Neutrality In Fowler's The Quiet American

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In the novel, The Quiet American, the main character, Fowler, claims to be neutral throughout his whole life. With the help of his opium addiction, Fowler tends to put himself in the role of a journalist and to only provide the facts. Any statement tainted by opinion, Fowler disregards. Fowler attempts to take no action and have no opinion. This degree of objectivity although desirable for Fowler brings into question its practicality. Objectivity may be impractical due to the emotional nature of humans. And yet could be practical if someone were to be cautious about the bias in their statements. The problem here is not about whether someone could think only unbiased thoughts, but whether they could function daily. The first scene we should …show more content…

Fowler engages himself into various situations contrary to neutrality. “I took no action--even an opinion is a kind of action” (28) Fowler names two things which would contradict the neutral character stance. Considering these two things, action and opinion, Fowler breaks the first rule about having an opinion. This is demonstrated with him loving Phuong, but he also breaks the rule about not being involved. This is seen in the next paragraph. The main situation Fowler gets involved in is this whole war against Pyle. Fowler not getting involved would have resulted in Pyle not being murdered. Fowler keeps telling himself that he’s neutral, after clear situations in which there is subjectivity. It’s a delusion that Fowler tries to live. Fowler furthers this with his opium use which makes him less emotionally responsive. But this does not absolutely rid him of his instinctive subjective feelings. A reporter reports the crime scene, but Fowler is literally being investigated because of his ties to Pyle. Fowler is considered a suspect, and as the readers know, is actually the character who planned the attack. Planning this attack is a clear sign of involvement, and we know this to be out of

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