One of my favourite books since I discovered it in a library is Graham Greene’s Quiet American. I first read Brighton Rock after I found it by my Dad’s bedside when I was a teenager. My father often influenced my reading growing up. I was intrigued about Quiet American when I read the synopsis on the back. The book is set in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam before the American war, at a time when France was still running the country as a colony. The book features Fowler, who is my favourite character, a war correspondent reporting for one of the major British newspapers. The story is set in the 1950s. I won’t bore the reader of this post with all the politics involved in this book. There is the French occupying force, there is the Vietnamese rebels, there are the Americans who are looking to interfere and then there is Fowler who seems to be an agent of MI6. Pyle is a young idealistic American who seems to be working for the newly growing and self confident CIA. Fowler (his surname) is a cynical and experienced middle aged man who has separated from his first wife. He now lives with a Vietnamese lady called Phuong. The book is admittedly a bit dated now, Phuong as a character is very meek and passive as a female character, critics of 2025 might be critical of the book for this. Also the relationship is arguably swayed in Fowler’s favor as he is older and a part of the colonial establishment and she is a native Vietnamese. Fowler himself is a bit of an opium addict but he sort of has his habit under control unlike the people you encounter in Glasgow city centre begging in present day.

The story jumps back and forth in time to different points throughout the novel. The book starts with Fowler being questioned by Vigot the captain of the local French police force (the local authorities in the country). Then jumps to the first time Pyle meets Fowler in Saigon. Then jumps to other points.

Pyle starts off as a sort of naive character who seems rather harmless if not for the people he works for. He is fresh out of college, an excellent student (apparently). He is obsessed with one specific book author and the author’s ideas on an idea called The Third Force. The Third Force is the idea that the solution to Indochina is neither colonialism nor communism but American influence in the region. Funnily enough this book was actually published in 1955 before the American ‘invasion,’ in the late 60s.

However a parallel plot is the fact that Pyle is determined to court Phoung, Fowler’s girlfriend, reasoning that he can provide a better life for her with his higher salary. There is some awkwardness and squabbling but ultimately Phoung chooses Pyle in the story.

Pyle, however, is revealed towards the end to be extremely ruthless, without morals and in transgression of the desire of many of the main characters to preserve the peace in Saigon. In the end Fowler assists some of the local Vietnamese rebels in assassinating Pyle, reasoning his death is in everyone’s best interest.

Reflecting now, it seems Pyle has a rather black and white view of the world, and is prepared to go to rather extreme lengths to achieve his objectives. I think the book explores the morality of colonialism and interventionism. Fowler throughout is the voice of reason, with his experience his knowledge of the nuance of the situation. He repeatedly asks Pyle to question his beliefs however Pyle refuses and carries on. It’s unclear how much jealousy and the desire to keep Phuong motives Fowler in the end to assist in the assassination.

However all the previous writing in this blog post is by the bye. I like Fowler as a character especially because he is emotionally intelligent. In this novel there are all manner of men: the self interested (Vigot), the ambitious (Pyle), the mindlessly cruel (Granger). Fowler holds them all in check and is each their confidante. All the factions—the Americans, the Vietnamese rebels, the occupying French, and the British—are managed by him. Much is written in literature about the insanity of war but war is insane because people are insane. Fowler is a diplomat to everyone but also someone who intervenes when he has to (against Pyle). He manages his employers in London too by providing information on the war. Maybe Graham Greene (the author) was making a point by making Fowler British but it doesn’t really matter what nationality Fowler is to my liking of him and to the story, in my opinion. Ultimately I imagine a lot of people at the time and now would probably interpret this book as a political story, a criticism of American foreign influence perhaps. But I feel such interpretations miss the point of the story. Ultimately Fowler loves Phuong and sees Pyle as a threat to the status quo. There is a battle of ideas throughout the novel via the dialogue between the two. In a way Fowler acts in an almost animalistic way by attacking Pyle for taking Phuong. But there is a higher reason too, Pyle’s change is too extreme and violent for the various factions, Fowler successfully convinces the factions to turn on Pyle. 1950s Vietnam is not the same as in the nineteenth century when Europeans powers competed to carve up Africa and the world. The post WW2 era is more complicated with communism, capitalism and various other factions and ideologies not to mention modern technology. We saw that with the American loss in Vietnam in the late 1960s.