Discuss deception in at least three of Graham Greene’s short stories.
...g Old Misery’s house he gave orders with decision. One has to bear in mind that he didn’t broke into the house. The old man himself has shown it to him after that T had deceived him with politeness. Later in the story T is successful once again in fooling Mr. Thomas on his return home when he tells him that there was someone who had remained stuck in his outdoor lav. At this point suddenly there is the high sense of helplessness against evil. And what an example of pure evil this was: the children didn’t want to steal or pinch anything from the house – they just wanted to destroy it from the inside. This is best shown when they burn the money. One concern often explored by the author is the notion of sainthood. Greene believes that sainthood is rarely achieved through spectacular events. Greene believes that most individuals who gain heaven (sainthood) are initially corrupt but also able to take the various hints that God presents them with. Therefore Greene sees sainthood as a slow laborious process rather than a quick fix solution. The Hint of an Explanation captures this idea from the title itself. The two characters (the agnostic and the priest) in the story are in different ways tempted. The hint to follow one of the two roads is subtle. It is up to them to make the final selection. The story has all the characteristics of a parable because someone needs to learn, someone has the information and this information is passed on through a story. The setting for this story is a train journey during which the priest narrates how as a child in a Catholic family he has to serve Mass every Sunday and how one of the bakers in town (Satan’s personification) lured him to his place with buns and an electric toy-train. The boy visits the baker to play with the toy-train regularly. During the visits the baker also talks to the child about religion until, when he feels the ground is well prepared, he tries to make a deal with the boy by deceiving him. The baker is ready to give the electric toy-train to the boy in exchange for a consecrated host, which the boy is to steal from church. The temptation for the child is enormous yet the knowledge of the wrong stops him from giving the host to the baker. This short story shows a shift from the megalithic separation to a situation that suggests a readiness to change. Greene confirms his belief that salvation is achieved if one takes the various positive hints that occur in one’s life. It is the accumulation of effort that contributes to the process of change for the better in individuals no matter the amount of treachery involved. Special Duties also explores the idea of sainthood by looking at the way a misguided couple adopts in the search for salvation. On one side we have the wife who thinks she can gain heaven by living next to a priest – having a resident priest i...