercy, salvation

nije evidentirano