Graham Greene's tale of 1950s Vietnam is haunting with its glamour, danger, and irony. From a 21st century perspective, its message is eeriely appropriate.
The Quiet American tells the story of two men in 1950s Vietnam. The French are just leaving the country and the Americans have yet to arrive en masse. The story is told by Thomas Fowler, a cynical, world-weary British journalist, who has chosen this part of the world in which to escape. He has carved out a nice life for himself. His salary goes a long way in Saigon; he has few demands of him as a journalist; and he has taken a lovely Vietnamese mistress -- Phuong -- with whom he lives. Sure there is war, and bombings, but all is mostly right with Fowler's world until Alden Pyle, whom Fowler dubs "the quiet American" arrives.
Pyle
Pyle is the quintessential American -- a large, ivy-league-educated, East Coast native, seemingly without pretensions or guile. Fowler meets Pyle shortly after Pyle has arrived in Vietnam, where everyone meets in Saigon -- on the patio at the Continental Hotel. Pyle tells Fowler he is with an American delegation, helping Vietnamese with eye problems. Their paths cross with uncanny frequency, even in Saigon's tightly-knit expatriate community. Fowler begins to wonder whether Pyle is quite what he purports to be.
Fowler, Pyle, and Phuong
In addition to the political struggles in the story, Pyle falls in love with Fowler's mistress, Phuong. Pyle's is a kind of idealistic love, completely opposite of Fowler's cynical, yet no less true, love. Pyle asks Phuong to marry him, but before the marriage can take place, something happens that will change all of their lives forever.
The Quiet American
The Quiet American is brilliant in its subtle irony. Greene illustrates the contrast in the two main characters -- one naive and forthright and the other cynical and questioning. Reading the novel, one thinks he knows which is which, but in the end, the roles become reversed.
Greene's portrayal of Vietnam draws on his many visits to Southeast Asia and is one of the few novels of the era to give a true look at the contrasts and the ironies of the Vietnam conflict. The lessons of the novel are as apt today as they were in the mid-1950s.
About Graham Greene
Graham Greene (1904 - 1991) was an English writer of novels, short stories, and plays. He traveled extensively throughout the world and is known for his cynical British (somewhat autobiographical) expatriate characters. He is best known for his novels, The Heart of the Matter, Travel with my Aunt, The End of the Affair, and the Power and the Glory as well as his screenplay "The Third Man."
