Ah, The contradictions of our life! We claim to be a rational animal, while most of our actions are anything but rational. What we do with finesse is to provide a rational justification for our emotional actions.
The keeper of human conscience, Mr. Graham Greene has subjected the protagonist to inherent contradictions of life in the sphere of morality, ethics, religion and love in the all time classic’The Heart of the Matter’. In what side a man should err, for err he must, is the question Mr. Greene has raised. Whether he has answered the question through this book is open to debate.
The protagonist is a Police Officer in a secluded place and oddly enough, he loves the men of the area for their unabashed meanness. This is the way God too must love men, he reasons. Not just this, love for him is an emotion which is aroused only when he feels pity for someone. Come to think of it - this may not fit the text-book definition of love but have we not at some time or other mistaken our sympathy for someone as love or tried to arouse sympathy in the heart of those whose love we aspire to win? Again, the protagonist is catholic in believe but does not think twice before committing himself to a forbidden sin – adultery.
What’s the big deal, you may ask – we have seen mightier fall of character before! But there is something odd in the version of adultery committed by the Officer – his adultery is not the result of loss of control over passion, rather a sacrifice of personal salvation for momentary happiness of a pitiable woman. He was ready to live with his own tormented conscience till the embodiment of original pity – his wife decided to come back and left him with only one option. This urge to sacrifice and at times searching for an opportunity to do it is central to the character of Scobie.
The second forbidden sin committed by the protagonist(discounting the minor intermittent crime of loss of personal integrity in his professional dealings) was a logical conclusion in retrospect. After all, as the popular adage goes, a person does not get hanged for the second time after committing one more murder.
The author scripted the inherent contradiction and absurdity of life masterfully. Initially the protagonist seemed infallible – almost too good to be true but then this very goodness seems to have brought his downfall till we begin to suspect hypocrisy in him. Hypocrisy - because his mighty thoughts were only matched by his inexplicable amoral actions. Words and logic, it seemed, were used by him cleverly to conceal his absolute lack of control over actions. At times we almost felt like screaming in his ear in order to prevent him from committing one blunder after another.
The story ends with a guarded optimism: God may decide to override the directives of institutional religion represented through Church. Will He punish someone for loving even if it is categorised under adultery for want of better classification? Ultimately, it is He who is aware of the plight of a tormented heart.
What could have been an ordinary tale of conflict has been raised to an altogether different level by Mr. Graham Greene through his intuitive understanding of human nature and his urge to explore the hidden layers. Some of the lines of the book are already a part of literary folklore and will tempt the readers to keep the book aside and clap in approval(OK, I exaggerated but hope you got the idea!).
Lastly, I request the readers not to read the foreword / introduction before reading the book as it will make you anticipate the story. Of course it is not to be missed as it questions the consistency of the character of the protagonist forcefully. However, having the first hand experience of fallibility of men, we found the story believable simply because of this lack of consistency. Ultimately this is what makes us all human.