Introduction: Occasions for Unselfing

In a typical Graham Greene novel, a male character — we can tentatively call him the Greenean hero — becomes estranged from his communities of origin, such as family, profession, nation. He becomes a monad, unable to relate to others in a meaningful way, until he leaves and makes a fresh start in a new, often distant location. In this new setting, he will be given a second chance to engage in the life of another, usually marginal, community. The initially reluctant hero becomes thus committed to a cause or to a people, through acts of compassion and sacrifice. Most of Greene’s novels, however, end with a twist that upsets the apparent integration of the hero into a community, questioning the nature of his commitment. 1 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.