The Quiet American Lesson Plan

Fowler blames Pyle's death on his own “innocence,” which he calls “a kind of insanity.” Do you agree that Pyle's death was in some way caused by innocence? How do you think Fowler defines the term?

To many of your students, “innocence” may seem a bit too forgiving. After all, Pyle is callous and chipper even surrounded by suffering and death that he is responsible for. It's certainly fair to say that Pyle is ignorant (or as Fowler calls it, “naive”), and perhaps that's closer to what Fowler means. And Pyle does seem to genuinely, sincerely believe that he is fighting for what's right, so perhaps this, too, is innocence in Fowler's eyes. But Pyle knows full well the...