The Secret Agent: Chapters 1-4

 Analysis: 

        Conrad’s use of minute details, repetition and diction conveys Verloc’s devotion to protection. Despite the devotion, Conrad satirises Verloc by juxtaposing the character’s thoughts and action. In the Victorian ages, Great Britain’s people always believed that the rules made by the topmost hierarchy were the ultimate decision. Through Verloc’s thoughts, Conrad shows this obsessive nature of how, the Englishmen believed that the ‘ultimate decision makers’ had to be protected. “Protection is the first necessary of the opulence and luxury”(The Secret Agent, pg 45) , this statement connects to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Without security it would be hard for a man to climb to the luxury and self-actualization that a man needs. Thus that statement sounds more like a fact, as “protection” is the key to luxury.  Through the diction used such as “opulence”, Conrad conveys the grandeur and richness of the city.

The transition from a general statement to specific people, gives the reader an idea about the specific layer of hierarchy that needed the protection. The statement, “They had to be protected,” (The Secret Agent, pg 45) is a general thought that any country would have in order to build the opulence. However, “they” are the people that acquired that luxurious lifestyle and thus “they” were the luxury and opulence of the city. Instead of using the adjectival phrase “The rich people”, the writer uses “they”. The ambiguity is parallel with the thought of “protection”.  Both the rich people and the richness itself need protection. The use of “they” also manifests a line between “them” and the “others”, which shows the importance of the people higher up the hierarchy. Conrad uses minute details such as, "and their horses, carriages, houses, servants had to be protected”(The Secret Agent, pg 45) to explain that everything that belonged to “them” had to be protected in order to keep the hierarchy. The minute details show as if Mr. Verloc kept an account of the luxury had to be protected. This signifies the devotion that Mr. Verloc had in order to keep the hierarchy. However, the repetition of “they had to protected” made it more of a duty than just devotion to the cause. The literary device amplifies the inescapability of the situation.  

The other condition for the protection is mentioned as “ and the source of their wealth had to be protected in the heart of the city and the heart of the country”(The Secret Agent, pg 45). The simile of the Hyde Park being the “heart of the city and country” conveys the way in which Great Britain used to function in those days. However, the inner meaning is the way “they had to be protected”. The simile conveys the fact that all the opulence had to stay in the city in order to be protected. It also signifies how tight knit that protection needed to be. By adding the phrase “The whole social order favourable to their hygienic idleness”(The Secret Agent, pg 45), Conrad conveys that the social order was a permanent cause by adding the word “idleness”. Thus in order to keep the hierarchy eternal the luxury needs to be protected. The metaphor of the permanency, “hygienic idleness” signifies that every other foreign thought would corrupt the system. The sentence ends with “Against the shallow enviousness of unhygienic labor”(The Secret Agent, pg 45). The laborers were ‘unhygienic’ because they aspired to become “them” one day. That was “unhygienic” for the upper hierarchy and thus made the laborers shallow because of the aspiration of materialistic gains. After this sentence the author writes, “it had to”, like the compulsion it always was for the devotee. Thus each thought of Mr. Verloc the author writes about shows the devotion that the character had towards the duty that “had” to be performed. The hyperbole of the way “protection” also shows the way Verloc was devoted to maintain the social hierarchy.

The irony in the paragraph is Verloc’s behavior towards his way of life. The irony begins with the sentence, “And Mr. Verloc would have rubbed his hands with satisfaction had he not been constitutionally averse from every superfluous exertion”(The Secret Agent, pg 45). The diction, “constitutionally averse from every superfluous exertion”(The Secret Agent, pg 45), gives a characterization of Mr. Verloc and his inert nature. The hyperbole of the way the character did not want to perform the action show that Mr. Verloc only believed in minute details and management of time. However, the irony is strongly portrayed when the author mentions, “His idleness was not hygienic, but it suited him very well”(The Secret Agent, pg 45). The irony here is Mr. Verloc was unhygienic himself thus, however the character believed that he himself was different than the rest of the unhygienic labor. This foreshadows the events that turned out in the book because “they” had to be protected from the “unhygienic labor”.

 This paragraph foreshadows of the author’s view towards the structure of society also an ironical death of Verloc. The tone used in the paragraph by the author is quite sarcastic because of the repetition of “all had to be protected”. Verloc is shown as the perfect servant of the society, however, in the end he himself is betrayed by the same society he deeply believed in. Furthermore, through the character Conrad makes the reader aware of the shallowness of the upper class society. And indirectly the author gives the reader an insight of his view of the upper class society in London.

Citations:

1. Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2009