The lieutenant seems to have a side to him that is odd, as I have seen him around he seems to be either oblivious or very compassionate. When the lieutenant heard about the priest on the run he chose to be the one to go after him which I found curious because he does not much seem like the type that would be overly thorough in a search for a priest. I believe the lieutenant did not show nearly as much interest in the case when he first got it than he should have. The way he goes about seems to be methodical but not necessarily the most efficient way to catch the priest. I think he may be purposely trying to let him go to get him to cross the border so it is no longer his responsibility and the priest would be safe. For example, the other day, I observed the lieutenant go through all the men in a village in search for the priest, and when all evidence pointed to the fact that he was lying and was actually the priest he moved on in the line. Now some people raise the question "Why is he taking hostages and killing them?" and I believe as I said previously that he is trying to drive him out of the state. The best way to do that is to try and show him what he is causing, to guilt him out of the state. In addition if the lieutenant was to be found helping a priest escape the law he would loose his job and likely be executed; taking hostages is a good way to warn the priest and still have it good with the state.
Another example of his mercy to him is when he is in prison for having brandy, the lieutenant recognizes him but does not point out the fact that he is, in fact the whisky priest. In addition I observed him giving the priest five pesos in order to bail him out of prison, I do not believe that the lieutenant, after all I have seen of his personality, would give 5 pesos to a random prisoner who had brandy. Furthermore the half-life that he is housing knows the priest, I do not believe that the half-life would just not turn him in as I observed earlier, I thing that the lieutenant is paying the half-life to keep it quiet therefor he is paying more like 700 pesos to the man just to keep this priest alive. I do not think that the lieutenant is a dangerous man I think he is compassionate and wants to help out the priest in a way that would not make him loose his job.
Joel, When we were introduced to the lieutenant we talked about his zealous nature to be the one to 'take care of the situation' of the priest. He formulated the plan and asked for the Jefe's permission. I don't think there's evidence to show that the lieutenant is trying to let the whiskey priest escape - unless you've found some? Further, he lets the priest out of jail - and truly does not know that he is the priest he is seeking. He shows compassion here by giving him money - thinking he is a poor old man. The "half-caste' is being held as a 'guest' in jail - given food and drink - because he is the only one who is able to identify the priest. When he sees the priest in jail, he is not ready to turn the priest over for fear that he will not receive his reward.
ReplyDelete