The Third Man opens as a tale of mystery and suspense, but above all as a depiction of fierce devotion. From the opening pages, we see that Rollo Martins, apart from being a novelist and someone in need of better work, is closely connected to a man named Harry Lime. One passage in particular strikes me as a peculiar testament to the strength of Mr. Martins' infatuation with Harry Lime. Upon entering Harry's building, Mr. Martins immediately knows that something has happened to Harry:
....it was as if he would not find Lime anywhere in Vienna, and, as he reached the third floor and saw the big black bow over the door handle, anywhere in the world at all. Of course it might have been a cook who had died, a housekeeper, anybody but Harry Lime, but he knew--he felt he had known twenty stairs down--that Lime, the Lime he had hero-worshipped now for twenty yeas, since the first meeting in a grim school corridor with a cracked bell ringing for years was gone. After he had rung the bell half a dozen times, a small man with a sullen expression put his head out from another flat and told him in a tone of vexation, "It's no use. There's nobody there. He's dead." (PGG, 310)
From that moment on, just like in one of his stories, Rollo Martins was determined to find out everything he could about his hero's death and get to the truth about the circumstances surrounding it. When Martins begins questioning everyone he comes in contact with, we see his devotion to Harry, not only in his desire to know the truth, but in his selfless urge to clear Harry's name. This intense loyalty to Harry is especially apparent when Mr. Martins speaks with Colonel Calloway. When Calloway speaks ill of Harry, Mr. Martins jumps instantly to his dead friend's defense:
--"[Harry] was about the worst racketeer who ever made a dirty living in this city."
--"You are running true to form aren't you? I suppose there was some petty racket going on with petrol and you couldn't pin it on anyone so you've picked a dead man. That's just like a policeman. You're a real policeman, I suppose?" ( PGG, 316)
Mr. Martins not only defends Harry wholeheartedly, but goes as far as to insult Calloway, thus putting himself in the line of fire as he proceeds to start a fight with the Colonel. This is a prime example of just how defiant Mr. Martins is when it comes to upholding Harry, his hero, as innocent. Harry is the victim here and Mr. Martins is committed to proving that he was not a criminal as the Colonel states. After the incident with Calloway, Mr. Martins continues to gather information about everyone who knew Harry. He has designated himself as the sole force behind proving Harry is not the criminal he is being made out to be as well as questioning whether or not Harry was, in fact, murdered. Staying true to the themes of loyalty and betrayal, Greene has offered the conflict to be between the fierce loyalty of Mr. Martins and the possibility that Harry's death was brought about by those closest to him. While there is no answer as of yet, we will see these themes as the two major forces that drive the plot forward.
Discussion Question: Do you think there is/will be a significance to the fact of Mr. Martins being a writer and that some people know his work and others have never heard of it?
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