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A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American


Set during the Vietnam war and told from the perspective of the English journalist Thomas Fowler, this is a story of betraying principles and getting involved. Fowler is on assignment in Vietnam, and has lived there for some time. It is apparent that he is escaping a failed marriage and the fall-out from having had an affair back in England. While in Vietnam, Fowler has begun a relationship with a Vietnamese girl, Phuong, who is both illiterate and cannot speak English, so she is completely divorced from Fowlers life and work. One of her main roles as Fowlers partner is to prepare his opium pipes which he uses as a further escape from emotionalism. Fowlers detached and well-ordered existence is shaken up by the appearance of Alden Pyle, a young idealistic American who falls in love with Phuong. With his passionate ideals and his desire to do the right thing for Phuong, Pyle is the complete antithesis to the world-weary Fowler. One of the ideas that Greene is exploring in this novel is the shades of grey that occur in conflict. No one is completely innocent of inflicting harm upon another. Indeed, it is the innocent who Fowler sees as most capable of hurting others in their ignorance. Greene uses many symbols to demonstrate this point. Light is at once soft, and the manifestation of an explosion; the Vietnamese people are ageless and often child-like in appearance, although Greene in no way infantalises these people. Pyle is idealistic and strives for honour - he insists upon being fair, but we do not admire him for these heroic ideals. Indeed, we can see how dangerous and unthinking heroes can be - while they may be trying to help, they risk the lives of other people than their own. But nor do we admire Fowler himself for being a bystander - it is clear to him and to us that he must act to stop the heroic antics of Pyle. When Fowler is the victim in the love-triangle that dominates much of the narrative, we do not feel sorry for him, but understand that this is the last in a long line of failed romantic relationships that Fowler did not try hard enough to maintain. Inertia is as despicable a reaction to conflict as action. In the end, we can only conclude that people must take responsibility for themselves and their action or inaction - neither is right, they are both choices that result in hurt and death, and the human element is written out of history anyway. Life is hard. And then you die.

