In Silone’s book, Bread and Wine, the reader is presented with a man who is struggling to decide how best to fight the evil he observes in the world around him. Pietro Spina toys with the idea of returning to conventional life, free from the feeling of obligation which bound him to attempt to solve the problems of his people. Spina never does desert his ideals but rather, throughout the book, the reader does see him being acted upon by several influences and forces which cause a slow metamorphosis to occur in his way of thinking and dealing with the evils he sees.

As a young boy, Spina was dedicated to the Church and its ideals. He believed in the Church’s teachings and its participation in the world to the extent of wishing to become a saint:

I do not wish to live according to circumstances, …