48 pages • 1 hour read
The Secret Agent
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Themes
Exploitation Due to Unequal Power Structures
The Secret Agent examines the power structures in Britain in the late 19th century. At this time, the British Empire was reaching the peak of its power and influence around the globe. In Britain, however, the period was marked by great inequality between the wealthy ruling classes and the poor working classes. In London, these differences were particularly pronounced. The Secret Agent continues the Dickensian depiction of poor, run-down neighborhoods in the capital city. Verloc, for example, lives in an impoverished neighborhood. The poverty of Verloc’s Soho is contrasted with the lavish, decadent homes of the truly wealthy. The anarchists in the novel understand this juxtaposition between living conditions and, they claim, they wish to rebalance society in favor of the working classes. The anarchists examine the relationship between individuals and the state, criticizing the exploitative way in which British society exploits the working class—both home and abroad—to enrich the already wealthy and powerful people. The society itself, they suggest, is structured to alienate and disenfranchise the poor and maintain the status quo. The novel continues this critique: The power structures are never threatened, and they survive the medaling of foreign governments, the deaths of the characters, and the bomb attack at Greenwich. In spite of the events of the novel, the power structures of the society remain in place. Conrad hence presents a pessimistic outlook and suggests that exploitation will continue because of steadfast and enduring structures that distribute power unequally.
The power structures in the novel are not limited to the political sphere. As the Assistant Commissioner suggests to Sir Ethelred, the matter of Adolf Verloc can be better understood as a domestic rather than a political drama. In domestic terms, the entire Verloc marriage is organized around an imbalanced power structure. Winnie does not love Verloc; she turned down several other men before settling for him. She decided to marry Verloc because she feels desperate. Winnie grew up in an abusive household. Her father abused her and her brother Stevie, leaving her mother with very little after his death. Following his death, Winnie felt a responsibility to care for her mother and brother. As a disenfranchised working-class woman, she had little recourse to affect the world around her. She married Verloc because he would provide for her family, making her dependent on him. Her marriage is a necessity, trapping her in an imbalanced power structure until such a time that—through Verloc’s own actions—she is freed from her obligation to her brother. At this moment, when she realizes that she is a free woman, Winnie stabs Verloc, only to realize that she is still disempowered and disenfranchised. Winnie’s fate illustrates the imbalanced domestic power structure, which limits her happiness and traps her in a series of obligations and debts that can’t be escaped even after drastic action.
While the authorities chase after the anarchists, the Assistant Commissioner gains an insight into a world of wealth and power which exists outside such trivial games. The parties at the home of Michaelis’s wealthy benefactor suggest that, to the truly wealthy, the police and the radicals are entertaining distractions. They are toys, in essence, who do not need to be taken seriously because the power structures are so secure. The radicals cannot truly threaten power, and the police exist to curb any threat to the status quo that might emerge. Sir Ethelred, for example, is less interested in the details of the investigation than he is in fishing rights in British society. The novel highlights an enduring power structure in British society, in which plots and bombings are simply mere distractions.
The Rarity of Sincere Radicalism
The Secret Agent describes the murky world of revolutionary anarchists who plot the overthrow of society. Importantly, however, none of the anarchists portrayed in the novel comes close to achieving their stated ambition. The group that gathers in Verloc’s parlor is largely pathetic. Verloc is willing to sell his integrity for a comfortable life. Michaelis, supposedly a forceful critic of the wealthy and powerful, relies on a rich patron to support his life of writing and thinking. Yundt presents himself as a strident anarchist, yet he has never actually contributed to the anarchist cause in a meaningful fashion. Ossipon is mocked for his tendency to follow whatever fashionable idea takes his fancy, yet the events of the novel suggest that he is only ever truly interested in women and money. These so-called anarchists are portrayed as hypocrites—men who speak loudly but offer nothing in terms of genuine action. They proclaim a sincere radicalism while practicing little more than self-interest. Conrad hence critiques those who claim to be radical and suggests that sincere radicalism is rare, despite the prevalence of bravado.
