The Quiet American (1955), one of Graham Greene ’s novels, is set in Saigon, Vietnam, amid the conflict between the South Vietnamese, who are supported by the French and the Viet Minh. Narrated by the protagonist, Thomas Fowler, a tough-minded British war reporter who refuses to engage in the conflict and prefers to be an observer who simply reports the facts, the novel depicts the early stages of American involvement in the conflict. During his travel around Saigon, Fowler meets Alden Pyle, an American intelligence operative working undercover in the Economic Aid Mission. Unlike Fowler, Pyle is a young sincere idealist who wishes to foster political and social change in Vietnam. Overall, the novel chronicles Fowler and Pyle’s conflict over politics as well as over Phuong, Fowler’s beautiful Vietnamese mistress. The novel opens with the death of Pyle, but the assassination circumstances are unknown until the end of the novel. Then the novel proceeds with a series of flashbacks reve...
WEEDUTAP aims to share with the public reflective, creative, applicable, and interesting educational contents sourced from relevant academic and research community.