His narrative ironically binds him to Pyle—a fate Fowler has consistently tried to avoid. In another sense, however, Pyle is anything but quiet, the quiet american essay. Share this: Twitter Facebook. That is, his sexual failure symbolizes his inability to convince Helen to divorce him, to hold on to Phuong, and hence to cut his ties with Pyle. Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
The Quiet American by Graham Greene Essay Example
If the story contained in the novel is meant to answer the comedic setup, then it does so in a way that proves rather unfunny. Whereas the title prepares the reader for a straightforward hence funny punchline, the novel delivers a complex hence ironic story of interpersonal strife and internal turmoil. In other words, the joke falls flat because the novel has an ironic relationship with its title. Unlike the correspondent Bill Granger, who tends to get drunk in public and act pushy, Pyle is no caricature of a loud American. He even conducts his political dealings in a covert manner, keeping his involvement the quiet american essay General Thé hush-hush.
These consequences are loud both literally as when the bomb explodes and figuratively in terms of the number of people affected. On the surface, Phuong appears to be one of the three principal characters in the novel, along with Fowler and Pyle. Indeed, much of the novel concerns the love triangle between these three characters. Upon closer inspection, however, Phuong plays a secondary role in the story. First, she does not have a fully fleshed out character. Indeed, she seems equally if not more interested in shallow gossip rags and two-dimensional Hollywood movies that in her relationships with Fowler and Pyle. Second, Phuong is only important to the story as an instigator of events.
In other words, the quiet american essay, Phuong is less the quiet american essay a character and more of a plot device. On a more symbolic level, Phuong represents Vietnam. More specifically, she serves as a stand-in for a silent and passive East over which competing foreign powers are fighting. The Quiet American takes place at a tense historical moment, when several foreign countries had a stake in the future of Vietnam and the larger region of Indochina now known as Southeast Asia. The French wanted to hold onto its colony.
The Viet Minh wanted independence. The Americans wanted to halt the spread of communism and install a democracy. Among all these foreign interests, the quiet american essay, common Vietnamese people has no control, and so became passive, like pawns in a larger game. Likewise, Phuong is a passive character, subject to the influence of her meddlesome sister, Miss Hei, and to the contest between Fowler and Pyle, the details of which she understands little. At this point in their relationship, Fowler does not know enough about Pyle to say for sure whether or not he is a virgin in the strict sense.
As becomes clear during their conversation, Pyle does not understand that a mature relationship involves much more than sex. Indeed, as Fowler points out, sex alone does not indicate the strength of a romantic relationship. More fundamental to the health of a relationship is companionship. Because Fowler considers sex secondary, he tells Pyle that one can have sex and yet remain a virgin. That Pyle does not understand this makes him innocent in love just as he is innocent in everything elsesocial graces. For Fowler, things look different. As he tells Pyle, his days of pursuing sex are over. At his age, he finds the simple comfort of the quiet american essay more important than sex. It is notable that Fowler plays down his sexuality.
He does not reveal much in the novel about his sex life with Phuong. Furthermore, the only sexual encounter he has in the novel ends in disappointment. That is, his sexual failure symbolizes his inability to convince Helen to divorce him, to hold on to Phuong, the quiet american essay, and hence to cut his ties with Pyle. Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. No Fear Literature Translations Literature Study Guides Glossary of Literary Terms How to Write Literary Analysis.
Biography Biology Chemistry Computer Science Drama Economics Film Health History Math Philosophy Physics Poetry Psychology Short Stories Sociology US Government and Politics. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Character List Thomas Fowler Alden Pyle Phuong Vigot. Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. The quiet american essay Full Book Quiz, the quiet american essay. Mini Essays Suggested Essay Topics, the quiet american essay. Suggestions for Further Reading Graham Greene and The Quiet American Background. Please wait while we process your payment. Unlock your FREE SparkNotes Plus Trial! Unlock your FREE Trial! Sign up and get instant access to save the page as your favorite.
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If the story contained in the novel is meant to answer the comedic setup, then it does so in a way that proves rather unfunny. Whereas the title prepares the reader for a straightforward hence funny punchline, the novel delivers a complex hence ironic story of interpersonal strife and internal turmoil. In other words, the joke falls flat because the novel has an ironic relationship with its title. Unlike the correspondent Bill Granger, who tends to get drunk in public and act pushy, Pyle is no caricature of a loud American. He even conducts his political dealings in a covert manner, keeping his involvement with General Thé hush-hush. These consequences are loud both literally as when the bomb explodes and figuratively in terms of the number of people affected.
On the surface, Phuong appears to be one of the three principal characters in the novel, along with Fowler and Pyle. Indeed, much of the novel concerns the love triangle between these three characters. Upon closer inspection, however, Phuong plays a secondary role in the story. First, she does not have a fully fleshed out character. Indeed, she seems equally if not more interested in shallow gossip rags and two-dimensional Hollywood movies that in her relationships with Fowler and Pyle. Second, Phuong is only important to the story as an instigator of events. In other words, Phuong is less of a character and more of a plot device. On a more symbolic level, Phuong represents Vietnam.
More specifically, she serves as a stand-in for a silent and passive East over which competing foreign powers are fighting. The Quiet American takes place at a tense historical moment, when several foreign countries had a stake in the future of Vietnam and the larger region of Indochina now known as Southeast Asia. The French wanted to hold onto its colony. In one sense, Pyle is quiet—even unassuming. He patiently questions Fowler about his tie to Phuong and even declares his love for her to Fowler before he marries her. Pyle is the opposite of loud, vulgar Americans such as his boss Joe, or the noisy American journalist Granger. In another sense, however, Pyle is anything but quiet. An even greater irony is that for all their differences, Fowler and Pyle are alike in their moral earnestness.
Fowler is the sophisticated European who has learned not to wear his heart on his sleeve. He denies any form of selfless behavior. Pyle is the naive American who is openhearted and believes he acts for the good of others. Yet both men cause great damage because they care about others. They are caught up in the evil that Fowler thinks he can avoid and that Pyle thinks he can remove. The political and moral divide between Fowler and Pyle is not as great as Fowler has supposed. His narrative ironically binds him to Pyle—a fate Fowler has consistently tried to avoid. He also refuses to let Pyle call him Tom and insists on being called Thomas. No formalities can really separate the two men however.
The Quiet American is concerned with the effect the superpowers have when they intervene in the politics of the developing nations, in this case, Vietnam during the last days of French colonial rule. Greene himself is in an interesting position in that England, once a major colonial power, has increasingly surrendered that position to the United States since World War II. This weakened position makes Greene, like Fowler, something of an observer of the more active Americans. Fowler observes the covert actions of Pyle and finds them wrong.
He thinks Americans are politically naive, dangerously idealistic, and too willing to hurt other people if they get in the way of their political goals. Although the war and the controversies surrounding it still plague the memories of many Americans, the war and the novel itself are not quite so topical as they were in the s and early s. Still it might be worth stressing that the novel was written well before America became deeply involved in Vietnam. Free Essays Topics Essay Checker Hire Writer Login. Do you think this event changes their relationship in a significant way? At several points in the novel, we see Fowler lying to others and to himself. To what extent do you trust Fowler as the narrator of this story?
The Quiet American features several characters who influence the story but never actually appear in the novel e. Muoi, General Thé, Helen. What role do you think these unseen characters play? Are the roles they play similar to or different from one another? Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. No Fear Literature Translations Literature Study Guides Glossary of Literary Terms How to Write Literary Analysis. Biography Biology Chemistry Computer Science Drama Economics Film Health History Math Philosophy Physics Poetry Psychology Short Stories Sociology US Government and Politics.
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