Greene uses several techniques that complement his religious themes. For example, the priest is detained three times when he is on the verge of escaping, called back each time to administer last rites to a dying person. This kind of repetition is common to all mythologies, and the particular plot motif of calling three times is deeply rooted in the Bible.

Greene, a master of suspense, plays myth against plot line. The reader, as well as the priest, knows that the halfcaste must betray the whisky priest so that the priest can attain martyrdom, but no one is sure when the betrayal will happen or how it will affect the symbolic crucifixion.

Greene also uses the conventions of the stories of the saints' lives. At the opening of the story, a woman is reading the story of a martyr to her children.

Greene parodies the romantic...