The Heart of the Matter study guide contains a biography of Graham Greene, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The Heart of the Matter study guide contains a biography of Graham Greene, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. I had written in The Ministry of Fear: 'Pity is cruel. He further says in the preface, "I had meant the story of Scobie to enlarge a theme which I had touched on in The Ministry of Fear, the disastrous effect on human beings of pity as distinct from compassion. He illustrates this theme by describing Scobie, the main character of the book, as "a weak man with good intentions doomed by his big sense of pity". Pity destroys. Graham Greene saw The Heart of the Matter as dealing with the issue of pity. The Heart of The Matter, Graham Greene The Heart of the Matter (1948) is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Love isn't safe when … 551.