The Quiet American, Innocence at large
Cultures across the world find innocence an endearing aspect of personality. This is innocence in its meaning of ‘freedom from guile or cunning,’ a synonym for simplicity. But Innocence is also a euphemism for foolish naivety. Graham Greene says in his 1956 novel The Quiet American that in life one needs to be as much wary of innocence as of duplicity. I read the book more than two decades ago. I found in the character of the protagonist, a most skillful portrait of innocence ever drawn in literature. Over the years, details of the plot vanished from memory, but the poignance, the humour, and the tragedy of Alden Pyle remained and rose occasionally, whenever I came across similar themes in my readings. I read the book again, a few days back. My opinion that this is one of Greene’s finest was reaffirmed. Greene was war-correspondent of The Times , based in Vietnam in 1951-1954. He drew extensively on his experiences to lend verisimilitude to his story. The 1956 novel, ...