Topic: (1) During The Course O Essay, Research Paper

The Third Man (1949) is a visually stylish thriller, a story of social, economic, and moral corruption in Vienna following World War II. It was produced and directed by Carol Reed, and based upon screenwriter Graham Greene’s mystery tale of a love triangle, nightmarish suspense, betrayal, guilt and disillusionment, filmed expressionistically in a decadent 20th century Vienna. Within this backdrop is a naive writer of pulp westerns, Holly Martins, a frivolous name to define the nature of his character. It is evident that through out the course of the narrative Holly s naivety is transformed but at the cost of his innocence.

Hollys naivety takes the form of him refusing to accept that his long time boyhood friend was about the worst racketeer that ever made a dirty living in this city… this unwillingness to believe the bitter truth about his friend is where the innocence which Holly harbours stems from. Along with this, Hollys approach to situations in that he has no sense of danger; this can be seen and is also highlighted after the porter s death. With the gathering outside the building and Holly blindly walks into the midst of the people after Anna urged him to leave as she could see the danger, however Holly rushed into the situation. Also when discussing Harry with Baron Krutz Holly ignores danger once more, You’d do better to think of yourself , in reply Holly answers, I’ll be all right. Once more ignoring self-danger.

The major characters within the narrative, Calloway and Lime influence the loss of Hollys innocence. This is achieved not only through their actions but also their demeanour, mainly Limes. Calloway confronts Holly with Harry s file. This show of finger prints surveillance photos and other evidence slowly influences Hollys perception and brings about the first stages of his transformation These were murders. Men with gangrened legs, women in childbirth. And there were children too. They used some of this diluted penicillin against meningitis. The lucky children died. The unlucky ones went off their heads. You can see them now in the mental ward. That was the racket Harry Lime organised. This transformation to knowledge about Harry is contrasted with Annas own realisation that her deceased lover was “better dead. I knew he was mixed up, but not like that.” However, Anna still struggles to accept and it is evident that Holly sees himself in her position only a short time ago, Oh please, for heaven’s sakes, stop making him in your image. Harry was real. He wasn’t just your friend and my lover, he was Harry. , Holly answers by Well, don’t preach wisdom to me. You talk about him as if he had occasional bad manners…

After this Holly demands a meeting with Harry at the deserted amusement park. They both ride high above the ground on the ferris wheel that is still operating in the midst of the dark city – it is the last ride of Holly’s symbolic childhood or innocence. Hollys memories of Harry are destroyed as the he finally confronts the evil creature. Holly confronts Lime about the victims of his racketeering and questions whether he has seen them, the true vileness of Lime is thrust in Holly s face when he is stunned by a reply Victims? Don’t be melodramatic. (He opens the door to the car.) Look down there. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you 20,000 pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man, free of income tax. The only way you can save money nowadays. In final testament to his offensive uncaring nature Lime departs with In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed – but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly.

Finally after backfired attempts to send Anna away and Holly begins to question whether he should continue with the plan to set up Lime for the police. Calloway knowing he can complete Hollys transformation to knowledge comments to Holly he has somewhere to drop by before he takes him to the airport, Its just a short stop you can come in if you wish . However, Calloway is taking Holly to the hospital to let him see first hand Limes handiwork. Its at this point that Hollys transformation is complete in his naivety towards Lime is broken as he begins to accept the unwelcome truth that his friend is a monster.

It can be stated that through out the narrative Hollys naivety is transformed into knowledge in the sense that he finally understands that through out his years Lime has been using him and the trip to Vienna was just another attempt to have him as his fall man as Holly remarks to Calloway when he s drunk. Harry never got caught, it was always me or someone else.