1. Introduction
The Quiet American is an anti-war novel written by Graham Greene setting a love triangle in the midst of the Vietnam War in 1952. The novel is narrated by the protagonist, Fowler, who is a British war journalist that has been living in Saigon for an extended period of time. He refuses to engage in the conflict and form opinions - instead he prefers to simply report the facts. Fowler frequently disagrees with a young American, Pyle, who works for the Economic Aid Mission. The novel begins with Pyle's death, but the circumstances of it are unknown. Fowler is initially suspected bythe police, but he adamantly denies the charge. Pyle soon falls in love with Phuong after meeting her, and he tries to woo her from Fowler. Their love triangle has many twists and turns and fills the majority of the pages. The novel climaxes as Fowler finds out Pyle is involved in serious espionage efforts, working to establish General Thé as an American backed Third Force in the war. Pyle is immune to the violence and sees it as necessary for the cause, but Fowler is disgusted by it and frequently says that he hates war. The story is told outside of chronological order, and the reader gathers facts here and there. In the end, Fowler reveals that he had arranged for Pyle to be killed by a Communist leader, after finding out that Pyle