Journey into Fear: Analysis of Major Characters
"Journey into Fear" is a novel that intricately explores the lives of its major characters, each representing different facets of society amidst the backdrop of pre-World War II tensions. The central character, Graham, is a dedicated British engineer whose naivety and belief in the goodness of people lead him into perilous situations while on a work assignment in Turkey. His interactions with Josette Gallindo, a dancer who balances her charm and sensuality with financial motivations, reveal the complexities of human relationships during times of conflict.
Another key character is Moeller, a deceptive German secret agent who masquerades as an archaeologist, embodying the themes of betrayal and ideological fanaticism. He is contrasted by Banat, a ruthless Romanian assassin, highlighting the stark differences in motivations among the characters. The narrative also introduces Kuvetli, a courageous Turkish secret agent, and Mathis, a French socialist whose true loyalties are more conservative than he admits. Together, these characters navigate a web of danger, intrigue, and moral ambiguity, inviting readers to reflect on the human condition amidst the shadows of war and deception.
Journey into Fear: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Eric Ambler
First published: 1940
Genre: Novel
Locale: Istanbul, Athens, and Greece
Plot: Suspense
Time: January, 1940
Graham, a brilliant engineer in charge of one of the experimental departments of a large British arms-manufacturing firm. A thin, slightly stooping man about forty years old, he is totally absorbed in his work. Quiet, likable, and naïve, he is inclined to believe the best of everyone. He is rather cool in his personal relations, and his marriage of ten years has been without passion on either side, but he is able to make himself amiable to the foreigners he encounters when traveling for his firm. He calls himself “the most harmless man alive” and is thus unwilling to believe his situation is as dangerous as it is. As the novel begins, he has been in Turkey for six weeks, investigating certain aspects of Turkish naval armaments for his firm. In the course of the novel, traveling by steamer to Italy, he becomes the victim of a Gestapo plot to disrupt the British plan to arm Turkish warships. Finally, in northern Italy, he manages to escape death at the hands of the Gestapo.
Josette Gallindo, a dancer. Slender and fair-haired, she is a sophisticated and weary woman of the world. Although she is not particularly gifted as a dancer, her dancing is theatrical and effective as a result of her sensual beauty and grace. At the beginning of the novel, she performs with her Spanish husband in an Istanbul nightclub. She meets Graham, later travels on the ship that takes him to Italy, and offers to help him escape his danger, but she is concerned less with Graham than with the financial advantages he represents. At the end of the novel, on a train to Paris, she offers herself to Graham for cash and is rejected.
Moeller, alias Fritz Haller, a German secret agent. An elderly man, pale and rather round-shouldered, he travels on Graham's ship to Italy as Haller, a distinguished German archaeologist, apparently a man of ideas who is too civilized to care about the usual antagonisms of people whose countries are at war with one another. Actually, he is a calculating Gestapo agent who believes only in the ideology of Nazism and has taken over the passport and identity of the real Haller, even mastering a detailed knowledge of ancient history to make his impersonation convincing. He first attempts to detain Graham and later tries to kill him to prevent him from reaching England with his knowledge of Turkish naval armaments.
Banat (bah-NAHT), a Romanian assassin, an agent for Moeller. He is a professional and “natural” killer who actually enjoys killing people and, unlike his employer, makes no pretense of serving a higher good. On the ship to Italy, Graham manages to escape death at his hands.
Kuvetli (kew-VEHT-lih), a Turkish secret agent traveling as a business representative. He is an inconspicuous small man but a devoted patriot of considerable courage who has been assigned by the Turkish secret service to travel to Italy with Graham to assist him. He tells Graham that he is willing to die for his country and does so.
Mathis (maht-EES), a French socialist. He claims to have been a socialist ever since learning in World War I that a French official who owned iron mines that had been captured by the Germans had ordered that they not be bombed. Actually, he is a “Royalist by instinct” and “a socialist by conviction” who spouts socialist slogans primarily to keep his conservative wife in line. When Graham is without real friends and is desperately seeking help, Mathis proves trustworthy.