The Construction of Anti-heroes: An Exploration of Abused Childhood and its repercussions in the Early Fiction of Graham Greene

Abstract Graham Greene was a most prolific writer of his times. He is most popularly known for his singular perspective on religion. In most of his novels, he questioned the religious dogma and proffered his own views about sin and redemption. He was also a very topical author, choosing to describe the present world in his novels. He presents a very stark and real picture of the society of his times. In his earlier novels, Greene presents anti-heroes. He traces their villainy to their childhood and strives to say that his villains are constructs of society and culture. On this basis, contending that it is not their fault that they are what they are, Greene also offers the hope for redemption for his villains. It is the aim of this paper to examine the violence ridden childhood of his characters and how it has contributed in making them anti-heroes