Many adjectives have been used to describe the novels and plays of Graham Greene - timely, religious, melodramatic, even 'seedy'' (Graham Greene, A Collection of Critical Essays, back cover). Although this may not be entirely true in Greene's other work, it is certainly true in his novel, The Quiet American. The Quiet American is judged as one of Greene*s 'entertainments' that include comedies, spy fiction, and thrillers that take place in foreign countries (Introduction). According to World Literature Critics editor, James P. Draper,
The Quiet American is set in South Vietnam and anticipates U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict. The novel*s protagonist, Alden Pyle, who is ignorant of Oriental culture, is depicted as a symbol of American arrogance (1537).
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