Part 1 Chapter 4 Summary

Fowler goes by boat to the city of Phat Diem. He meets up with a Lieutenant Peraud, who is devoted to Our Lady of Fatima. Many people from Phat Diem are participating in a celebration of the Virgin at Fatima. The Vietminh join their procession and take them by surprise. Four days later this battle is an obvious defeat for the French; but no journalists, including Fowler, are allowed to report it.

Some of the best writing about war in the book is in this section. Greene describes people taking refuge in the Cathedral. The whole population of the city is cold and hungry, crowded on every stair step up to the tower. He also describes the aftermath of battle, with bodies and body parts floating in canals, some covered with flies, some lying dead on the road. Fowler sees more...