Graham Greene?

Question

What themes/events in Graham Greene's writing have actually been influenced by events/things that have occured in his own life?

Please be specific if you can.

Answer 1

Probably the event that had the biggest influence on his work was Greene's conversion to Catholicism in 1926 and this greatly influenced this the themes of his fiction: guilt and redemption, good and evil and alienation and despair.
He also did some work for British Intelligence:

"The Heart of the Matter"
The scene of this novel, considered among his best, is in West Africa, where Mr. Greene did intelligence work for the British Government during World War II. The protagonist is Maj. Henry Scobie, an essentially commonplace man capable of pity to the point of obsession. It is pity that does the major in. Although a Roman Catholic, his sympathy for, and understanding of, his wife and his mistress lead him to commit suicide to keep from hurting their feelings."

Answer 2

Most reports and reviews of Greene's life refer to this Russian roulette "rumour". In fact it is pruported that the essay "The Revolver in the Corner Cupboard" is about his experimentation with this "game". It seems like a lot of the information is based on Greene's claims he did this. I could not find any confirmed verifications by anyone else who had actually witnessed it. Opinions vary as to why he was motivated to do this - depression, boredom, experimentation. However, Michael Sheldens biography discredits Greene's own claims that he did play Russian Roulette though so it is quite difficult to answer your question.