Irish Jesuit Province

Notes on the Catholic NovelAuthor(s): Kevin QuinnSource: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 79, No. 931 (Jan., 1951), pp. 8-14Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20516298 .

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NOTES ON THE CATHOLIC NOVEL By KEVIN QUINN, SJ.

TO mention the words "

Catholic Novel "

is, in these days, almost

inevitably to conjure up before the reader's mind the names of

Graham Greene, Bruce Marshall, Evelyn Waugh and the rest.

It is well, then, at the outset, to allay all suspicions by remarking that

what follows is meant neither as an analysis nor as a literary appre ciation of those authors' works. The aim is something more modest:

it is merely to put forward a few ideas that may be helpful in judging when and to what extent a particular story deserves the title "

Catholic." This is a matter of topical interest, not alone in view of

the many novels being written by Catholics or about them, but also

because the Catholic novel and novelist have been the subject of

several recent controversies which generated much heat but little light ?not least owing to the general lack of agreement on the meaning of

the term "

Catholic novel." First, then, we seek for our definition.

The meaning of the title "

Catholic novel " can be grasped more

readily and easily by reflecting on the use of such adjectives as " War,"

" Detective,"

" Sociological," when predicated of a story. Such words

suggest something intrinsic and essential to the book. A "

War

novel "

describes how people act and react under the impact of war;

and, clearly, such an account need not necessarily be written by soldiers or about them?civilians have written good war stories about

non-combatants. Likewise, when we take up a detective story we

expect it to deal, essentially, with the unravelling of a puzzling crime

(though we do not require the author himself to be a sleuth). Ii>

every sociological novel we expect to find treated the behaviour of

people under certain social conditions of poverty or wealth In the

same way, then, when we read what is described as a "

i atholic

novel," we should reasonably expect that the title "

Catholic'' desig nates a story that is essentially concerned with the behaviour, the

reaction, of human beings whose lives are influenced by the Catholic

religion. In other words, a novel deserves to be called jl "Catholic

novel" only when the Catholic Faith or moral code is one of the

factors that govern the important actions or ide?is of some or all of its

characters; and its Catholicism is more evident in proportion as

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THE CATHOLIC NOVEL

religious beliefs and principles tend to be the chief formative and

directive influences. There are, however, several confused notions

current on the meaning of the term "

Catholic novel," and to consider

them briefly at this stage may help to dissipate any cloud of vagueness that obscures the issue.

One false notion?and a quite popular one?is that because an

author is a Catholic his writings must necessarily merit the same

description. Now, such a criterion would lead logically to the intro duction of such categories as

" Catholic Science Books,"

" Catholic

Astronomy Texts," "Catholic Mathematical Tables," etc.; more

important still, it would result in the absurdity that a really immoral

book would have to be labelled "

Catholic "?Catholics have written such books.

There are many other drawbacks in judging a book by the religion of its author. It would mean, for example, that all the Wodehouse stories would become

" Catholic novels

" if P.G. were received into

the Church. Of course, one could deny this by maintaining the

strange view that all the books written before this hypothetical event would not have been

" baptised," as would those that followed after.

How useless and misleading the title "

Catholic "

would thus become is self-evident. No intelligent and impartial reader could see any difference between the two sets of books, except, perhaps, that the earlier ones might be better in both content and style. This is said, not to give the impression that the quality of an author's work suffers from his conversion, but as a corrective to the tendency to say of

every convert that his or her writing has, by the mere fact of con

version, necessarily improved.

Again, were we to judge the Catholic-ness of a novel by the religion of its author, it would mean that no lapsed Catholic could write a Catholic novel. That in itself might seem unimportant?but what

happens to his earlier work? More awkward still, a non-Catholic, however sincere or near to the truth he or she may be, would, accord ing to this criterion, be incapable of writing a Catholic novel.

Accordingly, such books as Ethel Mannin's Late Have I Loved Thee would be ruled out of court automatically. Quite easy!?but how few would agree with this.

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IRISH MONTHLY

What has been said in the preceding paragraphs should help in dis

posing of some other misconceptions. A location or a background that is pre-eminently Catholic is no necessary guarantee of a book's

Catholic-ness. Indeed, if it were so, then every story located in Ire

land (e.g., the stories of Somerville and Ross, of George Birmingham,

etc.), or centred around a school or convent, would have to be

adjudged Catholic. But such an idea never enters the head of anyone

except, perhaps, that of a librarian or a compiler of book-catalogues, who may use the term solely as a convenient classification which has

about the same value as listing under the heading "

Catholic Books "

all the productions of Catholic publishers. Obviously such classifica

tions are more convenient than enlightening?but, it might be added, while they give very little indication of what is intrinsic to a book,

they do help sales in Ireland.

