Graham Grene =)

About Graham Grene :
- Henry Graham Greene
- 2 October 1904 - 3 April 1991
- He was an English writer, playwright & literacy critic
- He suffered from bipolar disorder

Graham Grene's  Quote :

"Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation."

- This quote is closely related with his teens life where he had attempted to suicide. His parents took him to the therapist and the therapist suggested him to start writing. 

Some of his famous novels/ short stories :

1. The Basement Room / The Fallen Idol = Drama, Mystery, Thriller
2. The Third Man =  Mystery, Thriller, Romance
3. The Quite American = Fiction, War
4. Our Man in Harvana =  Fiction
5. Looser Takes All = Comedy, Speculative fiction

In this entry we are going to focus on THE BASEMENT ROOM / THE FALLEN IDOL .

Here is the link to the short movie clip from the The Fallen Idol film :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTEJgT0Cegw

Summary :

A diplomat's young son, Phillipe, idolises his father's butler, Baines who has invented a heroic persona to keep the boy entertained, and often tells him stories of his exotic and daring adventures in Africa and elsewhere. In reality, the butler has never been to Africa and is stuck in a loveless marriage, while dreaming of happiness with a younger woman whom he tells Phillipe is his niece after the boy finds them together. After Baines has an argument with his jealous wife, she accidentally falls from a landing to her death. However, Phillipe believes that he has seen Baines murder her. The boy desperately and clumsily attempts to protect his hero when the police investigate, but his efforts only lead Baines deeper into trouble.

Characters :

- Philippe ( A diplomat’s young son)

- Mr. Baines ( Butler)

- Mrs. Baines (Butler’s wife)

- Julie (Mr. Baines affair)

Literary Theories that can be used in this story:

1. Travel Theory 

- Author experiences, admiring the places

In The Basement Room by Graham Greene, the butler, Mr Baines told Philip about his daring experiences in Africa. But, actually Mr Baines never went to Africa. He just wants to keep the boy entertained.

- Perhaps, Greene writes this book based on his trip to Africa.

The author Graham Greene journeyed to West Africa in 1935, ostensibly to write a travel book. But, claims Tim Butcher, it was a cover for a spy mission on behalf of the British anti-slavery movement which was investigating allegations that Liberia, a state born as a refuge for freed US slaves, was guilty of enslaving its own people.

The reason Greene was sent to Liberia is that a country originally set up as a sanctuary for survivors of slavery had committed the ultimate betrayal: the authorities had been caught selling their own people as slaves.

Biographers of Greene have picked up on his connection, prior to his Liberian trip, with the antislavery society. But they failed to reflect the depth and extent of the relationship and the role it played in turning him into a full Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) spy in the Second World War.

Greene’s original diary of the three-month trip and one of his first manuscript drafts of Journey Without Maps are held at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas. These contain extensive details of labour practices in Liberia, including details of wage rates, that go far beyond what one would expect a journalist or travel writer to focus on.

Greene was to serve as a spy for SIS between 1941 and 1944. After basic training in Britain he was deployed to West Africa, but his first choice of returning to Liberia was stymied because its government was still angry at the way he had presented the country in Journey Without Maps as backward, undeveloped and peopled with primitive tribes who were being ruthlessly exploited by a corrupt elite. Instead he completed field training in Nigeria and then spent just over a year serving as officer 59200 in Sierra Leone before returning home to work briefly under Kim Philby, who was later exposed as a Soviet spy.

2. New Historicism 

GRAHAM GREENE : he tried running away from home several times . In his teens , he attempted suicide . His therapist encouraged him to start writing as a means of developing a stronger self image and a more positive outlook on life .

After his relationship ended , he had string of mistresses , including in the 1950s Swedish actress Anita Bjork in 1938 , Greene began an affair with Dorath Glover .

Without bothering to end his affair with Glover , Greene began affair with a beautiful Catholic convert , Catherine Waltson.

So it is proven that Graham Greene’s short story emphasizes on his biography and social background .

Graham Greene