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Was Alden Pyle Accurately Portrayed in the Quiet American?
In the novel, The Quiet American, written by Graham Greene, he writes about a character Alden Pyle, who is an American fighting in the Vietnam War. In the novel, there are many different stereotypes of Pyle’s American ways. Throughout the novel, Pyle is portrayed as a typical, naïve American and looked down upon by Fowler, who is a British reporter. Many critiques seem outraged by the way Graham Greene decided to portray Pyle, and I have read many different negative commentaries on the book. In the following essay, I will discuss whether Alden Pyle was portrayed correctly and whether Graham Greene was being too stereotypical on the character.
Throughout the novel, Pyle is viewed as a wholesome American who drinks Coca-Cola, vacations with his family in Long Island, is proud of his country and displays a great deal of nationalism. Pyle is not portrayed as the “bad guy”; yet, he is described as being naïve. I do believe Graham Greene does go a little bit overboard with some of Pyle’s descriptions, such as the one in which he refers to him as, “ a naïve chap who speaks bad French, eats tasteless food, and is only accidentally and episodically heterosexual”.
Approximate Word count = 983
Approximate Pages = 3.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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