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American

A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Characters
Thomas Fowler Fowler is the cynical narrator of the novel who has made a career out of being a bystander. He is so detached from events around him, he even disparages fellow journalists, whom he refers to as correspondents. Fowler has left his wife, Helen, in England, after being unfaithful to her and then being unable to reconcile with her. He has come to a country in the middle of a war, where he as an English man is regarded as neutral. This is very much a symbol of how he regards himself. He is in a relationship with the much younger and very attractive Phuong, and although he does not see this in himself, he regards her very much like a possession; he is very surprised when she exercises her own free will and knocks Pyle back. Fowler is an avowed atheist, although as a narrator he is often preoccupied with religion and religious thought. This is a part of the cynicism which is a fundamental part of his character, in this way his name - Thomas, from doubting Thomas, is well deserved. He believes that the only absolute thing that can be relied upon in death - as the final annihilation of self and ego - and writes that he welcomes it; however, when faced with death, he abandons this precept, like so many of his other ideals, and is afraid. Alden Pyle Pyle is the character after whom this novel is named. He is in many ways the complete antithesis to the narrator - young and idealistic where Fowler is old and cynical. He is often characterised as innocent, like a virgin and it is therefore ironic that the name Alden means old and wise. Pyle is keen to get involved, with the war, with Phuong, but he has a great need to play fair; it is this last characteristic that gives the novel some of its humour - he wants to marry Phuong and therefore steal her from Fowler, but he wants to be upfront and open about his intentions. Fowler and he discuss Phuongs future and their involvement, but in the end, of course, it is Phuong herself who decides her own future; both Pyle and Fowler are surprised by this, and it demonstrates how caught up Pyle is in his ideal view of the world, and how little bearing on reality it has. Pyle idealistically gets involved in plastic explosives (the plastic representing his new world); but in his naivete detonates the bomb in a market place, killing and maiming women and children. His astonishment and desire to clean his bloodied shoes is contrasted with the grieving mother who covers her dead infant with her hat. Once again, he is clean, innocent of his own actions, and it is for this reason that Fowler decides Pyle is too innocent, naive to live. Phuong Phuong is the centre of the love triangle - she is objectified by both Pyle and Fowler. Pyle thinks of her as unable to make her own decisions, childlike, and is challenged in this view by Fowler who sees her much more realistically. However, for Fowler she is an escape - she prepares the pipes he is addicted to as an escape from emotional reality, and even the colour of her skin is the same amber as the opium resin. She cannot read English and is thus completely separate from Fowlers life as a man of letters. The meaning of Phuongs name is given to us on the first page of the novel, and it is clear that she is the only one who does rise from the wreckage of the world around them, she is not destroyed by those around her. Miss Hei The sister of Phuong, she is interested only in the material comfort of her sister and herself. She acts for Pyle when she sees that he is in a position to marry Phuong and can therefore be seen as the antagonist in Fowlers drama. However, it is clear that for her and Phuong life is not a gentle and forgiving existence. Without a secure relationship, these women do not have many options. The old, Vietnamese way of living is no longer viable;
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the life of Vietnam as a French colony is fast coming to an end, and these women need to fend for themselves, using the talents (beauty) that they have. Compared with the troubles that face the men in the novel, Phuong lives from day to day, a victim of the world around her who refuses to be a victim. Vigot The French detective in charge of investigating Pyles death, Vigot is portrayed as a sensitive man of learning. He is a minor character in the novel, appearing in Books 1, 3 and 4. Although Vigot is not altogether sorry that Pyle has been killed, he is a man with a vocation (again, in contrast to Fowler who considers that he has a job), a man who knows what his purpose in life is - to find out the truth. In this way, Fowler is sorry to have lied about his involvement with Pyles death, because he knows that Vigot is representative only of the truth, a concept that Fowler himself struggles with. Mr Heng The person ultimately responsible for the death of Pyle, he makes Fowler aware of the extent of Pyles activities. Heng is the man behind Mr. Chou, who is supposed to have a position of power; in turn Heng is supposed to have friends like rats supporting him. It is Heng who tells Fowler, Sooner or later,...one has to take sides. If one is to remain human. The inference is clear: Fowler is judging Heng and his associates as rat-like, animalistic, but they are concerned with the human war in way that Fowler is not. It is Fowler who is the animal, and not Heng. Captain Trouin A very minor character who appears in Part 3, Trouin is a pilot who drops bombs and napalm on villages while claiming that the risk to himself is as great as it is to the village. He is dismissive of Fowlers detachment from the situation; he knows that the war cant be won, but he is a professional soldier. Trouin takes Fowler to a prostitute, and Fowler is impotent: a contrast to Trouin.

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American

A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Setting & Structure


The Quiet American is a four part drama that is written in a circular narrative: Part 1 starts with the investigation of Fowlers involvement in Pyles death, with the strong inference being that Fowler is responsible. The rest of Part 1 orients the audience with the relationship between Fowler and Pyle and ends after Pyle declares his love for Phuong: the complication is established. Part 2 explores the complication of Fowler, Pyle and Phuongs relationship; the difficulty surrounding this is due to both men initially feeling that Phuong cant decide for herself, and then later is caused by Fowlers deceit. This part of the novel ends with Phuong leaving with Pyle. During this part of the novel, Fowler is increasingly affected by the war around him, and cannot maintain his cynical detachment when stuck overnight with two Vietnamese soldiers; Fowler begins to understand that he is deeply afraid of dying, which surprises him. In fact, he is becoming involved with living. Part 3 is the climax of the novel - Phuong has left Fowler and he confronts Pyle and makes a scene about it. Heng shows Fowler the destruction that Pyle is wreaking with his plastic; ultimately, Part 3 ends with the carnage in the market place and Pyle unable to comprehend that his ignorance is responsible. Part 4 is the resolution of the novel. Fowler makes a pact with Mr Heng who has Pyle killed; Phuong moves back in with Fowler. It seems that everything is back to the beginning again. This is summed up in the quote: Its like it used to be, I lied, a year ago. Except now even Fowler is unsure of his motives. The Quiet American is set for the most part in Saigon, which seems separate from the war; much of the social activity - particularly for the westerners - is drinking and dancing. The dancing is a symbol of the thin veneer of civilisation and of pretense. Fowler and Pyle are, naturally, very bad dancers. When Fowler goes out to the country-side, to take a look at the war, he contrasts the horror and carnage of the war with the softness of the natural light and the beauty of the landscape. It is in the country that Fowler is confronted not only by the war, but by Pyles declaration of love for Phuong. However, Fowler is seemingly able to separate the war outside of Saigon, almost as though it does not exist, until Heng brings his attention to Pyles activities in Saigon. Although he is able to write somewhat callously of the dead bodies in rivers as like meat, when he sees the dead and dying in the marketplace of Saigon, he is affected, and must act.

