Sin and Salvation
It should come as no great surprise that a driving thematic engine carrying the narrative events of the novel along deal with the wrestling of guilt marking the period between the occurrence of sin and the attainment of salvation. The Whiskey Priest is a fallen man who finds his redemption through penance in the jungle for a violation of both secular law and sacred law. What may be less evidence, however, is that the police officer single-mindedly pursuing the fugitive is also a fallen figure of faith. His transformation into a radial revolutionary has moved beyond the political and into question of faith that has turned him into a mystic struggling with his own beliefs crumbling before him.
Politics versus Religion
The resonance of the political revolution which has targeted the Church and left the society which formerly revolved around it now subject to criminal prosecution merely for practicing it hangs heavy over the story. The ideals of the revolution have been filtered through experience in the person of the agency of the law tracking down the priest. If religion grew corrupt and failed to maintain its promises, then so has the revolution. Pitted in opposition to each other, faith in the church and faith in the revolution wind up being more similar than dissimilar.
The Inescapable Duality of Existence
A man of God and a foot soldier in the glorious revolution. A fugitive’s definitive need to escape and a priest’s duty to serve when called upon by God. Alcohol as the demon rum bringing tragedy upon a man of God serving in a religion where ritual sacraments necessitate the flow of wine. Nearly every page presents dualist view of the world in which darkness is the path to seeing the light and light is the danger forcing one out of the safety of the shadows. The dual nature of existence, mortality, faith, fear and duty are manifested through events, but are centralized in the character of the fugitive priest and his bloodthirsty tracker. The real power of the novel comes from the author’s refusal to paint his priest as all bad and his single-minded police officer as all bad. Within both exist the light and darkness that serves as a theme illuminating their struggle.
