Scobie reciprocates Helen's child-like sense of safety by continuing to become more like a father to her. Helen mentions that her father has reached out to help her in this grave time. In a very ironic and symbolic moment, Scobie reads the telegram that says, "Terribly grieved for you dear child, but remember his(Helen's deceased husband) happiness, your loving father" (211). When reading this letter, we are meant to see the connection between Scobie's feelings toward Helen as mirroring her father's. He pities Helen and wants to be there for her to fill her void. However, Scobie is not only beginning to fill the void of an absent father, but also that of Helen's dead husband. Helen tries to vocalize her trust and blooming love for Scobie when they are alone and she says, "I have a feeling that you'd never let me down" (214). This admittance of faith and confidence in Scobie begins to show that Helen's feelings for Scobie are becoming more and more like those of a lover. Furthermore, Scobie's reaction to these words are similar to his relationship with Louise: "The words came to him like a command he would have to obey however difficult" (214). Scobie's relationship with Louise seemed forced and bonding, and we see that reflection is also here with Helen.
Scobie has, in a way, has combined his relationships with Louise and his daughter into his new relationship with Helen. He dearly loves Helen just as he dearly loved his daughter, but he also feels obligated to return her love just as he did with Louise. The source of Scobie's love for Helen first appeared to be due to the similarity in youth to his daughter, but the romantic interest formed as a result from that. The true love that he had for his daughter manifests itself for Helen, first as a parent loves a child, but then intensifies beyond that. Scobie appears to treat his relationships much like his job: he follows orders, wants to please everyone, and does not seem to be able to attain happiness or satisfaction.
2 comments:
I think its interesting to look at how Scobie is unable to achieve happiness without a sense of safety from responsibility. Scobie describes the ultimate border in happiness as "being in darkness, alone, with the rain falling, without love or pity" (192). As he sits with Helen, Scobie repeatedly uses the words security and safety to characterize his interactions with her, noting the "security of age" (195) that separates them, the knowledge that "they were friends who could never be anything else than friends" (196). Yet Scobie hints on the top of page 197 that he soon will not remember these times with Helen as happy, possibly because they are the beginnings of a new relationship that calls forth love and responsibility on Scobie's part. As Scobie witnesses Helen's disorientation, he begins to feel pity for a "fish he couldn't just fling back into the sea", and the "evening tide" (211) of responsibility shatters his earlier sense of security. It is not love in his mind that undermines his comfort, but developing pity and trust, which he sees as agents and "camouflage of an enemy" (214), "handcuffs on his wrists" (213) an enemy I understand as Responsiblity, which oppresses its victim Scobie with tremendous weight. Only in darkness with the rain his sole companion can Scobie find total escape from his sense of responsibility.
Andrew correctly describes the relationship between Scobie and Helen as a combination of his love for Louise and Catherine. He never feels like he is cheating on Louise when he is with Helen, instead he says that they were friends who could never be anything else than friends" (196). Scobie finds her youth beautiful when he first sees her, but does not have strong feelings for her. He goes to her hut by coincidence and stays there to comfort her out of pity. He initially feels drawn to her because of his sense of responsibility and care. However, we must take into consideration Greene’s common feature of using a biased narrator. It is hard to believe that Scobie, the most honest figure in the novel, would actually cheat on Louise. But that brings the quality of their relationship into question. Scobie and Louise were bound not by love but by obligation. Scobie was, in fact, happier and more at peace when Louise departed for South Africa. Is it really cheating if he was stuck in a loveless marriage? I think Scobie’s relationship with Helen is an innocent one, stemming from his love for Catherine and his sense of responsibility for Louise.
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