250:. Castle and younger colleague Davis make light of the resulting inquiry, but when Davis is accused on circumstantial evidence and quietly "disposed of", Castle begins to wrestle with questions of loyalty, morality and conscience. On the one hand, Castle undertakes his day-to-day job professionally, and is willing to do what is more than required for both Davis and Daintry, his boss. On the other hand, Castle is grateful to Carson, who, as a
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The novel builds its suspense by focusing on the psychological burdens of the pawns in the game, particularly frustration with the culture of secrecy in the three secret services—British, Soviet and South
African—and with the sophisticated amorality of the men at the top. Greene's characters are
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for defectors who were feted but at the same time suffered the shortages, shoddy furnishings and underwhelming work shared by
Soviets. The disappointment is sharp for Castle, who never had an investment in Communism and whose actions severed him from the two people he loved.
254:, helped Castle's wife escape South Africa. In return, Castle decides to help the Communists and believes that by helping them, he is helping his wife's people—not knowing that the Soviets have all along been using him for entirely different purposes.
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291:, been a feature of the British Secret Service. "I wanted to present the Service unromantically as a way of life, men going daily to their office to earn their pensions." Writing in his 70s, Greene drew on his own experience in
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South Africa, he now lives a quiet life in the suburbs and looks forward to retirement. As the book begins, a leak has been traced to the
African section in London where he works and threatens to disrupt this precarious
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and the impact of international affairs on the complicated lives of individuals and vice versa. The interplay of international politics and personal dissent is a trademark of this author.
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Graham Greene: A Literary Life - Page 130 0230535801 N. Sinyard - 2003 Stoppard, it will be remembered, wrote the screenplay for the film version of Greene's The Human Factor. .
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secret service. Married to a black South
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Another theme Greene explored was what he considered the hypocrisy of the West's relations with
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and explored the moral ambiguities raised by his old boss, legendary
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complete psychological portraits located within the context of the
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Getting to Know the
General: The Story of an Involvement
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Getting to Know the
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832:The Last Word and Other Stories
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310:South Africa under apartheid
824:May We Borrow Your Husband?
765:The Return of A. J. Raffles
233:Maurice Castle is an aging
16:1978 novel by Graham Greene
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789:For Whom the Bell Chimes
663:In Search of a Character
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1180:Novels by Graham Greene
1012:The Heart of the Matter
940:The Future's in the Air
504:The Heart of the Matter
488:The Power and the Glory
163:PZ3.G8319 Hu PR6013.R44
480:The Confidential Agent
221:using a screenplay by
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749:The Complaisant Lover
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385:and their adaptations
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1068:Travels with My Aunt
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572:Travels with My Aunt
496:The Ministry of Fear
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580:The Honorary Consul
424:Rumour at Nightfall
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416:The Name of Action
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22:The Human Factor
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781:Yes and No
320:References
303:Kim Philby
289:James Bond
235:bureaucrat
381:Works by
252:Communist
243:apartheid
202:espionage
151:823/.9/12
102:Paperback
75:Publisher
67:Published
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98:Hardback
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517:novella
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52:English
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