The Power and the Glory Characters

Maria is Brigitta’s mother and the whisky priest’s former lover. At first, she likes her attachment to the whisky priest, until her town turns on him because the lieutenant takes hostages in his place.

Brigitta is the illegitimate daughter of the whisky priest and Maria. Brigitta is a cold and cruel girl who has little love for the whisky priest. The whisky priest blames himself as well as Brigitta’s difficult upbringing for the way she turned out.

The police chief runs the police force in Mexico’s capital city, though he spends most of his time playing billiards. While he is not a cruel man, the police chief primarily cares about protecting his own image.

James Calver is a wanted murderer from the United States who is trying to find a place to hide in Mexico. When Calver gets shot, the whisky priest sacrifices his own life in order to hear Calver’s confession.

Captain Fellows is the owner of a banana plantation, which he lives on with his wife, Mrs. Fellows, and his daughter, Coral. He finds life on the plantation idyllic until the whisky priest and the lieutenant disrupt it.

The beggar is a poor man the whisky priest meets in Mexico’s capital city. The beggar introduces the whisky priest to the Governor’s cousin.

Mr. Tench is a dentist living in Mexico. He meant to move to Mexico temporarily but became stuck when the value of the peso plummeted.

The Governor’s cousin offers to sell the whisky priest wine. However, when the whisky priest purchases the wine from him, the Governor’s cousin passes it out to everyone in the room, leaving the whisky priest with none left for his sacraments.

The Native American woman is the mother of the fatally wounded Native American boy. She enlists the whisky priest to help carry her son’s dead body up the mountains.

The whisky priest finds the Native American boy by chance, bleeding out from a gunshot wound. After the boy dies, the priest helps his mother, a Native American woman, carry his body up the mountains.

The stranger with a gun appears as the whisky priest is hiking through the mountains. At this point, the whisky priest is exhausted and at the point of collapse. The man assures the priest that he means him no harm.

Luis’s mother is a strict Catholic who insists on sharing her religion with her children even when it is outlawed in Mexico.

Luis’s father is a warm and intelligent man who does not cling to religion as strongly as Luis’s mother.

Padré Jose is a former priest living in Mexico’s capital city. Although he feels guilty, he resists performing religious rituals for anyone in fear of getting killed.

Mrs. Fellows is the wife of Captain Fellows and the mother of Coral Fellows. She is often ill.

The old man shelters the whisky priest for a night. In return, the whisky priest hears his confession.

Juan is the martyr in the religious stories Luis’s mother tells her children. In the stories, Juan is perfect, always doing the right thing in the eyes of God.

Pedro Montez is a man whom the lieutenant takes hostage and eventually kills to get to the whisky priest.

Miguel is a young man from Maria’s village whom the lieutenant takes hostage.

The beggar is a poor man the whisky priest meets in the capital city. The beggar introduces the whisky priest to the Governor’s cousin.

Miss Lehr is Mr. Lehr’s sister. She helps care for the whisky priest after his perilous trip through the mountains.

Mr. Lehr helps care for the whisky priest after he crosses the mountains.