'Between the stirrup and the ground': Is there any redemption for Pinkie in Graham Greene's Brighton Rock?

On 23 September 1989, in an interview with John Cornwell, Graham Greene was asked' "What, in the final analysis, . . . does your religion mean to you?" ' Greene's answer was: ' "Ithink . . . it's a mystery . . . It is a mystery which can't be destroyed ....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Heythrop journal 2016-09, Vol.57 (5), p.796-806
Main Author: Leah, Gordon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Greene, Graham (author)
Literary criticism
Religion
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:On 23 September 1989, in an interview with John Cornwell, Graham Greene was asked' "What, in the final analysis, . . . does your religion mean to you?" ' Greene's answer was: ' "Ithink . . . it's a mystery . . . It is a mystery which can't be destroyed . . . even by the Church . . .a certain Mystery."'When one adds to that what Greene wrote earlier in his life: 'I have small belief in the doctrine of eternal punishment', one is left wondering whether Pinkie, the violent,murderous main character in his 1938 novel Brighton Rock, would in some mysterious way bespared the eternal damnation that he has sought throughout the novel. It is the aim of this studyto consider the character of Pinkie, the role of those he encounters and to establish whether h eis indeed, in Greene's eyes, the recipient of grace and mercy despite the life he has led and theactions we have seen in the course of the novel.
ISSN:0018-1196
1468-2265
DOI:10.1111/heyj.12061