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The
Literary Shelf
Graham Greene never won the Nobel Prize for literature, a paradox; but, his
tour de force lives on…
Greene Junction
by
Rajgopal Nidamboor
 Graham
Greene, in more ways than one, embodied his own allegory — with a velvety
feel. If his novels were replete with tact for reality, and outspokenness,
his literary humanism was just as riveting and wholesome. Greene carried
“agony” with him, yes. However, his prose was uniformly sensitive — like
newspaper headlines.
A hugely topical writer, Greene also grappled with everything that touched
the human element — depression, capitalist monopolies, conflict, survival on
the edge of the precipice, smuggling, spying, and anti-Americanism. A
moralist and, therefore, controversial, Greene’s clearly-worded works of
suspenseful, or ethical, ambivalence bordered on a delicate balance — of
both gloom and salvation.
What’s more, Greene often indulged in self-deception, drawing upon the
ground swell of his existentialistic mission — of sin, mental darkness,
human mind, and failures — wherefrom he waited for everything to unfold with
transcendent expectancy and perceptivity. He recognized the presence of
armed combat, or war, too — as something to be put up with, like a certain
continual, but not terminal, disease. And, if evil, to him, was like ague in
his veins, he carried in his every expression an innate sense of political
divergence.
Greene was very special. He carried the torch of English literature with him
— like a colossus — with both power and grace, aside from a parabolic
intent. As he once wrote: “The creative writer perceives the world once and
for all in childhood and adolescence, and his whole career is an effort to
illustrate his private world in terms of a great public world we all share.”
Think of a Freudian metaphor — and, Greene echoed its striking nuance.
Greene not only explored the distinction between rituals and legalities, but
also faith, candor and justice. That’s not all. Greene was a subversive
romantic. But, what made him stand apart from other writers — in a league of
his own — was his characteristic individuality. Greene never experimented
with language, sabotaged conventional sequence of events, or favored
glamorous themes. He effortlessly used his mind’s eye as his own radar and
compass — a guided abstraction. In so doing, he typified the drama of the
human soul.
The least parochial of writers, Greene was, in a sense, elusive. All the
same, he left behind him a monumental wealth of writing, all witness to his
literary genius. To cull an accolade: “The Greene novel seems to be based on
a theory, which is not unlike the principle of aerodynamics according to
which the aircraft must maintain a specific speed, or else it will tumble
down. This speed Greene achieved by his masterly selection of detail,
splendid economy of words, and by swift and frequent change of scenes.”
Although his background was typically British, Greene always defended
popular movements struggling for freedom and democracy. And, while it would
not be fair to justify that he was unaware of the pitfalls, for example, of
one certain Fidel Castro, whom he always admired, Greene’s faith in the
unconventional politician was derived from his deeply-held convictions that
were visible as early as the beginning of the 1940s — in his book, The
Lawless Roads.
Be that as it may, Greene critically X-rayed his own tradition and practiced
his own art of morality — of not being at home in one’s own home. He could,
of course, do without the Nobel Prize against his name — because, he was a
kid at heart. It was Nobel’s loss; not his.
A descendant of R L Stevenson, the imperishable creator of Treasure
Island, Greene’s canvas extended far beyond his novels. He also wrote a
number of essays, short stories, and film scripts. He penned many books for
children, too. His novel, The Man Within, published in 1929, was his
first big success. What followed, thereafter, was extraordinary — Heart
of the Matter, Power and the Glory, The Third Man, The End of the Affair,
The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, A Burnt-Out Case, The Human Factor,
The Tenth Man etc., including several other innumerable, or “lesser,”
writings.
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Continued
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