Graham Greene's The Quiet American: A Cautionary Tale
This 3-page undergraduate essay examines Graham Greene's The Quiet American as a cautionary tale. Using only Greenes work as a source, this paper argues that Greenes text is both a political and personal cautionary tale, especially through the narrator Fowler, as it suggests the corruption and death which can occur at the personal and political levels when politics and personal lives are allowed to conflate. This paper concludes that the text suggests that political tensions within an environment can make men withdraw into themselves and seek ways to deaden themselves to what is occurring around them. In Greenes text, this withdrawal makes Fowler into three things. First, withdrawal makes Fowler into a mere reporter, a cynical observer of humanity who critiques rather than helps others. Secondly, withdrawal makes Fowler into an opium addict, as he risks physical disintegration in order to get away from his personal and political terrors. Finally, isolation may be a factor in making Fowler into a killer or at least a conspirator to murder, as Fowler eventually cannot isolate himself any longer. Greenes text suggests that when political situations threaten mens personal lives and ideals - as they do with Pyle, Fowler, Trouin, and others in the text - those men may make decisions which result in death and terror.
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