New Historicist Examination in Graham Greene's The Quiet American

Abstract

Graham Greene’s The Quiet American exposes the deep and internal political intricacies of the long-fought Vietnam War within the love triangle of a Vietnamese girl Phuong with a British citizen Fowler and American citizen Pyle respectively. The Viet Nam War has become a matter of image and prestige for France, America, Britain and China to prove themselves as more powerful and superior to others. The soldiers are compelled to fight without knowing the reasons of war under the command of the selfish political leaders and the general people are forced to face unnecessary pains and sufferings. As a perfect new historicist novel, The Quiet American brings the literature and history together as a complement of each other. Highlighting the voices of the suppressed, oppressed, backward and marginalized people, it foregrounds the hidden, secret and so-called banal themes related to death, sex, drug abuse, smoking and so on. Moreover, it openly interrogates the universal and permanent truth blurring the generic boundary and making use of abundant matters from letters, poems, interviews, dramas, films and stories.