Young And Able Pyle example essay topic

Graham Greene's The Quiet American is a political novel describing the closing years of the Indochina war between the French and Vietnam. The characters involved are not so much perceived as individuals as representatives of their nations. Thomas Fowler, the British reporter, is initially unbiased to the war effort, but through firsthand accounts to the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, is driven to take sides against his "love" rival, Pyle. Pyle is portrayed as an idealistic, young Harvard educated American working for the O.S.S. aiding anti-Communist forces. In between the two lies Phuong, a young Vietnamese girl whom Pyle is intent on stealing from Fowler, although in a most civilized fashion. She epitomizes the "uncivilized" Vietnamese, readily preparing Fowler's opium pipes and fulfilling his sexual requests, as well as lack of understanding with regards to skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty.

Clearly Greene's message regarding American support for the French is best seen through Fowlers eyes. In response to Pyle's pro-Democratic stance, Fowler replies "Do you think the peasant sits and thinks of God and Democracy when he gets inside his mud hut at night?" He is moved by his hatred of Americans and their na " ive belief in one's own superior virtue and culture. Their lack of understanding and subsequent intervention in other countries affairs is sure to cause only suffering. The idea of America leaving Asians to work out their own destiny, even at the expense of Communist victory, surely must have targeted Greene as a public enemy during the Red Scare of the 1950's. A similar parallel can be perceived by Pyle's love interest in Phuong. Again the American is portrayed as intervening in a fragile relationship with little regard as to the devastating effects it will have on Fowlers psyche.

It seemed most absurd at first, opening courting a woman who belongs to one of your self proclaimed "best friends". But it is the way that Pyle attempts to snatch her away through diplomatic means that provides insight into U.S. involvement at the time. He will lure her through a promise of marriage and a better life, something Fowler is unable to do based on his weak financial position and his wife's unwillingness for divorce. The characters convey the new world order, a young and able Pyle is the exact opposite of Fowler, an aging Brit who can provide little security for Phuong.

Even as Fowler has long prided himself in his ability to remain unbiased as a reporter during the war, he is forced to take sides as was prophesied. After witnessing the indiscriminate killing of a sampan boater, as well as Pyle's botched bombing of a caf'e in Saigon, it is clear that this a war where the innocent are the greatest victims. There is a level of truth with regards to them (the innocent) in Vietnam, "all you can do is control them or eliminate them... innocence is a kind of insanity". Those who are most helpless often feel the burden of Democracy. Clearly Greene's views of the American presence in Vietnam were well ahead of his time, and tragically prophetic.

It may seem that he was granting justice to the Communist cause at the time, whereas in reality it is the insupportable resistance that can be achieved through American leadership. Rational thought seems to have eluded most politicians during this period. The Vietnamese had seen French foreign intervention lead to the death of thousands of their own for over 50 years, why would American involvement be any different in their eyes? Greene sees Vietnam for what is was, a U.S. puppet state to battle the spread of Communism, and Fowler conveys this point throughout the novel.

The Quiet American is a great book, with Greene acting as a modern day Nostradamus in his accurate prediction of a U.S. catastrophe in Vietnam. A compelling story with intrigue and murder, Greene is able to capture the hopelessness of the situation in a book brief enough to never distract attention.