Writing Techniques in The Quiet American

This Study Guide consists of approximately 34 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Quiet American.

Writing Techniques in The Quiet American

This Study Guide consists of approximately 34 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Quiet American.
This section contains 127 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy The Quiet American Study Guide

The novel begins with Pyle's death, and then proceeds as a flashback. Beginning with the ending could destroy any chance for suspense, but Greene, a master of suspense and surprise, actually uses the technique to increase suspense. In the opening, Fowler expresses a sense of guilt over Pyle's death, but the reader is encouraged to think this guilt is like that of a person who does nothing to save a drug-addicted friend, and then feels guilty when the friend dies of an overdose.

Fowler says, "They killed him because he was too innocent to live. He was young and silly and ignorant and he got involved." It is not until the end of the novel that the reader discovers just how direct Fowler's guilt is.

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This section contains 127 words
(approx. 1 page at 400 words per page)
Buy The Quiet American Study Guide
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