War And Love Analysis

The energetic Pyle is deeply involved in almost everything and represents the premise of involvement. Pyle says to Fowler that “it’s not a matter of reason or justice. We all get involved in a moment of emotion and then we cannot get out. War and Love—they have always been compared’.” (Greene, 1955, p.144). For Pyle, love is all about being committed and dynamic. However, Pyle does not care that Fowler wants to keep Phuong and continue their relationship. For Pyle, “the keyword was marriage. Pyle believed in being involved” (Greene, 1955, p.21) and being in a loving, committed relationship. “He was absorbed already in the dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West; he was determined –I learnt that very soon- to do good, not
Greene uses Thomas Fowler to indicate that it is impossible to remain uninvolved when one is in the war zone. Fowler often says that “My fellow journalists called themselves correspondents; I preferred the title of reporter.” (Greene, 1955, p.20), because he simply presents the facts and does not have any opinion pertaining the events. Fowler insists “it’s not from the war. It’s no concern of mine.” And that “I’m not involved.” (Greene, 1955, p.143). His impartiality and disinterestedness are unchangeable with his cases of being an uninvolved reporter of events (Hutton, 2007, p.68). Nevertheless, everyone has an opinion or reaction during war time and Fowler is no exception. Vigot says to him “You don’t follow your own principles. You are engagé like the rest of us” (Greene, 1955, p.130) and later, after Pyle is murdered and Phuong returns to him, Fowler understands that “sooner or later …one has to take sides if one is to remain human.” (Greene, 1955, p.166) and here one notices how the protagonist slowly changes his belief from being uninvolved to involvement and later on even taking action ( SABAU, 2007,
Reshetova (2003) states that Greene, in the novel, directly shows America’s involvement in the bombing. Fowler describes Vietnam through his point of view based on different examples of the country. He describes the beauty of “The gold of the rice-fields under the flat late sun ... the gold and the young green and the bright dresses of the south,” along with the evil of war: “in the north the deep browns and the black clothes and the circle of enemy mountains and the drone of planes.”(Greene, 1955, p.17). Fowler is a smart person who sees both the positive and the negative in Vietnam. Fowler’s view of the beauty and positive aspects of Vietnam are mainly related to Phuong and her appearance, although Fowler knows of her sufferings and troubles she had in her past. In Fowler's opinion, "She is the most beautiful girl in Saigon." (Greene, 1955, p.34). However, when Phuong takes the letter from Helen to her sister, the truth was revealed. Miss Hei translates the letter and finds out that Fowler has lied and that his divorce has not been accepted by his wife. Phuong was very silent and Fowler was aware of