Nearer to the truth is the idea that a novel is Catholic because its

hero or heroine and a number of its lesser figures belong to the true

Church. But if taken at its full face value this criterion would make

the stories of almost every Irish author qualify for the title "

Catholic

novels." In the majority of these novels do we not read of people

going to Mass and talking to priests? Yet this test is not conclusive, because in many of these stories the religion of the characters is an

irrelevant detail, and is purely accidental. As Irish people usually have some religious beliefs, the characters of stories set in Ireland have

to be either Catholics or Protestants if they are going to appear in any

way true to life. Since the majority of Irishmen are Catholics it is

just as well to make the hero or heroine one. This tendency is accen

tuated by the fact that quite a number of Irish novelists are Catholics.

Consequently, in their works they naturally represent their characters

as going to Church now and again. This is, as it were, a background detail which helps to deepen the impression of reality and serves as a

useful device to secure a change of scene. Had the characters been

Protestants or even atheists it would make no essential difference to

quite a large number of Irish novels. But if such a change would

seriously affect the story we discover that we have arrived back at the

original definition.

The subject matter of great novels and plays is found in the com

mon needs and deep-seated influences that are at work in the secret

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THE CATHOLIC NOVEL

heart of every human being. The dramatists and novelists of the past dwelt on the natural virtues and failings of man. Their themes were

concerned with the power over human behaviour that is wielded by

friendship, loyalty, love, justice, hate, revenge. Their works tore

away the superficial and artificial veneer that covers up most of

human life. They depicted a soul face to face with some great

problem arising from the fundamental needs of man; a problem whose

solution engaged all of the character's powers of emotion, intellect, and will; a problem that had to be solved because it could not be

shelved.

What the natural virtues were for the great writers of the past the

Catholic religion is for the great Catholic novelist. But it is some

thing more powerful, more fundamental, more imperative than the natural virtues. The ultimate and final need of every human being is to know and love God. Man hungers for God.

" Thou hast made

us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts will never rest until they rest in Thee" is St. Augustine's classical expression of this need of God.

Man's need of God is ontological, that is, a law of his very being, the reason for his existence. It exists whether a person consciously adverts to it or not. It is the source from which all of man's other desires derive their strength. And Catholicism is the satisfying of this need here on earth as a prelude to its perfect satisfaction in

Heaven.

Faith is a free gift of God to man. Its acceptance or rejection depends on man's free will. But having once accepted God's gift man must accept it all. He cannot pick and choose what portions are to be received, what to be cast aside. He must accept it all whole

heartedly; he cannot, without a struggle, deliberately and cold

bloodedly lock away portions of his being and his activity in order to

preserve them from the influence of his religion. Catholicism is not

something to be accepted or cast aside at a whim. It is a LIFE to be lived exteriorly in the sight of men, interiorly before the ever-active

judgment of conscience. In proportion as a man's belief is sincere, so will his Faith tend to enter into and influence every aspect of his life, intellectual, emotional and volitional. The demands of Catholicism are inexorable and stupendous. It can be and should be the greatest influence on human life.

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IRISH MONTHLY

The Catholic novel in its true sense is concerned with the impact of

this religious belief on an individual soul or on a human society. More

correctly, it is the study of man's reaction to his Faith. Often it will

be a story of achievement, struggle, joy, fear, success or failure on a

level and in a manner that dwarfs all other human emotions and

efforts. The result is eternal:?" Possess the kingdom...." or "De

part from Me, ye accursed...." Not every novel nor every character

will be concerned with the ultimate " What doth it profit a man if he

gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? "

But when a novel does raise such problems it rises above all other conflicts and

it confronts us with the heart of the matter.

The absence of sin or failure in its characters is not an essential

ingredient of the Catholic novel. The life of man is a warfare, and

Catholicism demands of him the highest and best. Man, however, does not always do what is best. St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the

Romans : "

I do not the good that I wish.I behold another law

in my members warring against the law of my mind." Just because

of that war a man's religion is often a great factor in the psychological tension and strain. When he fails he knows that he has done so

freely ? "

through my fault, through my most grievous fault "; he

realizes that he could have succeeded with the graces offered to him

by God.

