"The
Quiet American" is a novel by Graham Greene.
The narrator of this novel is Thomas Fowler, who is a
middle-aged cynical English journalist working in Vietnam. The time is during the French war against the Vietminh. Fowler's story concerns the
murder of Alden Pyle who is referred to as "the quiet American", a naïve and high-minded idealist. The period alternates between the time immediately after Pyle's
death and the events leading up to it.
Pyle has stolen Fowler's mistress, Phuong, able to offer her the dream of marriage and a home in America. He has also become involved in subversive political activities, directing funds to a small guerrilla army under the nationalist General The in the mistaken belief that it will help the struggle against Communism.
When Fowler learns that the "quiet" American has played a part in a bomb explosion in a local café, he lays information against him which prompts his murder. Vigot, the Surete officer, appears after the event in order to investigate. At the end of the novel, Fowler retrieves Phuong, now in a position to marry her, although he feels some remorse about the death of the "the quiet American."