Summary Comedians Graham Greene
Graham Green
Comedians
The novel takes place in Haiti in the early years of the dictator François Duvalier. The protagonist of the novel, Mr. Brown, on whose behalf the story is narrated, returns to Port-au-Prince from a trip to the US, where he tried to find a buyer for his hotel called Trianon: after Duvalier came to power with his tontonmakuts (secret police) Haiti has completely ceased to attract tourists, so the hotel now brings a solid loss. However, in Haiti, the hero is attracted not only by property: there is waiting for Marta, his mistress, the wife of the ambassador of one of the Latin American countries.
On one ship with Brown sail Mr. Smith, a former presidential candidate, and Mr. Jones, calling himself a major. Mr. Smith and his wife are vegetarians who are going to open a vegetarian center in Haiti. Mr. Jones is a suspicious person: during the voyage the captain receives a request from the shipping company for him. The hero, whom the captain asks
Arriving to his hotel, the hero learns that four days ago, came here, Dr. Philip, Minister of Social Welfare. Feeling that they want to remove him, he decided to avoid torture and commit suicide by choosing the pool “Trianon” for this. Just at the moment when Brown discovers the corpse, the hotel guests are Mr and Mrs. Smith. The hero worries about how they would not notice something, but they, fortunately, go to bed. Then he sends for Dr. Magio, his faithful friend and adviser.
Waiting for the doctor, the hero remembers his life. He was born in 1906 in Monte Carlo. His father fled before his birth, and his mother, apparently a Frenchwoman, left Monte Carlo in 1918, leaving her son in the care of the Jesuit Fathers in the College of the Ever-Virgin apparition. The hero was expected to have a career as a clergyman, but the dean learned that he was playing in a casino, and he had to let the young man go to London to a fictitious uncle, whose Brown’s letter was easily concocted on a typewriter. After that, the hero wandered for a long time: he worked
Arriving in Haiti, the hero found his mother in grave condition after a heart attack. As a result of some questionable transaction, she became the owner of the hotel – on a share with Dr. Magio and his lover, Negro Marcel. The day after the arrival of the hero, his mother died in the arms of a lover, and the hero, having bought out his share for a small sum from Marcel, became the sole master of the Trianon. Three years later he managed to put the matter on a broad foot, and the hotel began to bring a good income. Soon after his arrival, Brown decided to try his luck at the casino, where he met Martha, who for many years became his mistress.
… Suicide of Dr. Filipo can seriously damage the hero: in addition to the question of political reliability, the question of murder will surely arise. Together with Dr. Maggio, the hero drags the corpse into the garden of one of the abandoned houses.
The next morning a local reporter, Tiny Pierre, comes to the hero, who tells that Mr. Jones was imprisoned. In an attempt to rescue a fellow traveler, the hero rides to the British solicitor, but the latter refuses to intervene. Then the hero, along with Mr. Smith, goes to the Foreign Minister’s reception in the hope that he will put a word in front of the Minister of the Interior for Jones. The next day, the hero visits Jones in prison, where he in his presence writes a letter, and the next day meets Jones in a brothel, where he entertained under the protection of tontonmakutov. The Chief of Tontons, Captain Cankasser, calls Jones an important guest, hinting that he offered the dictator some profitable business.
Meanwhile, Mr. Smith is fascinated by Haiti and does not want to believe in violence and arbitrariness here. Do not dissuade him even the failed funeral of Dr. Philip, during which, in his eyes, the tontons take away from the unfortunate widow the coffin with the body of her husband, and not letting him be put to the ground. True, the trip to the artificially created dead city of Duvalieville, for the construction of which several hundred people had to be driven off the ground, leaves Smith with a heavy feeling, but even after the new minister of social welfare extorts a bribe from him for creating a vegetarian center, Mr. Smith still continues to believe in success.
In the evening of the same day, the British attorney visits the hero. When talking about Jones, he hints that he was involved in some kind of scam in the Congo.
Later to the hero comes the young Phillips, the nephew of the late doctor. Once a poet-symbolist, now he wants to create a detachment of insurgents to fight the dictatorial regime. Hearing that Jones is a major with extensive combat experience, he turned to him for help, but was denied, since Jones is doing some business with the government and expects to break a solid jackpot.
A couple of days, the hero takes his butler Joseph to a voodoo ceremony, and when he returns, Captain Kankasser and his entourage come in. It turns out that on the eve of the rebels committed a raid on the police station, and Kankasser accuses the hero of complicity. From the violence of the hero rescues Mrs. Smith.
The next day, the authorities hold a deterrent action: in retaliation for a raid at night in the cemetery in the light of Jupiters prisoners of city prisons who have no relation to the attack should be shot. Upon learning of this, the Smiths make the final decision on leaving. However, this decision is preceded by a conversation between Mr. Smith and the Minister of Social Welfare, who explained to the American in detail, with the help of what frauds one can profit from the construction of a vegetarian center. Smith feels his utter helplessness to change something in this country.
Later, the hero receives an offer from Jones to become a companion in his scam, but discreetly refuses, and at night, Jones, who has suffered a complete fiasco, comes to the hero to ask for protection. They ask the captain of Medea to take Jones aboard, but he promises to hand Jones to the authorities immediately upon arrival in the US. Jones refuses – obviously, he is listed as a serious crime, and the hero takes him to the embassy of the Latin American country, where the ambassador is Marta’s husband.
Soon the hero begins to be jealous of his mistress for Jones: she is now hurrying home, thinking and talking only about the major… Therefore, the hero immediately grabs Dr. Magio’s idea to send a retired military instructor to Phillips, who led a small partisan detachment in the north of Haiti.
Jones gladly accepts this offer, and he and Brown are set off. While they are somewhere in the mountains at night in the cemetery waiting for meetings with the rebels, Jones tells the truth about himself. Because of flat feet, he was declared unfit for military service and in Burma he did not take part in hostilities, but worked “as the chief entertainment officer for military units.” All the stories about his heroic past are just tales, and he is just as much a comedian as the others who play each of their roles. By the way, his deal with the authorities did not take place not because Jones did not meet their conditions – just Captain Cankasser managed to find out that Jones is a swindler.
The partisans are late for the meeting, and Brown can not wait any longer. However, at the exit from the cemetery, Captain Kankasser is waiting for him with his men. The hero tries to explain that his car broke down and he was stuck, but then he notices behind himself Jones, who has no idea of the elementary rules of conspiracy. There is nowhere to retreat… Brown and Jones are rescued by the insurgents who came in time.
Now the hero can not return to Port-au-Prince, and he with the help of Filipo illegally crosses the border of the Dominican Republic. There, in the capital, the city of Santo Domingo, he meets the Smiths. Mr. Smith lends him money and helps to get a job as a companion to another fellow traveler for Medea, Mr. Fernandez, who is holding a funeral home in Santo Domingo. During the trip on business, the hero again finds himself near the border with Haiti and meets there the detachment of Filipo, disarmed by the Dominican frontier guards. The detachment was ambushed and for the sake of its salvation was forced to cross the border. Only Jones refused to leave Haiti and, most likely, died. During the funeral mass for the murdered hero meets Martha, who is passing through here – her husband was transferred to Aymu. But this meeting does not awaken in him any feelings,
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)