Добавил:
Upload Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз: Предмет: Файл:
кортес ин-лит-ра.docx
Скачиваний:
33
Добавлен:
25.08.2019
Размер:
2.08 Mб
Скачать

Graham greene

(1904-1991)

Graham Greene was born at Berkhamsted, near London. He was educated at Oxford. From 1926 to 1930 he was sub-editor of the London Times. He travelled a good deal in Mexico, which later became the scene of many of his novels. Greene started writing in the late 20s. He wrote a lot of short stories, critical css<Jys, tr<Jvel books and plays.

Since the beginning of his literary career Greene has been writing in two veins- the so-called "serious novels" and the "entertaining novels" While the former <Jre genera­ lly i:l meditation on the psychology of man, the latter are more of the detective type of novel. The group of "serious novels" is represented by The Man Within ( 1929), England Made Me (1935), The Power and the Glory (1940), !he H cart of the Matter ( 1948 ), The Quiet American ( 1955 ), A Burnt-Out Case ( 1961 ). The "entertaining novels" are: Stamboul Train ( 1932), A Gun for Sale ( 1936 ), The Con­ fid entia! !lgent ( 1939 ), Loser Takes A It ( 1955 ), The Minis try of Fear (1968) and others.

The borderline between these two groups is, however, vague because the former are often constructed <Jlong detective or adventure lines while the latter present serious problems. Greene's novels touch on the burning political issues ot the day- the American war in Vietnam in The (.juiet American (1955), the people's struggle against the reactionary dictatorship in Haiti in The Comedians ( 1966),

135

racism in South Africa in The Human Factor ( 1978), politi­ ca I terrorism in Getting to Know the General; the Story of an Involvement ( 1984). The social and political events sNve as a background against which the problems of an ethical nature are dealt with. Greene's novels present a profound search into the depths of human psychology and are per­ meated with philosophical reflections on the nature of man and the human predicament. His last novel The Captain and the Enemy (1988) shows how complex and unpredic­ table human characters are. It treats of love and hatred, of devotion and bctraya I.

The major conflict in several of his novels occurs be­ tween believers, who live according to the law of the Church and unbelievers. And yet Greene avoids the easy solution that the believer will be saved and the unbeliever damned. He tries to find a way to reconcile these opposite views.

This idea permeates the novel Monsignor Quixote

( 1982) and his public speeches, one of which was delivered at the International Forum "For Nuclear-Free World, for Survival of Humanity" held in Moscow in 1987

Well known are also his short stories and funny enter­

taining tales for children such as The Little Fire Engine ( 1950), The Little Horse Bus ( 1952) and others. His last collection of short stories was prophetically headlined The Last Word ( 1990). The title story of the collection sounds as. the writer's behest to the living. It asserts the necessity of faith for every individual and for society at large.

THE QUIET AMERICAN

The novel is essentially political and it brings forward the most important problem in the progressive bourgeois literature of om days- the problem of choice. For the first time Greene strongly condemns the sordid laws of colonia­ lism, presents the truth of the American colonial policy. The plot of The Quiet American is centred round a murder It is not a detective novel, for the theme is profoundly political. The action of the novel is set in Vietnam in the

1950s, when the country was a French colony

The "quiet" American Pyle is employed in the American

Economic Aid Mission, but his real duty is to arrange various acts of sabotage and provocation, trying to accuse communists of them and paving the way for the growth of American influence.

His antagonist is Fowler, an English newspaper corre-

spondent. fowler is not young, he is unhappy in private li­ fe, disillusioned and tired. His creed is not to get involved in anything. Fowler reports only what he sees, trying to be indifferent to everything. I3ut sooner or later one has to make a choice, and Fowler does so. He begins to help the people of Vietnam in their struggle against the French troops.

The extract below taken from The Quiet American

describes the aftermath of the explosion organized by Pyle

... We were among a congregation of mourners. Thr police could not prevent others entering the square; they were powerless to clear the square of the survivors and the first-comers. The doctors were too busy to attend to the dead, and so the dead were left to their owners, for one r; own the dead as one owns a chair i\ woman sat on the ground with what was kft of her baby in her lap; with a kind of modesty sh<.> had covered with her straw peasant hal. She was still and silent, and what struck Ill(' most in the square was the silence. It was like a church I had once visited during Mass- the only sounds came from those who served, except where here and there the Europeans wept and implored and fell silent again as though shamed by the modesty. patience and propriety of the East The legless torso at the edge of the garden still twitched, like a chicken which has lost its head. From the man's shirt, he had probably been a trishaw­ driver

Greene is a contradictory writer; theoretically he is noncommittal; in his works, however, the characters are forced to take sides, or to make a choice, in the political struggle.

The novel Doctor Fischer of Geneuu, or the Bomb Party

( 1980) disclosed a new aspect of Greene's literary skill This relatively short work contains a sombre satire on the modern bourgeois world. It exposes the overwhelming

power of money and the limitless lust for it in the rich.

Greene's novels are characterised by a great force of

conviction, concreteness of description and precision in rendering characters and situations. These, as well as the wide scope and preoccupation with the most urgent pro­

blems of the day, make Greene one of the most prominent writers of contemporary world literature.

I. What two major groups can Greene's works be divided into? Narne some of llis novels. 2. Speak about the plot of The Quiet /iml.'rican

3. What is the theme of the novel Doctor Fischer of Gcner. a? 4. What can

you say about the peculiarities of Greene's style