Greene’s use of religion and religious imagery in ‘Brighton Rock’ Essay Example

papists treat death with fippancy' and that life was not so important to them as death, and what comes after death.Ida therefore, stands as an evident alternative to Pinkie and Rose's Catholicism. If they suffer from the concerns with an afterlife that Ida describes, she herself seems to stand as a symbol of life being lived - 'Life was sunlight on brass bedposts, Ruby port, the leap of the heart'9. This is not to say however, that she should be seen in an entirely positive light.

Her conviction that 'I know what's right'10, seems in many ways to be as dogmatic and unmerciful as that of the 'papists'11 themselves. In that sense, she is as Clarence describes her: 'You're a terrible woman...

You act for the best'12.As well as allowing Greene to present Ida's beliefs to the reader, Hale's funeral also allows him to examine another type of unconventional belief. The church where Hale is cremated is portrayed as a modern secular church, creating another religious perspective aside from that of Catholicism and Ida's non-conformism. A sense of irony is apparent in Hale's funeral, in particular when the priest is giving his speech.

The priest states that 'Our belief in heaven, is not qualified by our disbelief in the old medieval hell'13. He is obviously denying the existence of hell, but Greene then subtly mocks this by describing how the '... offin slid smoothly down into the fiery sea'. This extreme contrast conjures up images of hell and damnation in the reader's mind.

Within Brighton Rock, of course, hell is most closely associated with the two main protagonists Pinkie and Rose, both Catholic. To stop Rose from being able

to testify against him for the murder of Fred Hale, Pinkie befriends and then marries her. As well as being under age, their marriage is a sham as Pinkie evidently despises her. 'God damn you, you little bitch, why can't you go back home for ever and let me be?  Obviously, getting married under age is against their religious beliefs and they both realise that they have committed a Mortal Sin and will go to Hell. Perhaps one of the reasons that Greene made Pinkie and Rose religious is because it makes under age marriage seem more shocking.

Pinkie does not seem to be as worried about the idea of damnation, and perhaps this is because he knows he will go to hell for the murder of Hale. Rose on the other hand, described and portrayed throughout 'Brighton Rock' as being 'innocent', appears far more concerned: 'But you believe, don't you... ou think it's true?  It is ironic therefore, and very typical of Greene's dark humour that it is Pinkie who manages to convert Rose to his view.

At the end of the book, she is left caught between a wish 'to be like him - damned', and the priest's uncomforting description 'the... appalling... strangeness of the mercy of God.  The reader leaves her walking towards 'the worst horror of all'19. As Ida unkindly describes her, 'She is vexing, of course, she's stupid, but she don't deserve that.

Perhaps the influence that Pinkie holds over Rose is not very suprising, as within 'Brighton Rock' it is possible to see an inversion of the Seven Sacraments, which are experienced by Pinkie. They appear to be a satanic version of

the Sacraments. Baptism could be interpreted from the book when Pinkie is 'baptised' as leader of the gang through Kite's death - Holy Eucharist when the gang share a meal of '...

four fish and chips and a pot of tea  just after Hale's murder. Pinkie is then confirmed in the habit of murder, which could be seen to represent the third sacrament of Confirmation: 'Hell lay about him in his infancy. He was ready for more deaths'. Holy Matrimony is represented by his sham marriage to Rose, 'We're going to do a Mortal Sin Pinkie has to suffer being married to Rose and endure sexual contact with her even though he hates her, which could be said to represent Penance. Holy orders is fulfilled when Pinkie is ordained a priest of his own satanic church. 'Credo in unum Satanum.

The final Sacrament is undertaken when Pinkie is anointed with acid just before his death. All of the Sacraments evidently centre around the main protagonist, Pinkie. Throughout, he is portrayed as a satanic, evil character. Even though it is made plainly obvious that he is religious, he seems to aim his views more at the 'darker' side of religion such as the belief in Hell.

"Of course there's Hell, Flames and Damnation. " "And Heaven too", Rose said with anxiety, while the rain fell interminably on. "Oh, maybe". The Boy said. "maybe".

If it is hinted through these inverted sacraments that Pinkie is something of an anti - Christ figure, this is also suggested by the image of Pinkie in 'the Palace of Pleasure': ... with the smell of gunpowder on his fingers, holding the mother of God by

the hair'. Religion, therefore, seems to mean different things to different characters, even if Greene appears to mainly focus on Pinkies religious beliefs.

As something of a satanic, antichrist figure, the reader is repulsed by him, but also drawn into trying to understand him and the way in which he views the world. This adds to the overall tension of 'Brighton Rock'. Rose's Catholicism, and Ida and Hale's differing brands of non-conformist belief only help to contrast with this - but they also serve to reinforce the feeling that in 'Brighton Rock', 'Heaven was (only) a word.