The Quiet American
Genre
War Novel
“All war novels are ultimately anti-war
novels.”
What about movies?
Who is Graham Greene?
•British Author/Correspondent from
the Professional British Middle Classa class in Britain that was especially
“sensitive to the erosion of British
influence throughout the world.”
•Writes The Quiet American in 1955.
More on Graham Greene
Humanist-Catholic
Humanism is a body of philosophies
and ethical perspectives that
emphasize the value of human
beings, individually and collectively,
and generally place more importance
on rational thought than on strict
faith or adherence to principle.
George Orwell: Graham Green is “our
first Catholic Fellow Traveler.”
Main Characters
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Thomas Fowler is a British journalist in his fifties who has been covering the French
war in Vietnam for over two years. He has become a very jaded and cynical man.
He meets Alden Pyle and finds him naïve. Is Fowler a reliable narrator?
Alden Pyle is the "quiet American" of the title. He has studied theories of
government and society, and is particularly devoted to a scholar named York
Harding. Harding's theory is that neither Communism nor colonialism is the answer
in foreign lands like Vietnam, but rather a "Third Force." U.S. military counterinsurgency expert Edward Lansdale, who was stationed in Vietnam 1953-1957, is
sometimes incorrectly cited as a model for Pyle's character.
Phuong, Her character is never fully developed or revealed. She is never able to
show her emotions, as her older sister makes decisions for her. She is named after,
but not based on, a Vietnamese friend of Greene's.
Vigot, a French inspector at the Sûreté, investigates Pyle's death. He is a man torn
between doing his duty (pursuing Pyle's death and questioning Fowler) and doing
what is best for the country (letting the matter go). He and Fowler are oddly akin in
some ways, both faintly cynical and weary of the world; hence their discussion of
Blaise Pascal. But they are divided by the differences in their faith: Vigot is a
Roman Catholic and Fowler an atheist.
Characters in The Quiet American
Secondary Characters
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Granger - “Stephen Crane could describe a war without
seeing one. Why shouldn’t I? It’s only a damned colonial
war anyway. Get me another drink.”
Joe (The Economic Attaché) - “I was three years in Paris.
My accent’s good enough for one of these darned
Vietnamese.”
Miss Hei (Phuong’s sister) – she would like to work for
the Americans; speaks for her sister: “She is delicate. She
needs care. She deserves care. She is very, very loyal.”
French Indochina
• Vietnam had been a
French colony,
known as French
Indochina, since
1861.
• Japan conquers
Vietnam in 1940.
• Ho Chi Mihn forms
the Vietmihn to
fight the JapaneseUS sends aid to the
Vietmihn.
• With the help of the
US, French return
to Vietnam after
WWII- Vietmihn
declare war on the
French in 1946.
French Indochina
• 1947 France agrees
to limited
independence for
Vietnam under
Emperor Bao Dai,
who is living in
Hong Kong.
• Ho Chi Mihn does
not see Bao Dai’s
government as
legitimate. Ho Chi
Mihn and the
Vietmihn fight a
guerilla war against
the French and Bao
Dai.
French Indochina
• 1950 – Soviets and Chinese recognize
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
under Ho Chi Mihn
• US recognizes Bao Dai’s government
and send $10 million in aid to France.
US sends an additional $500 million
in 1951- the first US economic
missions are established in Saigon.
• By 1954, US is paying 80% of the cost
of France’s war in Vietnam.
• By 1955, In 1955, Ngo Dihn Diem
called for a referendum to remove
Bao Dai and establish a republic with
Diem as president. The referendum
was widely regarded as fraudulent,
showing some 98% in favor of a
republic. Bao Dai abdicated once
again and remained in exile in France
until his death