The Heart of the Matter is an exploration of same existential issues as have been found in Brighton Rock and The Power and the Glory. In The Power and the Glory. Greene deals with the dehumanizing elements in modern life, and shows the importance of faith rising from man’s personal experience. It hints at Greene’s dissatisfaction with organized religion as it limits the individual’s freedom. The ideological conflict between the lieutenant and the priest forms the central pattern of the book. The influence of faith upon action is seen as the determining force in the novel. Greene believes that it is impossible to decimate or extinguish faith; However close to extinction, it is relit, as is seen in the book when the Whisky-Priest, (who is the
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In the novel the protagonist, Major Henry Scobie, is more like the ordinary individual harassed by the worries and duties of everyday life. His individuality, loveless marriage, failure in securing a promotion, sexual conflicts and constant preoccupation with the possibilities of being saved or damned in a Catholic context allow Greene ample scope to explore some important existentialist issues such as: anxiety, guilt, responsibility, dread and death. Greene in his novel depicts the inner world of guilt, despair, conflict, and choice alongside the outer world of religious differences and social obligations, clandestine affairs and violence to awaken us to “despair of the universe”, which we ordinarily dismiss by living in faith, hope and the ultimate security of moral values. Greene’s attempt is to show that in Christian ideology, reason is considered all dominant and man is not given importance as an individual capable of deep personal feelings, passions and sufferings. Like existentialist thinkers Greene seems to assert that “man is everything”, that history of his personal predicaments when he is caught in “human situation” is all important. He revolts against the established religious values and challenges the Christian faith; he makes efforts to renew the meaning of Christianity by bringing into sharp focus the basic struggle between a man who is not a passive creature intended to obey the law on the one hand and institutions that represent objectified ideas and principles on the other. It is through the rejection of the rational theory and the authority of the Church
In the novel the protagonist, Major Henry Scobie, is more like the ordinary individual harassed by the worries and duties of everyday life. His individuality, loveless marriage, failure in securing a promotion, sexual conflicts and constant preoccupation with the possibilities of being saved or damned in a Catholic context allow Greene ample scope to explore some important existentialist issues such as: anxiety, guilt, responsibility, dread and death. Greene in his novel depicts the inner world of guilt, despair, conflict, and choice alongside the outer world of religious differences and social obligations, clandestine affairs and violence to awaken us to “despair of the universe”, which we ordinarily dismiss by living in faith, hope and the ultimate security of moral values. Greene’s attempt is to show that in Christian ideology, reason is considered all dominant and man is not given importance as an individual capable of deep personal feelings, passions and sufferings. Like existentialist thinkers Greene seems to assert that “man is everything”, that history of his personal predicaments when he is caught in “human situation” is all important. He revolts against the established religious values and challenges the Christian faith; he makes efforts to renew the meaning of Christianity by bringing into sharp focus the basic struggle between a man who is not a passive creature intended to obey the law on the one hand and institutions that represent objectified ideas and principles on the other. It is through the rejection of the rational theory and the authority of the Church