Remember that post a couple months ago about me making myself read The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene? (Of course you do, because I'm such an amazing blogger and yet I can count my posts on one hand.) Well, I finally finished it.
A title this fantastic needs no cover illustration, obviously.
The Basics: The novel takes place during WWII in a British Colony on the west coast of Africa (I only had a hazy idea of the location while reading the entire novel, yet I believe that I reaped most of the literary benefits nonetheless). Our hero, Henry Scobie, is a middle-aged policeman who has lost his zeal for life, to say the least. Greene keeps revisiting a description of the dripping-wet humidity and stifling heat of the climate throughout the book, so that by about page 30 I started to frown slightly while reading. Scobie's wife, Louise, is whiny and cares only about whether Scobie is promoted to Commissioner and keeping up the practice of her Catholic faith. Their only daughter, Catherine, died in Britain while at school years before. Wilson, the new inspector in town, is younger than Scobie and has not yet become listless.
The Plot: Wilson falls in love with Louise, and even though Scobie realizes this, he encourages them to spend time alone together. Scobie makes a shady deal with an unsavory merchant named Yusef in order to send Louise to South Africa, which will somehow make her get over the fact that Scobie was denied the commissioner position. While she's gone, Scobie meets a young shipwreck survivor named Helen. Helen's new husband died at sea, and Louise is far away, so naturally Helen and Scobie start to have an affair. Now, at this point I thought to myself, okay okay okay, this novel is about adultery, blah blah blah. But really, the struggle that plays out in Scobie's mind is quite compelling. When Louise returns unexpectedly, Scobie's philosophical turmoil intensifies. Wilson makes advances toward Louise, proclaiming his love for her, but she denies him. Scobie leads a double life, going to Mass with Louise during the day and returning to Helen's hut at night. All of Scobie's self-disgust manifests itself at the end of the novel, but I won't give anything away just in case, dear reader.
The Themes: Pity, pride, self-sacrifice. Why does God offer us so much, and then give us the ability to throw it back in His face? Is it better to try and make others happy rather than to live virtuously? This novel is dismal and difficult, but also full of truth.
Whew. You didn't know this, but as I was writing this post, my mother was watching a re-run of the pilot episode of Glee. You try doing both at the same time. It's probably only marginally easier than writing a novel about adultery in the sweatiest place imaginable.
Now, go and discuss The Heart of the Matter with all of your intellectual friends. And then, someday, read it.
