Our Man in Havana
"Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene is an espionage mystery novel. Graham Greene was born in 1904 and educated at Berkhamsted School, where his father was headmaster. In all he has written forty novels, entertainments, plays, children's books, travel books, and collections of essays and short stories. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1966, and was given the O.M. in the 1986 New Year's Honours List. The setting is Havana, Cuba in 1958. This was just before Fidel Castro became president of Cuba. The country was divided up into rich and poor people. Greene described Havana with cliches such as rum/whisky, bars, girls, and prostitution. The novel is written in 3rd person, an omniscient onlooker who followed Jim Wormolds' (protagonist) thoughts and actions. Some other books by Greene are Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Comedians, The Quiet American, The Heart of the Matter, and many others. The conflict involved the British Secret Service including Mr. Wormold, the Cuban authorities, and foreign agents. It is a triangle conflict where if the B.S.S (British Secret Service) had problems with the foreign agents the Cuban authorities become involved and so on. My first impressions; I think that Wormold is devoted to his da
'For me they have gone too quickly.' As illustrated above, Greene goes to great depths to describe the setting. It is most important to him. There are also an abundance of metaphors and similes. For example, "Childhood was the germ of all mistrust" and " He carried a chair that was almost as big as himself". Alliteration can also be found. For instance, "the night was hot and humid". It is proven that this book is filled with literary devices. Greene's strength as a writer is his ability to describe the setting with great skill, and his interesting plots. The multiple plots add to the strength of the novel. The more plots the more interesting it became. His weakness is his characters. There are too many characters in the novel. He continuously introduces them, which at times becomes confusing. Overall Graham Greene has illustrated his pure talent with this novel. (Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana, pg 84) of the hotel; the night was hot and humid, and the greenery hung towards their table. ' You aren't worried are you, Dr. Hasselbacher?'
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Approximate Word count = 1348
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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