In fact, even before the narrator is thoroughly convinced that the priest is dead, he is worried that Father Flynn will haunt him: "In the dark of my room I imagined that I saw again the heavy grey face of the paralytic. I drew the blankets over my head and tried to think of Christmas-. These passages convey the idea that the boy was afraid of the priest and felt somewhat freed by his death. This is further proven when the boy, after having seen the card announcing the death of the priest, thinks it "strange that neither he nor the day seemed in a mourning mood and he even felt annoyed at discovering in himself a sensation of freedom as if he had been freed from something by Father Flynn's death-. This feeling of freedom suggests that the boy understood that he was a captive of Father Flynn, and thereby, also a captive of the church. With the Father's death, perhaps the death of his captivity came as well. The idea of religious bondage can be seen in An Encounter by examining the relationship between the boys and Father Butler. When Leo Dillion is caught reading The Apache Chief in class, "everyone's heart palpitated- as Father Butler frowns and looks over the pages. Shortly thereafter, the narrator claims that "this rebuke paled much of the glory of the Wild West But when the restraining influence of school was at a distance he began to hunger again for wild sensations -. This passage demonstrates the control the church has over the opinions and thoughts of the narrator. In addition, if Father Butler is considered a symbol of the church, the fear felt by the students at the prospect of his disapproval and the freedom they feel when the "restraining influence- of the church was at a distance prove the suffocating nature of religion. This is further illustrated when Leo Dillion doesn't appear for the ditch day because he worries that they "might meet Father Butler or someone out of the college-.
