C.B. Murphy  .:. Writer

The biggest issue I had with the book was the author’s relationship to the “literal” Catholicism of his main character, Scobie. Was Scobie a true believer or was he already so deeply wounded (by the loss of his child, I suspect) that his religion is a legalistic “shell” he lives inside of. In this sense he “believes” the Church’s teachings but not so much with his HEART (title reference) but with this HEAD.
In his head Scobie is a depressed (dare I say?), fairly hopeless fellow that gets what little pleasure he can from following rules (including promises). But then his “depression” (for lack of a better word, perhaps spiritual crisis?) has eaten away at his resolve to truly abide by the rules. For example, when he meets Helen he’s remarkably unconflicted (at first anyway) about moving into the affair. We were not privvy to his discussions with himself (or God) about should he have an affair, should he sin? Of course, he should or perhaps cannot stop himself from sinning. So too it is with the (sacred?) rules of his job. He breaks his own rules to help the pathetic Portugese boat captain trying to write a letter to his daughter in Germany.
It’s as if Scobie is two people, the “head” part (the rule follower) inevitably loses out to the “heart” part as in the game Rock, Scissors, Paper. If Scobie really loves God the most (as implied in the end) then is it really the God of the Catholic Church or some unknowable God? When he actually talks to God (a pretty amazing scene in any “modern” book) God doesn’t really want him to kill himself because that is hopeless and there is “always hope if one is alive.” So in the end Scobie is playing by his own rules, not God’s or man’s.
What are his rules that make his suicide inevitable? One might say that he’s doing it out of “love” for Helen and Louise to make their lives more comfortable by his absence. But for Helen’s new lover to kill himself when she’s just lost her husband–this is a gift? And what of Louise? The kindest thing he could have done for Louise is to look the other way while she plays with Wilson, a pattern they’d already somewhat established. I found that curious, too–how did this Catholic couple come to be so urbane and sophisticated about something like Louise kissing Wilson, and Wilson loving her? They were acting like post-Christian sophisticates in how little it bothered them that they each had another lover. Wouldn’t the logical ending be merely to continue this pattern, though much less dramatic.
Was Scobie playing some kind of dangerous game where he “believed” (in England and the Church) and “disbelieved” (illegal activities, affair-tolerance) at the same time? Was it a form of self disgust that he couldn’t sustain this two-faced-ness that led him to suicide, more as an existentialist (Camus said the only real question is suicide) than a fallen-away Catholic sure he would be going to a literal hell. I don’t think Scobie really believed he was going to hell. It was more that he challenged God, let’s see what you do with THIS rule-breaking: I’ll kill myself and throw myself on your mercy. Let’s see you (God) decide Heart or Head, see how you like the quandry you’ve put us in!