Themes In The Quiet American

War is one of the main themes in “The Quiet American” and thus it is considered to be an anti-war novel. Greene describes war as hideous, terrible and full of horrors that is planned by cynical people who will do everything just to achieve their personal interests. As mentioned earlier Greene wrote the book from his own experiences and through Thomas Fowler he displays the events and incidents that he experienced during the time he was there. Fowler is a reporter who is covering the war between French armies and Communist Vietminh’s in Vietnam for more than two years. At the beginning war is not mentioned at all, there is only an introduction to the characters and Pyle’s murder. When Fowler and Phuong go to the Continental they meet there Pyle together with Bill Granger,

Greene presents here the first defeat of the French forces and how they are losing the power to hold up against the communists and he emphasizes the fact that journalists were not allowed to report about this defeat. In Part One Chapter 4, Greene provides some of the best writing about war. Greene describes people “packing their most valued possessions” and taking refuge in the Cathedral. He goes on by describing “the bitterly cold when darkness came … the Cathedral was full: there was no more shelter … people crowded through the gates carrying their babies and household goods”. (Greene, 1955, pp. 40-41). Fowler describes what he sees, the whole population staying in cold and hungry, the Cathedral which is full of people trying to find shelter and he also sees people with babies. He also describes the aftermath of battle, with bodies and body parts floating in canals and “reminding him of an Irish stew containing too much meat” (Greene, 1955, p.43), some covered with flies, some lying dead on the