But Pyle is impenetrable-having an unshakeable devotion to both the teachings of York Harding and his own “mission to save the world.” Simultaneously, a love triangle begins to form between Fowler, Pyle, and Phuong. Where Pyle is hopeful, Fowler is realistic. Through their interactions, both Fowler and Pyle become aware of the other’s position toward the Vietnam War. Initially, Pyle is genuinely friendly to Fowler, and the two begin an unlikely friendship. Pyle is a naive CIA operative, fresh out of Yale, and packed full of American principles of justice and democracy. But everything is flipped on its head once Fowler meets Alden Pyle-otherwise known as the quiet American. And that is how we find Fowler-having resided for years in the East, contemplating marriage with Phuong (even though he has a wife back in London), and avoiding any involvement in the war.

However, he is very fond of his young Vietnamese mistress, Phuong-even if he is 30 years her senior. Fowler lives his life in a slump, refusing to engage with others and claiming not to care about anything.

Our protagonist and narrator, cynical British journalist Thomas Fowler, finds himself dealing with the ongoing guerilla conflict between the Viet Minh communists and the French colonial forces in Vietnam on a daily basis. Related: The Life and Genius of Graham Greene One such novel is The Quiet American in which all of Greene’s characters’ beliefs surrounding how they define themselves and their world are challenged during the Vietnam War. That’s the magic of Greene’s work.He presents raw human development in a world of extremities, including war, love, and loss.

Often referred to as the “Catholic novelist’-a title he detested-for the ways his novels centered on questions of morality, each of Greene’s novels are complex and layered with varying degrees of good and evil: his characters attempt to balance within the moral system but often end up failing. There isn’t any other author quite like Graham Greene.

De stille Amerikaan by Graham Greene