Ambiguity and Technique in Three NOvels by Graham Greene

Abstract

<p>Graham Greene's complex protagonists remain sympathetic before the reader in spite of serious flaws. They are not "good" or "bad" characters, but simply human; their wrong actions become mixed with ambiguous motives, and the reader is left with more questions than answers. It is a careful technique by which the author creates such ambiguity around his protagonists. Greene's choices in narrative style show the protagonists' motives and actions from many different perspectives; thus he avoids the "easy" answers. The same narrative style, however, gives the reader a unique and intimate perspective from which to view the protagonists, resulting in the relationship which enables the reader to see, in Scobie's words, <em>the heart of the matter</em>. As a result, the reader discovers that there is much good in a character with immense problems and withholds judgment on even the worst offender. Though ambiguous in many ways, the protagonists are accepted as simply human. This study attempts to examine the ambiguity of Greene's protagonists and the technique that lies beneath it.</p>