Sinner And Saint:The Leap Of Faith In The End Of The Affair And The Power And The Glory

Graham Greene is one of the greatest English writers in the 20th century.Though previous studies focus on the religious,the political and the moral aspects of his fictions,the subtheme of religion--the salvation,leaves much to be said.This thesis explores the theme of salvation in Greene's novels:how sinners transform into saints with the un-preferential love through the leap of faith in Kierkegaard's philosophical framework of Christian Existentialism.The leap of faith is a core concept of Kierkegaard's Christian Existentialism which includes three stages of existence:the aesthetic,the ethical,and the religious.The leap of faith serves the motion between the other two stages to the religious stage.To make the leap of faith,people in the aesthetic stage and the ethical stage should look their despair in the face,make resignations,and establish personal relationship with God.In this way,they have the un-preferential love of the religious stage which can defend the despair and have their salvation.As a Catholic writer,Greene explores the theme of salvation in The Power and the Glory and The End of the Affair--how sinners transform into saints.In the two novels,Sarah and the Priest as sinners in different conditions both transform into saints with the un-preferential love through the leap of faith,hence the salvation.In The End of the Affair,Sarah as an adulteress in the aesthetic stage,faces despair caused by her erotic love,makes resignations and the leap of faith,becoming a saint with un-preferential love for everyone.On the other hand,in The Power and the Glory,the Priest,who belongs to the ethical stage,makes resignations of the worldly reward and his pride and makes the leap of faith,showing un-preferential love to people around him,becomes a saint and has his salvation.In contrast,the thesis also makes an exploration of the reasons of why people fail to make the leap of faith in the two novels.Bendrix in The End of the Affair,who is on the edge of the leap of faith,resists it as he is a demon in the aesthetic stage,while Henry in The End of the Affair and the lieutenant in The Power and the Glory fail to make the leap of faith due to their conformity to the ethical stage.Without the leap of faith,they can never have the un-preferential love which would enable them to defend the despair of world.All in all,seeing the un-preferential love in religion as a way out,Greene's religious view is impregnated with love instead of hatred.