Vietnam War Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper explains, in Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" and Philip Caputo's "A Rumor of War", the desperate extremes men were forced to confront during the Vietnam War, which led to a clear transformation of their beliefs. The author points out that, in Graham Greene's "The Quiet American", the protagonist Thomas Fowler, an aging British reporter with no particular moral, religious or political beliefs, encounters a man called Pyle, becomes involved in a political plot and changes from a reporter committed to neutrality to a man forced to make an irreversible moral decision. The paper relates that, faced with the atrocities of guerrilla warfare during his tour in Vietnam, Philip Caputo, as reported in his book, evolves from a young, enthusiastic idealist with romanticized views of war to a desensitized and dehumanized veteran.

From the Paper:

"Thomas Fowler meets Pyle unexpectedly and is immediately drawn to the American. To a morally weary colonialist like Fowler, Pyle's guileless decency is endearing, if somewhat ludicrous. However, Fowler is soon made uneasy by Pyle's clandestine activities, and while he never questions his intentions, Fowler realizes that Pyle's blind adherence to rigid ideological theories, sacrifices his ability to admit actual human consequences. Fowler at first sympathizes with Pyle's sweetness and real humility. He's not the ugly American of anti-colonial literature, and he is very likable (Greene 29). Fowler's sympathetic response to Pyle illustrates a tolerant, indulgent, almost avuncular concern for the rash and infuriatingly quiet American, which sits at odds with his professed impartiality. When Pyle stirs up trouble in Fowler's personal life by professing his love to Fowler's mistress, Fowler still sees Pyle as a man with good motives despite all the trouble he has caused (Greene 52). As the months pass, a sequence of events, including bombs and strange trails leading to General The (Greene 120), brings Pyle to a different light in Fowler's eyes."

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