Thesis--City University of New York. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, leaves [171]-177).

A marked preoccupation with childhood is evident throughout the works of Graham Greene; it receives most obvious expression in his concern with the idea that the course of a man's life is determined during his early years, but many of his other obsessive themes, such as betrayal, pursuit, and failure, may be seen to have their roots in general types of experience which Greene evidently believes to be common to all children.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Graham Greene has done his finest writing in his 'Catholic' works, a group where the main characters are Catholic, the background is Catholic, and the central problem is a religious one. These works number five novels and two plays, namely: Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, A Burnt-Out Case, The Living Room, and The Potting Shed. While the critics generally acknowledge Greene's craftsmanship, a significant number question the orthodoxy of his values. Some find evidence in his writings of such heresies as "Augustinianism," Jansenism, and Manicheism. Others descry unchristian pessimism, an unorthodox brand of Existentialism, or an infringement of Christian teaching on the portrayal of sex in fiction. A last group finds a seriously questionable ambiguity in theological matters that casts doubt on the soundness of his faith. The major agreement in a body of contradictory criticism is the view that the author denies free will and believes in the total corruption of human nature. Since Graham Greene is a Catholic and the works have a Catholic background, and since the various charges suppose a deviation from the Catholic creed, I have examined these writings in the light of orthodox Catholic doctrine. I have taken the fact into account, however, that the author does not write as a philosopher or theologian but reveals his theological position only indirectly through the use of the impersonal technique in the artistic construction of his novels. My findings indicate that Graham Greene emphasizes free will, and portrays both natural and supernatural virtues in his characters. It is true that he is doctrinally ambiguous on occasion, de-emphasizes the role of the intellect in salvation, and paints a bleak picture of human misery. Nevertheless, even on these points he seems to remain on the safe side of orthodoxy. The values that are revealed in his works are traditional Christian values. On the other hand, my findings cast some doubt on the soundness of procedure of the hostile critics. They have an unfortunate tendency to interpret Catholic doctrine too narrowly and arbitrarily, to ignor(legitimate use of "point of view, " and to draw unsupported conclusions on Greene's intentions from insufficient evidence in his writings. It follows that charges of heresy are invalid for the 'Catholic' works since critics have paid too little attention to the implications of impersonal and indirect techniques in the writings of Graham Greene. Graham Greene is orthodox and his values are orthodox. / 2031-01-01

Thesis (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 92 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-92).

No description available.

Thesis--Cologne. / Vita tipped in back.

Zugl.: Diss. phil. hist. Bern, 1972.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1989. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis--Cologne. / Vita tipped in back.

The purpose of this thesis will be to show how Graham Greene's vision of man's position in the modern world changes and deepens as the author matures as a man and a novelist. The thesis will be primarily concerned with the relationship of the central characters of Greene's novels to their environment. I will try to show how this relationship, which in Greene's early novels is often fatalistic and deterministic, changes as Greene becomes more concerned with the possibilities of a spiritual and moral 'awakening' within his heroes which can perhaps counterbalance the forces of determinism. In order to explore this expansion of Greene's vision, it will be necessary to analyze not only the growth in complexity and self-awareness that takes place in the main characters of Greene's novels, but also to explore the moral and physical universe these characters inhabit. It is the unceasing conflict between the oppressive, paralyzing environment and the protagonist's desperate search for meaning and purpose that creates the basic tension in Greene's writings. I hope to show in this essay that while the environment remains a more or less hostile constant in Greene's fictional world, the scope and vision of the protagonist is widened and enlarged to the extent that he becomes an individual capable of choice and action rather than a mere victim imprisoned by forces beyond his control. This study of the development of the hero in Greene's fiction is composed of four chapters, which attempt to delineate the changing relationship between the hero and his world. Chapter One, "The Outsider As Victim", focuses on Greene's early novels — The Man Within, It's a Battlefield, Stamboul Train and England Made Me — which portray a world where the protagonists become a prey to themselves and their environment, unable to rise above their own impotence as the fatalistic world closes in around them. Chapter Two, "Studies in Social Determinism", deals with two novels, A Gun for Sale and Brighton Rock, in which the author develops the conflict between determinism and free will. Although both Raven and Pinkie, the protagonists of these two novels, have occasional glimpses of the possibilities of love and peace that are denied the earlier characters, they too are denied these possibilities because they have no free will. They cannot choose to live, since, totally conditioned by confusion and hatred, they are destined for destruction, haunted as they may be by visions of 'freedom'. Chapter Three, "The Rise of the Individual", attempts to show how the protagonists of The Power and the Glory and The Heart of the Matter emerge as fully rounded individuals who are able to choose and act in spite of the fatalistic world that threatens to stifle free will. Greene's increasing emphasis on God's mercy and grace creates an 'opening' in the deterministic world; the protagonist is no longer necessarily a victim of his own inevitable fate. The concluding chapter, "Love and Commitment", will attempt to summarize the new more positive stance of the protagonist in Greene's later, increasingly more secular novels -- The End of the Affair, The Quiet American, The Burnt-Out Case and The Comedians. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate