In the psychoanalytic tradition rivalry and even murderous impulses of a son towards his father have been considered as the source of father-son conflicts. But since a few years attention has been called to an aggressive component in the father towards his offspring, based on the life cycle with the succession of generations and the inevitability of aging and death. In its extreme form this can lead to a father sacrificing his son. An elaboration of this latter theme can be found in three works of Graham Greene, published within a period of ten years, coinciding with the sixth decade of his life, the period in which the awareness of one's own decline and the growing strength of the young becomes inevitable. Moreover, if we take into account the order of publication of these three works, 'The Quiet American', 'The Potting Shed' and 'Carving a Statue', we can establish a progressively more pronounced narcissistic motivation in the father figure. On the contrary, in the almost ten years later published novel The Honorary Consul', the father-son conflict is resolved by mutual acceptance and magnanimity.