The End Of The Affair

Sarah’s diary becomes one of the most important objects in the text. Not only does it allow the reader to view events from Sarah’s perspective, but it also represents a division in trust and a crossing of boundaries by Bendrix. It also motivates the plot, driving the relationship between Bendrix and Sarah forward.

Throughout the majority of the book, the reader has little choice but to view the world from Bendrix’s perspective. As an eloquent writer and a man capable of interesting social insights, the novel depends on Bendrix’s voice as a source of entertainment. But there is little doubt that Bendrix is a subjective writer: Bendrix himself admits in the opening of the text, “I am writing against the bias because it is my professional pride to prefer the near-truth, even to the expression of my near-hate.” (4), specifically mentioning the “near-truth” rather than the whole truth. Because of this biased perspective, the diary comes to represent an alternative viewpoint, another way in which to view the world.

To mark this difference, Greene changes his writing style. Whereas the bulk of the text is written in Bendrix’s searing