SOURCE: “The Subjective Theological Vision of Graham Greene,” in Renascence, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, Autumn, 1970, pp. 3-13.

In the following excerpt, Houle argues that Graham Green's theological fixation weakens his novels and short stories.

In his essay on Henry James in The Lost Childhood and Other Essays, Graham Greene writes: “In all writers there occurs a moment of crystallization when the dominant theme is plainly expressed, when the private universe becomes visible even to the least sensitive reader.” In 1953, when interviewed by reporters from the Paris Review, Greene made a similar remark about himself: “Every creative writer worth our consideration … is a victim: a man given over to an obsession.” During the interview Greene referred to what he wanted to express in his novels as “my fixations.” He explains in the essay on James the importance of such a “ruling fantasy” to a writer: even a superior talent is...