Analysis
Joseph Conrad through the Professor, throughout the book
expresses his view on “revolutionists” and the hierarchical society. The author
in this paragraph through his imagery of the streets of London exposes a different
view of the Professor to the reader. And with the help of the metaphor of
locusts, Conrad parallels with the “knitting machine” that he wrote about in
his Letter to R.B Cunninghame (A letter to R.B Cunninghame Graham, pg 264) . Furthermore through this he exposes a more human
side of the Professor. The author sets the scene for the reader by describing
the street, “He was in a long, straight street, people by a mere fraction of an
immense multitude;” (The Secret Agent, pg 94)
Here even though the author does not use many words the reader still can
imagine the street. The phrase “People by a mere fraction of an immense
multitude;” this description portrays the amount of people that were on the
street. The imagery in “mere fraction of an immense multitude”, shows that
place the professor stood only had a “fraction” of the amount of people that
stood on that particular street. And the use of “multitude” emphasizes on the
crowd that stood on the “long street”.
In addition, the author through his
imagery continues to shine light on the view of the street, which eventually
explains the view the Professor had. Thus the author continues “but all around
him, on and on” (The Secret Agent, pg 94),
through this author gives dimension to the streets. Instead of it being just a
“long straight, street”, the author by “all around him, on and on”, fills the street
with more people to gives more magnitude to the cause. Conrad with the help of
hyperbole emphasizes on dimension and the amount of people that occupy the
space: “even to the limits of the horizon hidden by the enormous piles of
bricks, he felt the mass of mankind mighty in its numbers” (The Secret Agent, pg 94). In addition, “he felt
the mass of mankind mighty in it’s numbers”, helps explain the fact that numbers
matter. The phrase “he felt the mass of mankind” more than emphasizing the
amount of people that occupied London gave an insight into the feelings of the
Professor. The heaviness of mankind, conveyed that the point of view they had weighed
more than the Professor’s view on “anarchists”, it was him versus all those
people.
Thus with the help of the metaphor
of “locusts” the author conveys his and the Professor’s point of view of
mankind. The metaphor “They swarmed numerous like locusts, industrious like
ants, thoughtless like a natural force, pushing on blind, orderly and absorbed,
impervious to sentiment, to logic, to terror too perhaps” (The Secret Agent, pg 94), conveys the view that Conrad had which, he also
explained through the knitting machine. In the letter Conrad wrote to R.B
Cunninghame, the author wrote “And the most withering thought is that the
infamous thing has made itself; made itself without thought, without
conscience, without foresight, without eyes, without heart” (A letter to R.B Cunninghame Graham, pg 264). The
connection here that mankind as a whole functions in only one direction and
compared to the size of it, even a “mere fraction” of it would not be able to
move it. This is because it has “no conscience” and is too “absorbed” to care
about someone else’s take on humanity.
The next paragraph conveys the
Professor’s take on humanity, which brings out a more existentialist side of
the Professor. The author continues, “That was the form of doubt he feared
most. Impervious to fear!” (The Secret Agent,
pg 94). This thought made the Professor look more human aside from his obsession
of being “the perfect anarchist”. Furthermore, this foreshadows the reaction
London had towards the bomb in Greenwich Park and there was hardly a reaction
towards except from the police. And most of the police called it a madman act (The Secret Agent, pg 98). The exclamation mark
in “Impervious to fear!” emphasized on the “fear” that Professor had. The
existentialism of the Professor is shown in “Often while walking abroad, when
he happened also to come out himself, he had such moments of dreadful and sane
mistrust of mankind” (The Secret Agent,
pg 95). The paradox in the sentence is that the “mistrust” is “dreadful and sane”.
It is dreadful because they are “impervious to fear”, however it is “sane”
because it is a logical and true thought. The sane part also is that he isn’t
the only one, “Such moments come to all men whose ambition aims at a direct
grasp upon humanity- to artists, politicians, thinkers, reformers or saints.” (The Secret Agent, pg 95). The author ends with “A
despicable emotional state this, against which solitude fortifies a superior
character; and with severe exultation the Professor thought of the refuse of
his room, with its padlocked cupboard, lost in a wilderness of poor houses, the
hermitage of the perfect anarchist” (The Secret Agent, pg 95). The personification of “solitude fortifies a
superior character” again makes the professor sound more human. Even he needed
his “solitude” which was his “padlocked cupboard, lost in a wilderness of poor
houses, the hermitage of the perfect anarchist”. The “padlocked” cupboard was his way of coping
with humanity as it gave some meaning to the Professor’s life.
Joseph Conrad, by making the
Professor sound more human showed that even “the perfect anarchist” could not
shake the system that the society built. And this was to prove a point that is that
the knitting machine is “indestructible”(A letter to R.B Cunninghame Graham, pg 264) . At the end of the book even the
Professor is a “locust” amongst every other “locust” out there because everyone
works within the system. Conrad also explained that he did not “believe” in the
letters because he understood that due to the “indestructible” nature of the
system he did not “believe”. In Conclusion, Conrad shows his existentialist side
through the Professor to convey his view on revolutionists.
Citations:
1. Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2009
2. Conrad, Joseph. "A letter to R.B Cunninghame Graham." In The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2009
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