Rich storytelling

On the surface, Greene’s The Quiet American tells the story of Mr. Fowler’s and Mr. Pyle’s struggle to win the affection and love of Phuong—a young, beautiful Vietnamese woman. However, Greene also explores the complexities of Vietnamese politics during the First Indochina War and foreshadows much of what went wrong with the much later American intervention in the country.

Fowler is a British journalist dispatched to Vietnam to cover the First Indochina War. A natural cynic, Fowler believes that the French (and American) efforts to prop up a democratic government or anti-communist “Third Force” in Indochina is mistaken and cannot stand the test of time. Pyle is an American civilian attached to the “Economic Mission” (although he is suspected to be a CIA Asset working to establish a third force with General The) who believes in the rhetoric of nation-building, the domino theory, and perceives the Vietnamese as “simple” and “childlike.” The ways in which each of these men conceptualize both the Vietnamese and the French/American fortunes in the conflict are played out in their relationship with Phuong who often seems like a one-dimensional object to be won or lost in a contest between the men and their competing world views.

A highly recommended read for anyone interested in the American War in Vietnam or in reading great works of fiction generally.