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American

A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Quotes
Part I Phuong, I said - which means Phoenix, but nothing nowadays is fabulous and nothing rises from the ashes. p3 Pyle was very earnest and I had suffered from his lectures on the Far East. p4 legality was not essential in a country at war. p7 Opium...calms the nerves and stills the emotions. p9 Everything was important to Pyle. p11 He was doing a lot of harm. p11 God save us always, I said, from the innocent and the good. p12 I told myself again I was innocent. p12 Death takes away vanity. p13 I was a correspondent: I thought in headlines. p13 Perhaps I should have seen that fanatic gleam. p17 Im not involved. Not involved, I repeated. It had been an article of my creed. The human condition being what it was, let them fight, let them love, let them murder, I would not be involved. 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. p20 I like it here. At home there are - problems. p22 They killed him because he was too innocent to live. He was young and ignorant and silly and he got involved. p23 Its only a damned colonial was anyway. p28 That was my first instinct - to protect him. It never occurred to me that there was greater need to protect myself. Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm. p29 Suddenly I saw myself as he saw me, a man of middle age, with eyes a little bloodshot, beginning to put on weight, ungraceful in love, less noisy than Granger perhaps but more cynical, less innocent. p32 Death was the only absolute value in my world. p36 The war was very tidy and clean at that distance. p38
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Its strange what fear does to a man p41 we didnt want to be reminded of how little we counted, how quickly, simply and anonymously death came. p43 Perhaps to the soldier the civilian is the man who employs him to kill, who includes the guilt of murder in the pay-envelope and escapes responsibility. p45 there was a quality of the implacable in Pyle. p51 he was as incapable of imagining a pain or danger to himself as he was incapable of conceiving the pain he might cause others. p53 I had experience to match his virginity, age was as good a card to play in the sexual game as youth, but now I hadnt even the limited future of twelve more months to offer, and a future was trumps. p58 Part II The history books gloss it over p66 Its human to make mistakes. p66 He meant a great deal to me, but one has to be sensible. p67 It wouldnt be fair otherwise p68 one gets over anything p69 what I offer is security and respect. That doesnt sound very exciting, but perhaps its better than passion p70 I loved her for the innocence of her question. p73 the weapon of weakness and I was weak. I hadnt youth, seriousness, integrity, a future p79 It belonged to a psychological world of great simplicity, where you talked of Democracy and Honor p82 I was fear taken neat p83 they were as scared as Id been p84 Thoughts a luxury Isms and ocracies. Give me facts....Why dont you call that colonialism p87 I was terrified of losing her. I thought I saw her changing p95 And this isnt my war p98 One shouldnt fight a war with children p100
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To be in love is to see yourself as someone else sees you, it is to be in love with the falsified and exalted image of yourself. In love we are incapable of honour - the courageous act is not more than playing a part to an audience of two. p103 I lay still and heard nothing but my own pain beating like a monstrous heart p105 Her pain struck at my pain: we were back at the old routine of hurting each other p110 Perhaps truth and humility go together; so many lies come from our pride p113 you are English. You are neutral p120 Whispers are dangerous p121 Part III You dont follow your own principles, Fowler. Youre engage like the rest of us p130 one is not betrayed by an enemy p132 one burst only was required, there was no one to return our fire. p142 Im not fighting a colonial war. p143 Its not a matter of reason or justice. We all get involved in a moment of emotion and then we cannot get out. p144 compared his idealism, his half-baked ideas founded on the works of York Harding, with my cynicism. Oh, I was right about the facts, but wasnt he right too to be young and mistaken, and wasnt he perhaps a better man for a girl to spend her life with? pp148-149 I thought you took no sides p149 hell always be innocent, you cant blame the innocent, they are always guiltless. All you can do is control them or eliminate them. Innocence is a kind of insanity. p155 Part IV Sometimes he is just weary of deception p160 only the heart decays. p162 Sooner or later, Heng said... one has to take sides. If one is to remain human p166 I thought that perhaps I could frighten Pyle into inactivity by warning him of his danger. p167 Sometimes we have a kind of love for our enemies and sometimes we feel hate for our friends. p168 Theres always a point of change, I said. Some moment of emotion... p171 I had judged like a journalist in terms of quantity and I had betrayed my own principles p175
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Activities
Key Passages
Ask students to read through the following passages. Get them to identify what the conflict is in each passage. Ask students to think about the role that each character in the passage feels they have. What action does each character take? Pages 20-22: Fowler explains that he is not involved; this is contrasted with Pyles earnest involvement; passage culminates with Fowler explaining that at home there were problems. Pages 26-28: Granger, the Economic Attache (Joe) and Fowler discuss the damned colonial war dismissively while getting drunk and trying to procure girls. Page 49: Pyle tells Fowler he is in love with Phuong. Pages 69-70: Pyle tells Phuong he wants to marry her - Phuong says no. Pages 86-88: Fowler and Pyle argue about the philosophies behind war. Pages 109-110: Fowler reads letter from Helen, his wife. Page 124: Fowler tells Pyle how tough Phuong is. Page 144: Captain Trouin tells Fowler what he thinks about the war. Pages 148-149: Fowler confronts Pyle. Page 155: Fowler understands that he must act. Page 168: Fowler discusses with Pyle the complications of life.

