Posted on 08/29/2005 10:34:04 AM PDT by Rodney King
The Quiet American by Grhame Greene is the quintessential anti vietnam novel. Written in 1955 while the French effort in then Indochina was raging, the novel explores and illustrates the various feelings regarding Vietnam that came to dominate American political culture in the late 1960's.
The protagnist of the book is a guy called Fowler. Fowler is an American hating, left-leaning atheist in the mold of Greene himself.
On the other side is a fellow named Pyle, who works at the American embassy and is a strident anti-communist.
Fowler is very Kerry-esque, tortured by every conceivable nuance missed by the US and Western governments, and ultimately finds himself far more sympathetic to the Communists than to the French, Americans or non-Communist nationalists.
This is the quintessential book opposing the French/American effort in Vietnam, and there is no doubt that Kerry read it.
Fowler goes on to conspire with the viet minh to have Pyle killed. Fowler's alibi for the evening when Pyle was killed? He was watching the movie Scaramouche.
The name of John Kerry's yacht? Scaramouche. Coincidence?
bump
Very interesting theory. Well done.
Hhmmmmm!
From Merriam Webster Online:
Main Entry: scar·a·mouch
Variant(s): or scar·a·mouche /'skar-&-"müsh, -"müch, -"mauch/
Function: noun
Etymology: French Scaramouche, from Italian Scaramuccia, from scaramuccia skirmish
1 capitalized : a stock character in the Italian commedia dell'arte that burlesques the Spanish don and is characterized by boastfulness and cowardliness
2 a : a cowardly buffoon b : RASCAL, SCAMP
sweet
I understand that Mr. Kerry traded his V.N. bring-back AK-47 to a mob killer who really needed it "right away," for the yacht, the legal owners of which had "thrown it away"...or something.
Oh my, Kerry was describing himself all along!!!
A perceptive and well reasoned theory. The only flaw may be that it assumes John Kerry has read a book.
I thought Graham Greene was a devout Roman Catholic...
From etymonline:
Scaramouche
1662, name of a cowardly braggart (supposed by some to represent a Spanish don) in traditional Italian comedy, from It. Scaramuccia, lit. "skirmish," from schermire "to fence," from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. skirmen "defend"); see skirmish. A vogue word in late 17c. London due to the popularity of Tiberio Fiurelli in the part (his company of It. players arrived in London 1673).
Perhaps, I am not a Graham Greene expert.
is that like french for "sacred moose"?
um....the last French troops left Indochina in October 1954.
I have no use for Jean Kerry, but I find this a stretch.
"Scaramouche" is the name of a novel, and the hero of that novel, by Raphael Sabatini. It used to be a fairly popular book. What it suggests to me is that Kerry associates himself with a Frenchman (a handsome duelist, wit, actor, and general all-around Douglas Fairbanks type).
Scaramouche is mistreated by his aristocratic relations, but he gets back at them by proving his superiority. Like most of Sabatini's novels, the plot involves a hero who is mistreated and resentful but gets back at his enemies by proving he is better than they are, winning the duel and the girl. That pretty well fit's Jean Kerry's personality, I think. Except that he is delusional in thinking that he will win in the end.
Yes, but can he do the Fandango?
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