Within his work, The Quiet American, Graham Greene explicitly criticizes the tendency for western countries to intervene in foreign politics. Denoting his informed position regarding the turmoil in Vietnam, Greene “reported on the French colonialist war in Vietnam for the Sunday Times of London and for Le Figaro and Paris-Match” (Whitfield, 67). That Greene had personally witnessed the western countries’ various attempts to alter Vietnamese politics both qualifies his criticism, and evidences his desire to explicitly reject such efforts. Having physically experienced the events that contributed to the disastrous political affair, Greene denounces the western interventionist motives by employing several framing mechanisms that ultimately further
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Framing Fowler’s act as a necessary, natural, human response, Greene writes “Sooner or later… one has to take sides. If one is to remain human” (Greene, 166). Here, by asserting that Fowler’s status as a human compels him to thwart the American efforts to facilitate the rise of a despotic general, Greene insinuates that Fowler’s response is not political, but is instead to defend humanity from tyranny and abuse. That Fowler is forced to intervene in political matters based on his duty to protect the vietnamese people furthers Greene’s critique of foreign political intervention, as it poses Pyle’s political interventionism as antithetical to humanity. Indicating the gravity of his decision to momentarily relinquish his impartiality, Fowler considers that “there was no harm in giving him that one chance,” when referring to his plan to assist in Pyle’s assassination, while continuing to concede, however, that “You cannot exist unless you have the power to alter the future” (Greene, 172). That Fowler ponders his decision so extensively both evidences the urgency of his intervention, and confirms its importance, as he only alters the future along humanitarian lines and continues to refrain from directly influencing Vietnamese
Framing Fowler’s act as a necessary, natural, human response, Greene writes “Sooner or later… one has to take sides. If one is to remain human” (Greene, 166). Here, by asserting that Fowler’s status as a human compels him to thwart the American efforts to facilitate the rise of a despotic general, Greene insinuates that Fowler’s response is not political, but is instead to defend humanity from tyranny and abuse. That Fowler is forced to intervene in political matters based on his duty to protect the vietnamese people furthers Greene’s critique of foreign political intervention, as it poses Pyle’s political interventionism as antithetical to humanity. Indicating the gravity of his decision to momentarily relinquish his impartiality, Fowler considers that “there was no harm in giving him that one chance,” when referring to his plan to assist in Pyle’s assassination, while continuing to concede, however, that “You cannot exist unless you have the power to alter the future” (Greene, 172). That Fowler ponders his decision so extensively both evidences the urgency of his intervention, and confirms its importance, as he only alters the future along humanitarian lines and continues to refrain from directly influencing Vietnamese