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American

A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Role Culpability Cut out the following roles and arrange them on a continuum from most culpable to least culpable.

bystander victim assistant protagonist facilitator collaborator follower

witness perpetrator confidante tempter antagonist individualist believer

instigator mentor hero sidekick villain leader sceptic/cynic

Arrange each of the characters in The Quiet American along the same continuum.
Fowler Heng Pyle Vigot Phuong Miss Hei

Look at the roles closest to the characters. Does closest role descriptor match up to the character? Why? Why not?

Encountering Conflict: The Quiet American

A Ticking Mind Teacher Reference.

Reactions to Conflict The following are some of the possible reactions that people can have to conflict. Looking at the list, think about characters in The Quiet American who may have acted in the following ways. Try to come up with at least two examples for each.
Reaction Avoidance Confrontation Distraction (create alternative conflict) Be victimised Stand By Accommodate Compromise Collaborate Character Conflict

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Conflict scenarios There are many ways we can thinking about encountering conflict. One way that makes sense with The Quiet American is to divide out encounters with conflict into two: Instinctive, reflex or first responses to conflict: This is what we do when we first come across a conflict situation. Second and considered responses to conflict: This is what we do when weve had some time to think about the conflict were in and what we can do about it.

This activity is designed to get students thinking about how we respond to conflict differently when we are under pressure to respond quickly compared to when we have time to think about it. a) Give students the attached sheet Conflict Scenarios. Give them 60 seconds to read through all the scenarios and make a comment next to each about how they would respond. b) After the 60 seconds have finished, get students to read back through the scenarios they commented on. Which actions would they change now they have more time to think about it? c) Discuss as a class what students initial responses were to some conflicts - and which responses they would change? Ask students why there might be these differences? d) Ask students to look through the list of events. Which ones require instant action which ones can be thought about? What is the likely difference in outcomes between these events? The scenarios are attached.

