The Comedians

"...it's astonishing how much money can be made out of the poorest of the poor with a little ingenuity." 

I'll admit that when I first heard of The Comedians I expected some stereotypical trite with a racial bias. Of course, Graham Greene is an excellent writer and well-known figure of English literature, but, as of now, I have only read The Comedians. The beginning of the novel was a little rough, too, since it is set on a Dutch ship leaving the US for Port-au-Prince and it moves at a slow pace. Quickly, however, Greene's novel picks up and unites the various passengers on  the ship in the midst of Papa Doc's terror in 1960s Haiti. Sure, some of Greene's allusions to Vodou and Haitian history are stereotypical and perhaps ill-informed (he makes Henri Christophe out to be some sort of extreme tyrant, applicable to Papa Doc), but through the lens of the protagonist, Brown, Greene has a more nuanced perspective on 1960s Haiti.

During most of the novel's events, Papa Doc's government had lost most ties to the US (the Kennedy administration recalled their ambassador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were not on cordial terms, and Papa Doc was executing Barbot and flushing out rebels in the mountains and along the border) and is clearly extending 'Duvalierism' and state terror into as many aspects of public life as possible. Corruption is endemic, violence the norm, and regular blackouts define urban life. Greene's Port-au-Prince is one where Baron Samedi, Papa Doc, with the help of Tonton Macoutes, terrorize the population, threaten and steal, kill and maim, while the vast hordes of peasants, beggars, urban poor, etc. struggle to survive. Yet, despite the deep disgust and disdain Greene clearly bears, Brown articulates a critique of US imperialism that allows Papadocracy to thrive: Haiti is a bulwark against Communism. During the height of Cold War politics in the post-Cuban Revolution Caribbean, US support for Papa Doc was inevitable, despite the obvious horrors he subjected his population to. Indeed, the Communist Dr. Magiot also notes the money to be made by US Congressmen and businesses with corrupt Haitian officials, a reality unfortunately quite real in Papa Doc's Haiti.

Despite a perhaps superficial resemblance to Naipaul's truly pessimistic (and racist) A Bend in the River, one can clearly surmise that Greene is aiming for a more nuanced view of a 'third world hotspot' peopled by descendants of Africa. Even if there are at times racist statements by Brown (who also states Haitian women to be the most beautiful of the world) and a certain level of condescension and revulsion (such as when Brown discovers Marcel, a black Haitian, was his mother's lover during her years in Port-au-Prince running the hotel, Trianon, clearly based on Hotel Oloffson), Greene's characters are generally positive and don't assume a perpetual rule of terror and dictatorship. Instead of Afropessimism, one encounters a 'balanced' narrative with a bleak, but hopeful conclusion (Dr. Magiot urges Brown, in spite of losing everything he had in Haiti, the closest thing he has had to a 'home' in his life, to not lose 'faith').

Regardless of the title hinting at the various 'roles' we play in all human societies, how we can all be comedians, this is a novel about two characters shedding all the artificial 'clothing' they have constructed in their lives and utterly 'being' themselves at the heart of it, 'confessing' and accepting life but not living through it as passive observers, not assuming roles and using deceit, but making a stand for something (even if in the case of Brown, the ultimate motives were not initially pure). Thus, in that regard, this is a powerful novel on the human condition, which, obviously, surpasses the insignificant and impoverished island of Haiti. Any attempt at resistance is admirable, perhaps even the foolhardy attempt at a Cuban-styled coup by Philipot and Joseph, led by a man with absolutely no military leadership credentials, or even the naive but well-meaning American couple (who provide some fodder for a wicked sense of humor, since they actually believe that a vegetarian centre could be established in the heart of Port-au-Prince, and seem shocked that 'law and order' in the conventional sense do not operate in Papa Doc's Haiti) who genuinely have 'faith' in the future of humanity, in a world where racial equality, erasure of poverty, and an end to animal cruelty were all possible. In addition, a dark sense of humor abounds in other instances, such as Brown becoming an undertaker in Santo Domingo with Fernandez, a role intimately tied to death and Baron Samedi, the very same lwa associated with watching over the dead (also the lwa Papa Doc was associated with, perhaps suggesting the dual connotations of the lwa as a force for good in contrast with Papa Doc's evil).

In summation, this novel about actors dropping their stage roles, individuals retaining faith, has a powerful message for all, beyond the 'benighted' destitute nations of the world as well as the wealthy. Even the dishonest Jones ultimately became a hero, proving himself similar to Mr. Smith for sharing a similar nature and belief in life. Besides the intriguing plot, the prose is direct and enthralling, giving the reader clear images of 1960s Port-au-Prince, the decline of the Trianon, and the familiar sight of the Tonton Macoute in dark sunglasses. The meta aspects of the novel, as a sort of play within a novel, is a fascinating concept, too. Each character has a role they play in the novel, and another one amongst themselves in their own world, in their relationships with each other, in the fantasies they construct, including the Tontons Macoutes, who don sunglasses to hide their own emotions and fears, insecurities and humanity.