The Honorary Consul
Uploaded by mr_vidal on Oct 20, 2005
Latin America and its way of life is the setting to Graham Green's story. It is a story of terror and kidnap, a story of two men's love to a woman out of a brothel. All this is a discussion about the love & honour in a person, in a violent atmosphere. The Honorary Consul is a book of conflicts and paradoxes, which will be discussed in this book report.
The main character in the book is Doctor Eduardo Plarr. Dr. Plarr is the only Doctor in a small town. He was half English, half Spanish. The English part of him was in prison or dead, and the Spanish part was a fat woman in Buenos Aires who loved cakes. In fact, Eduardo's mother love for cakes is the only real love in the book. A reader could hesitate if Eduardo loved Clara (Clara is a girl out of a brothel, the wife of Charley Fortnum, the British honorary consul who was kidnapped), but he couldn't do it in this cakes. It affected Dr. Plarr, for he didn't love people. He only committed adultery with them and saved their lives. Although Dr Plarr was born in Argentina, he did not see himself as Spanish. He didn't touch people when he spoke to them, he didn't gossip with them in the cafe, and preferred to speak English when possible. One of many themes in the book is the theme of the Catholic belief. According to the Catholic belief (and many other religions) life is holy. Dr. Plarr did everything he could to save people's life, even when they couldn't pay him. Along the book, he tries to save the life of Charley Fortnum, the British honorary consul who was kidnapped by mistake. Why Dr. Plarr is so brazen to save Fortnum's life? Is it because life is holy, or because he is a doctor and he is obliged to save one's life? Plarr was not a Catholic, and not a great believer. He committed adultery with Fortnum's wife- a great breach of the religious law. It is interesting to contemplate how such a man could be judged by others. A believer would probably say that Plarr's errand in this world is to save people. A scholar would say that Plarr is loyal to his job as a doctor. A priest may say that Plarr is a sinner. And this...