The Quiet American

A few weeks later, Fowler is in Saigon again. He hears rumors about a secretive operation in which Pyle was somehow involved. A parcel sent to Pyle with diplomatic protection was accidentally opened. The package contained plastic, Fowler is told by Phuong, who goes to visit her sister.

Fowler writes to his boss. He does not want his promotion, and he would like to remain in Vietnam, citing the constantly shifting state of the war as a reason for him to stay. Pyle arrives at Fowler’s house, accompanied by a dog named Duke and wearing a Hawaiian shirt that is “comparatively restrained in color and design” (90). After Pyle steps inside, Fowler realizes that he wants to talk about Phuong. Feeling aggrieved, he asks Pyle about the package. Pyle switches the topic to dogs. When he claims to have named Duke after a historical figure (Edward of Woodstock, also known as the Black Prince), Fowler takes pleasure in pointing out that the Black Prince “massacred all the women and children in Limoges” (92).

Phuong returns home, and Fowler acts as a translator between her and Pyle. He tells Phuong that Pyle is in love with her and would like to marry her, as Pyle asks him not to use overwrought language in the translation so as not “to sway her emotionally” (95).