Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter (1948) follows Major Henry Scobie, a deputy police commissioner in a West African colony during World War II. Passed over for promotion and trapped in a loveless marriage, Scobie is driven by an overwhelming sense of pity and duty. To secure his wife Louise's happiness, he borrows money from a corrupt Syrian merchant; soon after, he begins a doomed affair with a young widow, Helen Rolt. A devout Catholic, Scobie becomes caught between love, faith, and moral responsibility. Unable to reconcile his sins, he chooses a tragic final solution—deceiving even God—to free everyone from himself.
