The priest of Istra Character Analysis in Till We Have Faces

Orual comes across this priest in a small temple in the woods. He tells her the story of the goddess Istra, which is identical to the story of Orual’s Psyche except for a few essential points. To Orual’s frustration, the priest can’t fathom that Istra’s story might be real and recent. He sees it only as a symbolic myth, which is ironic since he’s supposed to be the religious man, and Orual the skeptic.

The priest of Istra Quotes in Till We Have Faces

The Till We Have Faces quotes below are all either spoken by The priest of Istra or refer to The priest of Istra. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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For if the true story had been like their story, no riddle would have been set me; there would have been no guessing and no guessing wrong. More than that, it’s a story belonging to a different world, a world in which the gods show themselves clearly and don’t torment men with glimpses, nor unveil to one what they hide from another, nor ask you to believe what contradicts your eyes and ears and nose and tongue and fingers.

Related Characters: Orual (The Queen) (speaker), The priest of Istra, Daaran

Related Symbols: The Palace on the Mountain

Page Number and Citation: 243-44

Explanation and Analysis: