The Quiet American Group

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sandhyasingh
sandhyasingh
Student
College - Senior

How is "The Quiet American" a triangular love story?

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Posted by sandhyasingh on Monday March 10, 2008 at 5:05 AM and tagged with love story, the quiet american, triangular.

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  1. parkerlee
    parkerlee Teacher

    eNotes Editor

    The love affair going on in this novel is not truly triangular. Two men love (or lust after) the same woman, whom they pass back and forth, Eskimo style, in a kind of ménage à trois (French expression for such a situation). Phuong (meaning 'phoenix') isn't particular; nor do Pyle or his rival (the narrator) seem to take much offense in this arrangement. Sadly enough, Phuong just seems to be available as a sort of 'quick fix,' like the opium doses she prepares for Fowler. Emotional or affective ties are secondary if not non-existent. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that nothing is categoric - black and white - in this world of war; everything is an ethical compromise. When the dictum says, "All is fair in love and war," we know this means it really isn't.

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    Posted by parkerlee on Wednesday July 30, 2008 at 8:43 AM