Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is invoked briefly in a scene where the Blonde Actress listens to a conversation about Cuba and considers the political images of President Kennedy and Castro. Its significance lies less in any action by the organization than in the way the passage uses religious education to sharpen a broader, suspicious comparison between two political leaders.

Reference in the Novel

The Blonde Actress reflects that both President Kennedy and Castro were Catholic and had been educated by the Society of Jesus. The shared background becomes one element in her attempt to understand the two men as parallel figures: each is presented as the son of wealthy parents who claims to speak for ordinary people, and each is described as ambitious and idolized by followers.

Religious Education and Political Suspicion

The passage speculates that education by the Society of Jesus may have left both men with a belief that divine law stands above human law. It then makes a cynical leap from that possibility to the idea that, if God does not exist, human law may seem to have little authority. This is the scene’s polemical interpretation, not a substantiated description of the Society’s doctrine or of either leader’s personal beliefs.

Narrative Function

The reference occurs as the Blonde Actress tries to make sense of the President’s anger toward Castro and the charged political conversation she overhears. By linking their Catholic upbringing to their public images and political ambitions, the passage folds religious schooling into her speculative portrait of two rival leaders. The Society itself is not shown acting, represented by a member, or discussed beyond this brief association; its role is to furnish a point of comparison within the scene’s uneasy political imagination.