The powerful Vladimir notes the vapid radicalism of these supposed anarchists. When Verloc meets with Vladimir for the first time, the foreign dignitary mocks Verloc for his lack of sincerity. He points out that Verloc is large-bodied, lazy, and far too comfortable to trundle along in his indolent manner while claiming to be an anarchist or a secret agent. Vladimir mocks the idea that Verloc could be a member of the starving proletariat when Verloc seems more dedicated to not missing a meal than he is to any anarchist principles. Vladimir is not wrong, especially in terms of Verloc’s sincerity. Verloc, in particular, has no integrity. He has already been forced to leave France after selling military secrets. He works as a secret agent but also colludes with Chief Inspector Heat to ensure that his business remains open. He inflates the capabilities of the anarchists in his reports to the embassy, which means that he is all too aware of exactly how ineffectual they truly are, all while presenting himself to his friends as a sincere radical. Vladimir’s mistake is in taking the example of Verloc and applying it to everyone else. While all the anarchists in Verloc’s circle are hypocritical in some manner, there are those who sincerely believe in the need for change. Vladimir believes that a crackdown on anarchists in Britain is essential to reaffirm the strength of the status quo against the incompetent and insincere radicals. To Vladimir, the idea of sincere radicalism is absurd. His arrogant, dismissive attitude becomes a hindrance in his plots.
Of all the characters portrayed in the novel, the Professor emerges as the most committed to anarchist terrorism. At the same time, however, his sincere desire to commit acts of terrorism in the name of anarchism is not wedded to some sincere belief in the principles of anarchism. The Professor’s real love is bombs. Anarchism simply provides him with a useful justification for buying, distributing, and exploding his many devices. This is evident in the way that he talks about the world. The Professor has no sincere interest in helping the working class. He views poor people as weak, just as he views most people as weak. Rather than revolutionize society, he wants to blow it up and rebuild it in his own image. To this extent, anarchism and anarchists are just vehicles for destruction. The Professor considers people—the individual anarchists with whom he meets—to be extensions of his explosive devices. Humans are simply unreliable detonators, the annoying but essential component which he is forced to include in each of his masterpieces. The Professor is a radical, but he is not a sincere believer in anarchism. He obfuscates his true beliefs and desires, insincerely using the language of anarchism to hide his love of blowing everything to pieces.
The Impact of Colonialism on National Identity
The Secret Agent is set entirely in London, the capital city at the heart of the British Empire. The protagonist, Adolf Verloc, has a complex relationship with British identity. Though he currently lives in London, he is actually half-British and half-French. Much as he betrayed his French identity by selling French military secrets, he betrays his British identity by working for the unnamed foreign embassy as a secret agent. To Verloc, national identity such as British or French is irrelevant. He is more concerned with his well-being and his money, as he is willing to sell out any of his supposed nationalities in exchange for an easy, well-renumerated life. Verloc’s complicated and hollow understanding of national identity suggests that the peak of the British Empire has created a vacuum among its subjects. Those who exist in the capital of the Empire do not feel particularly wedded to any imperial identity other than the rampant self-interest and the extraction of wealth which motivates the Empire abroad.
The reason for Verloc’s alienation from British identity is explored through the novel’s subtext. The Secret Agent depicts two versions of British society. The society is divided between the poor and the rich. The poor society is occupied by men like Verloc, Winnie, and the other anarchists, who are alienated from the wealth of the nation and who have been marginalized by society. Though Britain may be the dominant global force in this era, the poor people of London do not feel British in any celebratory sense. They are alienated from the riches of the Empire as the society itself is fundamentally unequal. In contrast, the wealthy people in the novel occupy an entirely different world. The Palace of Westminster, for example, is described as the heart of the British Empire. It is a decadent repository of power, in which the inhabitants are devoted to the preservation of the status quo, as colonialism benefits them. The wealthy people’s view of British identity is largely positive, illustrating the way in which material wealth enabled by colonialism influences a person’s attitude toward national identity.
Key to the novel’s depiction of colonialism is the Assistant Commissioner. Of all the characters, he has the most experience of colonial administration. Not only was he a colonial administrator, charged with bringing down secret societies of indigenous people, he also actively enjoyed this assignment. He felt as though he was contributing to the success of his country, bonding together the success of the colonial enterprise with his own conception of national identity. Since his wife did not enjoy life abroad, however, he has been forced to return to Britain. In his new role, he employs the same tactics and techniques against British people. He targets the anarchists as though they were an insurgent group of colonized subjects. The Assistant Commissioner is an example of the boomerang effect of colonial violence, in which techniques of preserving power are refined abroad against an out-group of non-subjects before returning home to be used against subjects of the colonial empire. British identity becomes fractured by the returning colonial practices, creating divisions within British identity as those who might have differentiated themselves from colonial subjects are now threatened by the same tactics. Identities realign, as the subjugated British people realize that they have more in common with the indigenous poor people than the wealthy colonizers.
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