Harry Lime In The Third Man

If you had the option of choosing between turning a malicious robber in to the police, or saying nothing and receiving $10,000, what would you do? The “good” or “morally correct” answer would be to turn the robber in, but it is nonetheless a tempting scenario. There is a similar moral concept present throughout The Third Man, one that stresses the idea of “every man for himself”. Within the world of the film, each character either puts himself first regardless of morals, or tries to do what is morally correct whether it conflicts with their personal desires or not. Men are selfish beings, and The Third Man delves into that idea and exposes mankind’s inner morale of selfishness and always putting yourself first, and the consequences that follow.

From the very beginning of the film, Holly was simply trying to find the real reason behind Harry’s death, showing how devoted he was to achieving justice for his lost friend, even though he was only a writer. After discovering Harry was really alive, it is revealed that he is extremely amoral, which is shown through Welles’ line,”Nobody talks about human beings. Governments don’t, why should we?” all while keeping a playful tone. Holly’s dynamic towards Harry in this scene is very interesting, as he is not his normal self and is instead very quiet and suspicious of Harry. This is the response of someone who doesn’t want innocent people to die for the benefit of the single individual. Harry eventually makes the morally sound decision of setting up the rendezvous, motivated by his talk with Harry, and by the children themselves. Holly has seen the children Harry is hurting, but Harry has not. The removal from the problem helps Harry feel more at ease, but further motivates Holly to do what is right. Holly’s character is the opposite of the “every man for himself”

Surviving on your own and putting yourself before others is a passed down survival instinct, however, in the film, Harry Lime commits his crimes for his own personal gain. Harry knows children are on their deathbeds because of his actions, yet he does not care. When it comes to the deaths of others versus feeding his own personal desires, he would always choose the latter. This is shown in his conversation on the ferris wheel with Holly Martins. When Orson Welles delivers the line,”If I offered you 20,000 pounds for every dot that stopped would you really tell me... to keep my money?” I found myself pondering what I would do for a moment. Welles hypnotizes the audience with his persuasive speech, and we get to see the value in always benefitting yourself first for a moment, no matter how despicable the repercussions. In saying,“The dead are happier dead, they don’t miss much here, poor devils,” Harry is removing himself from the blame of the children’s deaths, and is instead painting the situation in his favor. He manipulates the situation to appear as if he is simply trying to survive in the world instead of being selfish by second-handedly causing death for monetary