He’ll always be innocent, you can’t blame the innocent, they are always guiltless. All you can do is control them or eliminate them. Insanity is a kind of innocence. -- Graham Greene
Graham Greene is a widely acclaimed British writer whose books often had political and moral themes. He wrote many novels, plays and short stories, and there have been several films released that were based on his writing. Greene was also an avid traveler and worked for the Foreign Office as a spy. The characters and places that Greene encountered were fodder for his writing. My personal exposure to Graham Greene's writing is limited. I have only read one book, The Quiet American, but I intend to read more. Orient Express is next on the list
The Quiet American is the tale of a love triangle that takes place in Vietnam in the 1950's, before the Vietnam War. The story is told from the perspective of Thomas Fowler, a British journalist/expatriate who is in love with his Vietnamese mistress named Phuong. Fowler meets an American named Alden Pyle who also falls in love with Phuong. On the surface Pyle seems like a very "aw shucks" kinda guy. He is the stereotypical 1950's clean cut American. He feels bad for falling in love and wants a fair fight for Phuong's affection. He even tries to become friendly with a reluctant Fowler. Fowler resists and eventually finds out that Pyle leads a double life. Under the pretense of being an American business man, he is also working covert operations for the American government by providing explosives to a corrupt militia leader. Disgusted, Fowler arranges for Pyle's death amidst a great internal struggle. The punch line is: The only quiet American is a dead one.
By contrasting the narrator (who is rich and three dimensional) with Pyle (a stereotype of the 1950's American) Graham Greene created a story that was highly critical of American foreign policy at the time and also explored the human condition of man's internal struggle with himself. Did Fowler arrange for Pyle's death out of his disgust for Pyle's covert operations? Or was he motivated by his rivalry over Phuong? Probably a bit of both.