Moral assessment:
Type: Literature
Nothing inappropriate.
Some morally inappropriate content.
Contains significant sections contrary to faith or morals.
Contains some lurid passages, or presents a general ideological framework that could confuse those without much Christian formation.
Contains several lurid passages, or presents an ideological framework that is contrary or foreign to Christian values.
Explicitly contradicts Catholic faith or morals, or is directed against the Church and its institutions.
Literary quality:
Recommendable:
Transmits values:
Sexual content:
Violent content:
Vulgar or obscene language:
Ideas that contradict Church teaching:
The rating of the different categories comes from the opinion of Delibris' collaborators
The novel is set in West Africa during World War 2. The deputy commissioner of police, Scobie, normally tries to act ethically but makes some false moves to protect his wife after having an affair with the 19-year-old Helen. As a Catholic, he does not want his wife to discover that he had borrowed money and was responsible for the death of his servant. He even tries to disguise his suicide.
Graham Greene was born in 1904 and became a Catholic in 1926. He was a manic-depressive. This scenario is typical of Greene. To quote from the book, it is one of 'intense heat, vultures, rats, heavy drinking, corruption, and the painful struggle to maintain the Catholic faith in a hostile environment.'
C.C. (U.K., 2016)