The Quiet American
By: July • Essay • 473 Words • March 26, 2010 • 1,157 Views
The Quiet American
Fowler constructs Pyle as a naпve young man who is an innocent victim of dogmatic and simplistic ideologies. Fowler sees American culture and Democracy as a corrupting influence on an innocent Pyle. This is exhibited th relational processes, where Pyle, as the carrier, is given attributes such as “innocent”, “young and ignorant and silly”. This innocence is highlight by contrasting it with the attribute of “the whole pack of them”, Fowlers serotypes of Americans.
Pyle’s corruption is seen in the single instance of his operating as a goal, where “they” are processed as having “killed” him. This construction of Pyle as corrupted by his environment is further solidified in Pyle’s role in material processes. The conceptual goal, which Pyle is acting upon “the east”, is processed in service of the ideological beneficiary “democracy”. The manner in which Fowler projects Pyle’s thoughts has Pyle, as senser, interpreting the reality of “a dead body” through simplistic ideas such as “a red menace”. This ultimately leaves us with a picture of Pyle as being possessed by good intentions corrupted by an ever-present conditioning.
The construction of Pyle in the 2nd text shares the same sensory groundings as the
Pyle of the 1st. However the two constructs change in terms of the revelations we gain of Pyle. While Pyle is altogether innocent in the 1st text, in the second his innocence is responsible for negative occurrence. This construction of Pyle negatively affects the world, where the Pyle in the first text mostly serves as a carrier. Further more the character of his actions is decidedly violent, as shown in his role as an actor