Anti-americanism in The Quiet American Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anti-americanism in The Quiet American - Essay Example In the meanwhile, they talk on the topics like French colonialism, communism, sex, social life, etc. But both these men get involved with Phuong, a local girl. Fowler is about 50 years old, while Phuong is in her twenties. Hence, there are complications in their relationships. Fowler has professional problems too, and he is reluctant of his married life. However, toward the end of the novel, Fowler discovers Pyle’s involvement in bombing of civilians. Moreover, Fowler himself gets involved in a plot to kill Pyle. At the end of the novel, Pyle dies while Fowler remains entangled over his affair with Phuong. The plot of the novel is not essentially political or oriented to military sciences and diplomacy. Rather, the two main characters of the novel get involved in a number of diverse events and objective studies from their most general viewpoints and often there are differences of opinion between them. As the novel starts, there are exciting descriptions of war, along with the visualization and vivid treatment of â€Å"the old Saigon story of the distinguished visitor who had lost his trousers fighting his way back to the safety of the police post. There was no protection here for the civilian.† (Greene, 41) Contextually, the two main characters, Fowler and Pyle, are sometimes debating on theology, religion, sex, romance, etc. Fowler’s views and comments reflect contemporary British social values, often independent from both the US and mainland European attitudes. On the other hand, Pyle appears to be an idealist, not only being relatively young and enterprising, but also willing to see something different from both capitalism and communism to come up in East Asia. The idealistic bend of his mind is somewhat criticized as Fowler remarks, â€Å"But Pyle, you can’t trust men like Thà © (one pro-American South Vietnamese). They aren’t going to save the East from communism. We know their