Rac(e)ing Questions III

6      I believe, however, that Sedgwick's theory provides a strong model for understanding political hierarchies and gender hierarchies in postcolonial representation. Sedgwick suggests that "there is a special relationship between male homosocial desire and the structures for maintaining patriarchal power" (25). Her work highlights specific ways in which the suppression of the female object in a homosocial context mirrors the power structures of masculine domination. For example, Sedgwick links triangulated desire with the traffic of women; she highlights how this process politically and economically oppresses women through a strengthening of male bonds. Sedgwick therefore conceptualizes both a theoretical and political goal in her writings. She explains specifically that her work aims to analyze a model for "delineating relationships of power and meaning, and for making graphically intelligible the play of desire and identification by which individuals negotiate with their societies for empowerment" (27). Her theory is consequently very helpful in addressing postcolonial novels whose plots inherently overlap political and gendered conflict.

7      Other triangular models can help us bridge the gap between Sedgwick's theory and postcolonial discourse. Starting as early as the seventeenth century, "triangular trade" or the slave trade worked through an asymmetrical mechanism; England and America exploited African resources and peoples to stimulate their own economic growth (Kent 84).[2]Kent explains mechanism of slave trade as: the transport of slaves to North America in exchange for the raw materials of spices, tobacco and rum, which were exported to Britain for manufactured goods By understanding the connection between the two colonizing nations, England and America, as homosocial bonds gaining power because of the oppressed body of Africa, this notion of triangular trade can be read as a political version of Sedgwick's gendered triangle. Another political triangle that can be envisioned is what I call a postcolonial triangle. This asymmetrical relationship emerged in the twentieth century between the former colonizer, the emerging nationalist elite, and the former colonized body or indigenous people. We can imagine a "homosocial" triangle in which the former colonizer and new nationalist elite mutually gain strength at the expense of the continued oppression of the former colonized body. These models offers insight into how the construction of asymmetrical triangulated desire can portray homosocial bonds in terms of a country or nation's "desire."

8      These theories will help to explore the imperial implications of Greene and Achebe's use of triangulated desire. "In large measure [Greene] is a product of England between the wars, of the period of diminution of the Empire," claims R.H. Miller in his work Understanding Graham Greene (98). Although he published The Quiet American in 1955, Greene incorporates into his novel the feeling of weakening empire which began much earlier in the century. Set in Indochina as the French were struggling to maintain control of Vietnam, The Quiet American references a situation in which the colonizer is under threat from communism and from the native population seeking independence. Greene not only sets his novel in a situation which captures an era of decolonization, but he also presents the action of the novel from the perspective of a British man who reflects back on a time of British power. Although this novel takes place outside the British Empire, Greene clearly uses his text to portray the changing imperial image of his nation.

9      In Greene's work, the triangulated plot line is introduced early into the text. Thomas Fowler, an aging British journalist, is the lover of the native woman Phuong at the start of the novel. Phuong, however, becomes the simultaneous love interest of Alden Pyle, the young and "innocent" American who arrives in Vietnam. With this introduction of competing male rivalry for the female object, Sedgwick's model is realized in Greene's text. The scene in which Phuong dances with Pyle exemplifies the woman's placement as an object between the two men. The reader glimpses the burgeoning rivalry that will develop between the two as Fowler claims: "I thought how much she missed in her relation to me" by watching Pyle and Phuong move across the dance floor (41). Thus, Fowler experiences the emotions of envy and jealously almost immediately when he sees Pyle approach his possession. When Pyle returns Phuong after the dance, the position of the woman is made even clearer as Fowler claims, "One always spoke of her [Phuong] like that in the third person as though she were not there. Sometimes she seemed invisible like peace" (44). This statement allows Greene to imply that Phuong serves the place of conduit between the two powerful forces in this novel.

10      Yet, Greene does not only position these two men as enemies; he also introduces the bonds of esteem and friendship between the two rivals. Although Fowler senses a threat from Pyle, he feels a simultaneous need to shelter and accommodate the innocent, young American. "I like that fellow Pyle," he tells Phuong, "I had better look after Pyle" (37). In return, Pyle feels a connection with Fowler based on respect, esteem and admiration; Pyle's words: "I feel in a way this has brought us together. Loving the same woman," convey his intense bond to Fowler. As these positive feelings mix with the feelings of jealousy and hate, the emotions between the men become much more central to this novel than the heterosexual desire towards the object. The dangerous journey which Pyle makes to inform Fowler of his intentions with Phuong reveals his need of masculine recognition. "You didn't think I'll tell her & without you knowing" claims Pyle, making it clear that his desire for Phuong cannot be complete unless it has the awareness of the other male rival (57). Greene's readers cannot ignore the intense male connection that rises out of the quest for the female object.