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Vocabulary Exercise Using the online tool www.visuwords.com, come up with a vocabulary list for each of the Conflict Roles and Conflict Reactions. Make sure that you have at least three alternative words for each of the words provided above. When the students have done this, they will need to have practice using them. Ask students to write six of the new words they have learned (three roles and three reactions) on post-it notes. Give them three more post-it notes each, and ask them to write three characters names on them (one for each note). Students should arrange these nine notes into a random grid on their table, like this:

Students should now draw horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines that link three words from the grid together; using those lines as a guide, students should create eight sentences from these randomly generated words.

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Pictures of Conflict This is a lateral thinking exercise. Looking at the pictures below, think about what sorts of conflict you are seeing. Where in The Quiet American do you see these sorts of conflict? What characters are affected by the conflict? What choices do they make? What roles do they play?

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Drawing Parallels One of the useful ways to get thinking about their context, is to ask them to draw parallels between real life and The Quiet American, or between TQA and other texts. For example: Fowlers attitude shift parallels the shift in the character of Jake Sully in Avatar. Do you agree? How is Fowler like Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) in Ghostbusters? How is Phuongs dilemma similar to Isabellas in Twilight? How is the westerners response to the Indochine War in TQA like white Australians response to Aboriginal issues? Pyle can be compared with George W. Bush during the war in Afghanistan, discuss. Pyle is exactly like the character of Rachael in Glee: well-intentioned but ultimately destructive. Discuss. How is Fowler like the seven dwarves in Snow White?

To do this, students will first need to think about the conflicts that each of the characters in TQA face. What are three of the conflicts that Fowler faces? What are two of the conflicts that Pyle faces? What is the conflict that Phuong faces? What is Vigots conflict? Rather than you giving students examples such as the ones above (because sadly for them students were born after Ghostbusters), you can ask them to brainstorm three books, films or TV show they have recently seen. From these texts, students should think about the conflicts faced by the main characters and how these can compare with the characters in TQA.

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Getting Started with Writing Expository = Compare & Contrast In order to have the best preparation for writing a detailed expository essay, students will need to have many examples of the ways in which people encounter conflict. They should develop a list of examples from the text, parallel texts and real life. Ultimately, students should amass 25 contrasting or similar ways in which people encounter conflict. They should put these examples on index cards for future reference. When students are given a prompt, they should sort through their index cards to establish which examples they can and cannot use. Then, with the pile of usable examples, students should attempt to organise each of the examples into 3 or 4 piles, according to similar ideas. These piles will form the basis of their paragraphs in an essay. Persuasive The key to persuasive writing is to develop students capacity to take a prompt statement and turn it into a proposition. A prompt statement will typically read something like this:

It is difficult to remain a bystander in times of conflict. Students need to re-write this statement into a proposition. A proposition should: Propose an action Use phrases such as: we should / should not, we must / must not, we need to / need not to
Students can practise this process by systematically going through a long list of Encountering Conflict Context prompts and turning them into propositions. Creative One way of getting students to mix both creative, persuasive and expository responses, it to get them to write responses from character perspectives. These could be responses such as: Thomas Fowler: Why I needed to have Pyle killed Pyle: Why I risked collateral damage in bombing the market-place Trouin: Why I drop napalm on villages Phuong: Why I left Thomas

If writing creative stories, students need to think about having: 1 Character - develop a character that reflects a character from The Quiet American somehow 1 Setting - develop a setting where a character is likely to come across problems of conflict Many problems - think about the way characters respond to conflict. What are all the different problems this character could come across?

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Prompts People in positions of power are not affected by conflict. In conflict, the difference between hero and villain is not always clear. The longer conflict continues, the more varied peoples responses will be. We cannot do anything to make conflict more bearable; all we can do is live each day. Bystanders are as culpable as perpetrators. Conflict makes people act outside their comfort zones. It is impossible to be a person of integrity in conflict. Identifying the hero and the villain is a matter of perspective. It is impossible to escape conflict. In order to resolve conflict, you must confront it. It is not always clear how we should react to conflict.

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