As I’m working through Graham Greene’s famous novel, The Heart of the Matter, I’m reminded of how incredible a novelist this man was.
He might’ve been a bit of a creeper, but Greene could write.
He’s one of those writers that has so many zingers that work as powerful quotes even outside the context of the story. Here’s a passage to show you what I’m talking about.
He took another drink of whisky and his eyes moved gloomily away as Wilson watched him. “I must be off.”
“I’ll never forgive Pemberton for this.”
Scobie said sharply, “Don’t talk nonsense, dear. We’d forgive most things if we knew the facts.” He smiled unwillingly at Wilson. “A policeman should be the most forgiving person in the world if he gets the facts straight.”
What stands out in that passage?
For me, it’s this line:
“We’d forgive most things if we knew the facts.”
If we knew the facts, the context, all the decisions that brought that one person to cause an offense against us, then how would our response to them be? More empathetic? I think I agree with Greene, for the most part.
As I dig further into this novel, it’s obvious a lot of the characters are going to require forgiving—but once the facts present themselves, will they be forgiven?
Great line. What do you think?
More to come on Green and The Heart of the Matter.
