Title: The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale
Genre: Novel
Year: 1907
Pages: 200
Origin: read on the Kindle
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5
The Secret Agent was chosen principally because it avoided
the usual seafaring theme so well loved by Conrad during both his writing
career and previous jobs working at sea. The novel is set in Victorian London,
concerning the activities of Mr Verloc, we follow him as he juggles life as a
businessman in a bric-a-brac shop as well as a spy. He is used as an agent by
an ambassador of a foreign country; his mission is to destroy the Greenwich
Observatory in order to shake up the British establishment in order to make
them act on the dangers of anarchism.
Like many great ideas, it is based on a true life incident
from the 1890s. Conrad was able to use it to delve into the world of terrorism
and discuss big, weighty political themes. Mostly, such comments are within the
sarcastic and critical vein: ‘the majority of revolutionaries are the enemies
of discipline and fatigue mostly’. However, the real charm in The Secret Agent
lies in the human relationships of Verloc, his wife (Winnie), and his
brother-in-law, the poor unsuspecting Stevie. The relationship between the trio
is an uneasy one, with Conrad noting the dynamic: ‘Mr Verloc extended as much
recognition to Stevie as a man not particularly fond of animals may give to his
wife’s beloved cat; and this recognition, benevolent and perfunctory, was
essentially of the same quality’.
Verloc abuses the trust that Stevie places in him – Winnie notes
how her brother ‘would go through fire’ for her husband - in order to set off
the bomb. However, it all goes wrong, with Stevie being killed in the process;
a police-officer in the novel describes the scene: ‘Blown to small bits: limbs,
gravel, clothing, bones, splinters – all mixed up together. I tell you they had
to fetch a shovel to gather him up with’. Other characters are introduced,
including subplots involving anarchists and police detectives, all before the
novel culminates in Winnie’s stabbing of her husband in a fantastically
executed eleventh chapter. Like the ticking of a bomb, Winnie’s head climaxes: ‘Mrs
Verloc’s whole being was racked by that inconclusive and maddening thought. It
was in her veins, in her bones, in the roots of her hair’.
However, being Conrad, the narrative is not as
straight-forward as the Worm lets on. There are various time shifts, meaning
that this relatively “simple tale” is partially obscured. Furthermore, the lack
of redemption, as well as the concluding lines of the final newspaper report – ‘an
impenetrable mystery seems destined to hang for ever over this act of madness
of despair’ – show Conrad at his teasingly best. But yet, in comparison to
other novels – notably Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness – Conrad’s The Secret
Agent fails to stand as tall. The characters are not as developed, and the plot
is ultimately a basic one. Therefore, it displays a functioning – if engaging –
novel at the hands of a very talented writer.
Read it here
