Mystery Man

In the novel "The Power and Glory" I discovered a new kind of narrative writing that I have never read before. The main character Mr. Trench is a priest who lives in Mexico and is waiting for his ether to arrive from a boat. While waiting at the dock for the boat he meets a man who has no name yet, but can speak english which excites Mr. Trench because he does not know many people in Mexico who speak his language. "It's good hearing English spoken," (pg10) It kind of reminds me of myself because whenever I first moved to Colombia not knowing any spanish at all it made me transition to something I was not accostumed to. Then when I arrived to school where everyone speaks english it relieved me to know that I was not alone but also had a lot to learn.

With it being obvious in the text you can tell the man that Mr. Trench meets in the hot mexican sun is someone very peculiar because he is very shady in talking openly. "Somebody knocked on the door. The stranger slipped the attache case under his chair..." (pg 16). This mysterious man seemed very eager to keep hidden whatever was inside that case of his. This man has contraband whiskey and sudden change of heart to leave and help a boy with his dying mother. Its like he is hiding from something ever since he found out that his friend Lopez would not be making an apperance since he was shot. I do wonder what this mans intentions are because he believed that he was meant to miss the boat do to the sudden incident of the boy showing up. I think it was just an excuse to leave because he knew he could not stay long there down by the dock with Mr. Trench.

After Mr. Trench comes back to reality to realize he came for the ether cylinder its too late because he missed the boat. And then by the end of the chapter the novel forwards to what the stranger is doing. "Let me be caught soon....Let me be caught.' He had tried to escape, but he was like the King of the West African tribe, the slave of his people, who may not even lie down in case the winds should fail." (pg 19) This concludes my theory on how shady this man is and how I think he is in trouble and feels guilty. I like this quote because its a good analogy of what he is probably going through and how he is trapped in a situation that will be very difficult to get out of.