After World War II, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased as the nations competed for superiority and domination during the Cold War. The USSR’s growing power and communist influence over smaller nations frightened the United States and ignited a strong fear of further communist expansion. These fears became a reality with the emergence of the Viet Minh, a revolutionary communist force created to oppose tyrannical French colonialism, which ultimately pressured the United States to take action and bring democracy to Vietnam. The historical novel, The Quiet American, serves as an allegory to the struggle between communist Viet Minh forces in the North and French-controlled South Vietnam towards the end of the First …show more content…
While Pyle may have been misguided in his ways, his actions, despite being detrimental, are acceptable because his naivety and influences close to home caused him to believe that he was helping. After Pyle is first introduced to Fowler’s Vietnamese mistress Phuong, Fowler begins to feel oddly protective of Pyle’s innocence although he knows that, “innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell” (Greene 29). Fowler compares Pyle to a leper to illustrate how innocence is a dangerous mental disease, and while it may not be spread intentionally by the seemingly innocent Pyle, his grandiose plans will create disastrous results in the future. Although Fowler’s notions eventually become a reality and his pessimistic stance of U.S. intervention in Vietnam is completely justified, a leper obtains their deadly disease from outside sources. This is much like how Pyle was influenced by propaganda at home and did not have a choice of his own beliefs. Fowler even changes his perspectives when he realizes what influenced Pyle to do what he did in the first