Because a Catholic novel does not demand that its hero die a saint

or even save his immortal soul is, in my opinion, the reason why much

of the discussion about Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter

was wide of the mark. Whether Scobie did or did not commit mortal

sin by poisoning himself, whether he made an act of perfect contrition

before he died?these are questions that the reader asks in vain. The

simple fact is that the author has not given us the answers to these

questions. I consider that he has not answered them because such

questions were not his intention. But he has given us a graphic pic ture of the struggle in Scobie's mind as he planned his own death.

Only a believing Catholic could suffer thus, and only a Catholic who

has suffered, if only in a small way, to live up to his Faith can really understand Scobie's anguish. For non-believers, the whole story loses most of its meaning. Scobie's religion was the greatest force in

his life. That he was odd in proposing suicide as the only way to

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THE CATHOLIC NOVEL

avoid constantly offending God is undoubted, but unless he believed

in the teachings of his religion the awful scheme would never have

entered his head for the simple reason that only a Catholic would con

sider his way of Ufe to be gravely sinful. In my opinion the weakness

of this novel lies in the fact that while Scobie's religion and his know

ledge of it were quite normal, his mind was not. By choosing a

character who was mentally abnormal the author has lessened greatly the power of his work. It is, as its title, The Heart of the Matter,

conveys, an attempt to show the deep influence that Catholicism can

have on a human being.

This weakness is not apparent in the same writer's The Power and

the Glory. Here the decadence of the whiskey priest is given great

emphasis only to be redeemed by, and to form a setting for, his last

heroic act. The priest's going to his death in a futile and fore

doomed attempt to administer the Last Sacraments to a man who

refused them was done because of his Faith, the only virtue left to

him. It was that Faith which kept him in the country a hunted

fugitive, unwanted and despised. He knew that he was the only

priest left, and so he had to remain lest men should need him when

they came to die. Here is a Catholic novel, where the influence of

religion was the greatest factor in the life of the main character,

greater even than death. The Power and the Glory is the obverse

side of The Heart of the Matter. Both novels have the same theme, a man's decision to die as a result of his religious beliefs. They differ in that while one man was mentally deranged, the other was so sane

that he saw what was for him the only logical result of the words "

What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the

loss of his own soul?" One Catholic priest has said that The Power

and the Glory is the finest novel ever written about a priest. Certainly, it far surpasses many modern stories whose priest characters are little

more than strong, active go-getters, who could just as easily have been

Colonial Higher Civil Servants, as Fr. Chisholm in A. J. Cronin's

The Keys of the Kingdom.

As examples of Catholic novels, I have taken one or two which deal

with the soul-shaking impress of our Faith on the lives of men. That is the general theme of writers such as Graham Greene and Fran?ois

Mauriac. In a manner not so stern and rugged it is also the

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IRISH MONTHLY

approach of Rene Bazin's The Nun. But all Catholics do not live and die in such a state of high tension, and not every Catholic novel has to be a psychological study of interior struggles and doubts. Catholic novels can be written on some particular aspect of the Church's moral

teaching or on the effort to keep the Faith in an unheeding or hostile

environment. That is the line taken by a number of recent American novels. The effort of Catholics to improve existing social institutions

affords much scope for Bruce Marshall and the Belgian author of

Fishers of Men. Finally, there is the story in which one meets

simple, integral Catholicism, as familiar as an old shoe, yet radiating peace and happiness. This Catholicism is an atmosphere as worthy of our attention and admiration as the problems of the more violent

stories. Such Faith is found in the stories of J. D. Sheridan (e.g., The Magnificent MacDarney), and in some scenes by Maura Laverty. In these and similar novels Catholicism is essential to the story be

cause it gives to the characters their air of peace and security. Their

simple Faith is the key to their attractiveness.

It may be objected that the definition given in these notes can be

easily applied to a few novels, but that it is not of much value since

it is difficult to apply it to every one. I admit the difficulty, but does

not the same problem exist in almost every sphere of human judg ment? We do know Black from White even though we may not be

able to say whether a particular shade of Grey is nearer to Black than

to White. In judging novels the borderline cases are inevitable, but

they are also fairly few. Each one must judge for himself, and these

notes are merely an attempt to make some suggestions that may help in making that judgment. They are not intended to cover all aspects of the Catholic novel, e.g., its function or the problems that face the

Catholic novelist?how far and in what language should he depict sin and human frailty? These are points that need more detailed

discussion, and may be considered in some future issue.

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