In Graham Greene's novel, The Quiet American, Greene depicts the American character and foreign policy of the 1950s. He does so by maintaining three important themes: l the insufficiency of theoretical thinking, the fear of innocence and the difficulty of remaining neutral. Throughout the novel, Greene emphasizes “that innocence and idealism can cost as many lives as the opposite frightening cynicism” (Iyer). Through the lives of the three main characters, Thomas Fowler, Alden Pyle and Phuong, Tree illustrates the foreign policy struggles they endured in the 1950s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayGraham Greene, a famous English novelist was born in 1904. After a difficult childhood, Greene studied at Ballion College, Oxford ( Gorham-Davis). While in college, Greene converted to Roman Catholicism. Shortly after, he published his first work, a book of verse. In 1955, Greene published his novel The Quiet American. He set the novel in Vietnam, which, at the time, was experiencing a growing local insurgency against French colonial rule (Iyer). However, unlike much of his other writing, "the effect of circumstances is specifically ideological and political" in this novel (Gorham-Davis). Along with various political agendas, the idea of ​​establishing a third force against the communists and French colonials plays an important role in Greene's depiction of foreign policy struggles. Throughout the novel, there is a recurring theme of the inadequacy of theoretical thought relating to politics. during the 1950s. Every thought is linked to politics in one way or another. This includes personal motivations since they appear to be linked to political opinions. For example, understanding Fowler better means understanding his political thoughts better. More broadly, Fowler disapproves of American liberals who attempt to introduce their classical notions of freedom and democracy into Asia. On a more personal note, Fowlers' comment on his ex-wife's letter makes sense in using people and countries interchangeably (Smith). While Pyle prefers to learn from books, Fowler chooses to learn by acquiring all the hard facts. This serves as an example that differentiates Pyle from Fowler. Their different approaches lead to different opinions on how to solve the Vietnam problem. Pyle thinks a democracy would help, but Fowler insists otherwise. Throughout the novel, Fowler attempts to explain that thinking too much outside the box ultimately leads to difficult realities being viewed as mere facts. Ultimately, it's a problem when people start assuming that such simple solutions can solve such difficult problems, like Pyle's idea of ​​establishing a third force. Additionally, Greene also emphasizes the fear of innocence throughout the novel. According to Fowler, “Innocence is like a mute leper who has lost his bell and who travels the world without wanting to harm it. You can't blame the innocent, they are always innocent. All you can do is control or eliminate them” (PAGE Greene). Similarly, in the communist plan to take political power, the first step is to eliminate the social democrats and liberals (Gorham-Davis). With the help of Vietnamese communist agents, Fowler works to eliminate Pyle, the American. Fowler considers Pyle dangerous simply because he is innocent. Despite his extreme naivety, Pyle sincerely wishes to help solve Vietnam's problems. For example, Pyle helps plan a).