39 pages • 1 hour read
Graham GreeneThe Heart of the Matter
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1948A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 1, Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 1, Part 3 Summary
On the way to Bamba to investigate the Pemberton incident, Scobie drifts in and out of sleep dreaming about a snake. Once arriving, Scobie is less worried about the fate of Pemberton and more about his promise to Louise to send her to South Africa. Father Clay informs Scobie that Pemberton died by hanging himself, adding that Pemberton was not Catholic. Scobie searches Pemberton’s quarters and finds a suicide note. In the note, Pemberton apologizes to his father and tells him not to pay off his debts because “the fellow doesn’t deserve it” (78).
Later that evening, Scobie has more feverish dreams, this time about Louise and Pemberton who are “obscurely linked” in Scobie’s imagination (79). Yusef visits Scobie and reveals that Pemberton owed money to Yusef’s store manager. Scobie finds it suspicious that Pemberton died by suicide at the same time Yusef was in town. Yusef affectionately calls Scobie “Daniel” (81) and says that he has a “friendship for you in my soul” (82). Yusef proceeds to burn all of Pemberton’s debts and IOUs.
After his fever subsides, Scobie returns to Louise, dreading her inevitable questions about the status of her South Africa voyage. As the variations of the 200 pounds needed for the trip ring in his head, Scobie reveals that he has not yet secured the extra funds. Feeling “unmanned” (85) in bed, Scobie goes downstairs and finds Louise writing a letter to Mrs. Halifax. Mrs. Halifax has asked Louise to accompany her to South Africa, but Louise is writing to turn down the invitation because she can’t afford the ticket. Scobie tells Louise to accept and that he will borrow the money, to which Louise appears incredulous and a bit suspicious. Despite what happened to Pemberton, Scobie secures the loan from Yusef with an interest of four per cent per annum
The liner arrives on Saturday evening. Louise tells Scobie he will benefit from some time apart. After mass, the couple run into Wilson who is flummoxed by the news that Louise is leaving. Louise tells Scobie that Wilson thinks he loves her, but she finds him a “phoney” romantic (88) who tells lies. Saying goodbye to each other, Louise asks Scobie to say he loves her even if it’s not true. Scobie complies but feels like he’s awoken from a dream and a new life has begun.
Scobie returns home and relishes the peace and quiet. Amidst this new tranquility, he feels a “security and impregnability in the silence” (91). After falling asleep, Scobie is awakened by Yusef knocking on the door. Yusef wants to talk about diamonds and tells Scobie that Tallit’s cousin is sailing in on the next Portuguese boat and that diamonds are hidden in his parrot’s throat. With this information, Scobie feels like he is now embroiled in a conspiracy with Yusef. He thinks to himself, “even innocence in Yusef’s hands took on a dubious colour” (95). Yusef lingers a bit before tentatively waving goodbye to Scobie who stands alone in the doorway of his quiet, empty house.
Book 1, Part 3 Analysis
Scobie’s obsession over pleasing Louise reaches its climax. He fixates on the amount needed for her passage: 200 pounds. Combinations of the fee amount swirl around in his head constantly: 200, 002, 020. Scobie even asks Ali if he remembers the two hundred 002 trek they did together twelve years ago in ten days when two carriers got sick. The symbolism of these numerical combinations is heavy-handed, but it reveals the extent of Scobie’s emasculation and sense of failure at not procuring the money for her ticket and subsequent happiness.
The hazy nature of Scobie’s inner thoughts and obsessions are further augmented at the scene of Pemberton’s suicide. Scobie slips in and out of feverish sleep where he suffers from disorienting dreams. Furthermore, in his dreams, Scobie associates Louise with Pemberton’s suicide, thus possibly foreshadowing his own demise. Aware of the teachings of the Catholic Church, Scobie wonders if God might show mercy to someone as young as Pemberton. He says to Father Rank, “Even the Church can’t teach me that God doesn’t pity the young” (78). The themes of pity and God’s mercy are crucial to unpacking The Heart of the Matter.
For the first time, Scobie wonders how to justify an unforgivable act and thus contravene Church doctrine. Father Rank reminds him that suicide puts one “outside mercy” (76), but that this theological stipulation might not apply to Pemberton who is not Catholic. If the Church consensus on suicide is not absolute and universal, one might question the validity of all denominational particularities. There is a sense of chaos that ensues from this questioning of Church norms that is at the core of The Heart of the Matter.
Meanwhile, Yusef’s referring to Scobie as “Daniel” (81) adds a quasi-prophetic dimension to Scobie’s character. Daniel is a biblical prophet and the hero of the Book of Daniel who interprets dreams and experiences apocalyptic visions given to him by God. In addition to having his own disorientating, prophetic dreams, Scobie later commits ultimate blasphemy by reinterpreting the sacrifice of Christ as the first suicide. Pemberton’s death thus becomes the symbolic starting point of Scobie’s moral crisis which accelerates through his ill-fated involvement with Yusef.
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