Fowler as a Reporter in "The Quiet American"

Abstract or Introduction

In Graham Greene’s novel „The Quiet American“ Thomas Fowler is presented as a British reporter in his late middle age. He has been in Vietnam for several years. He has a wife in England and an affair, Phuong, in Vietnam. In the beginning Greene represents Fowler as a character who is content to observe events taking place, without a will to interfere. He is described as an objective observer who does not take sides and who is just writing about what he sees. “My fellow journalists called themselves correspondents; I preferred the title of reporter. I wrote what I saw. I took no action – even an opinion is a kind of action.” (Greene 20).
However, throughout the book he changes. The longer the story lasts, the more he gets involved. He turns from a passive observing reporter into a reporter who takes action.
In the first part of this essay I will take a close look on the objective Thomas Fowler as he is described in the first few chapters of the book. In order to analyze his change and his work as a reporter throughout the book, we first have to know who he actually is. We also need to know what makes him and the reader believe that he is an objective reporter.
In a second step we are going to focus on his development throughout the book. Different events take place that influence him drastically. All these events finally change his way of reporting.
In a final third step we are going to take a look at the problem of getting involved. Is it actually possible for a human being to not get involved?
By focusing on these three aspects I hope to be able to answer the question if Thomas Fowler truly is an objective reporter. And if not, how did he and what did him change?