The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale" is a novel by Joseph Conrad that intricately explores the lives and motivations of its major characters against a backdrop of political intrigue and anarchism in London. Mr. Verloc, the protagonist, is a lazy shopkeeper and an agent provocateur, tasked with inciting distrust among anarchists. His plans lead to tragic consequences, including the accidental death of his half-witted brother-in-law, Stevie, which provokes his wife, Winnie Verloc, to commit murder out of despair and anger. Winnie’s subsequent attempt to escape with the unprincipled anarchist Comrade Ossipon culminates in her tragic suicide when left alone. Other key figures include Inspector Heat, who struggles to solve the bombing case amid bureaucratic pressures, and the ambitious Privy Councilor Wurmt, who manipulates Verloc into carrying out his plans. The novel portrays a complex interplay of individual motives and broader societal issues, offering a critical look at human relationships within a turbulent political landscape. Each character embodies different facets of loyalty, morality, and the consequences of radical actions, making the story a poignant reflection on the nature of political and personal responsibility.
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Joseph Conrad
First published: 1907
Genre: Novel
Locale: London, England
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1880's
Mr. Verloc, an agent provocateur assigned to spy on anarchists in London; he poses as a shopkeeper. He is indolent and unkempt. Under pressure from his superiors at a foreign embassy, he plans to bomb Greenwich Observatory, a deed he believes sufficiently irrational and anarchistically shocking enough to stir up the London police in a campaign against the anarchists. His feebleminded brother-in-law, whom he enlists to carry the explosive, stumbles in Greenwich Park and is himself blown to bits. Because he uses her half-witted brother as his dupe, Winnie Verloc murders her husband.
Winnie Verloc, a motherly woman who married Verloc mainly to provide security for Stevie, the half-witted brother whom she loves protectively. When she learns that her husband was instrumental in having her brother blown up, she murders him with a knife and attempts to escape to the Continent with Comrade Ossipon. Under great stress after Ossipon deserts her, she commits suicide by jumping from the steamer on the way to Calais.
Chief Inspector Heat, an investigator of the Special Crimes Department of the London police. A methodical man, he wishes to follow conventional and routine procedures in trying to solve the mystery of the bombing, the motive for which he can in no way understand. He arrests Michaelis, the most harmless of the anarchist propagandists, whom he knows to be but slightly involved but against whom he can make a case. Because of the insistence of the new assistant commissioner, his superior, and the finding of a scrap of an overcoat collar with an address on the label, he is forced to approach Verloc, whose information to the police has been helpful many times before.
The assistant commissioner, an official of the London Police who has only recently come to his position from service in the tropics. He realizes the dangers of depending on routine and on conventional police rules and procedure. He questions Chief Inspector Heat's methods and finally feels compelled to take an active part in the investigation of the bombing episode.
Privy Councilor Wurmt, of the foreign embassy in London. He orders that Verloc be called in for reprimand and instructions.
Mr. Vladimir, the first secretary of the embassy. He accuses Verloc of indolence and deliberately pressures him into the bomb attack on Greenwich Observatory as a means of waking the British people to a sense of their European responsibilities.
Comrade Ossipon, “the Doctor,” the unprincipled sensualist among the anarchists. He escapes with Winnie Verloc after she murders her husband. He is willing to share Verloc's bank account, but he deserts Winnie when he realizes the possibilities of suspicion that his relationship with her may incur.
Michaelis, called the Apostle, an idealistic anarchist who has been in prison and who has written a book about his experiences. This harmless man is cared for by Lady Mabel, his patroness. To save face, Inspector Heat arrests him.
Professor X, the perfect anarchist. Small and deformed physically, he has grandiose ideas and dreams of making the perfect detonator. For protection, he carries explosives, fastened to his body, that can be detonated immediately to destroy himself and anyone near him. He supplies Verloc with the explosive to blow up the Greenwich Observatory.
Karl Yundt, an old “terrorist.” Skinny, bald, malevolent, and pitiless, he is a man of much talk but little action.
Stevie, the half-witted brother of Winnie Verloc. Because of his doglike devotion to his brother-in-law, Verloc plans to have him plant the bomb. It explodes accidentally and Stevie is killed.
Sir Ethelred, the home secretary, the great personage to whom the assistant commissioner reports progress of the investigation.
Lady Mabel, the patroness who supports Michaelis.
Toodles, the young secretary to Sir Ethelred.