The Secret Agent : Chapters 11-12

Analysis

Joseph Conrad, in his book also addresses the issues of Feminism during the Victorian ages. Through Winnie and her devotion for Mr. Verloc Conrad portrayed “the perfect wife”. However, after Stevie is killed Conrad portrays a different Winnie.  Therefore, by portraying a Winnie that is confused due to her new found “freedom”, led to Mr. Verloc’s death. The author begins with “Mrs Verloc was a free woman”(The Secret Agent, pg 214), this affirmative statement conveys to the reader the “freedom” of Mrs. Verloc.  The author continues, “She had thrown open the window of the bedroom either with the intention of screaming Murder! Help! or throwing herself out.”(The Secret Agent, pg 214). In those times most women did not know what to do with their freedom. Furthermore, a woman was never exactly ‘free’ from society because, society would judge her from every move that she took. Thus this is confirmed “For she did not exactly know what use to make of her freedom”(The Secret Agent, pg 214). Because Winnie had always been caged throughout her life, she would not have known what a woman would have done when she was free. The repetition of the word “freedom” expresses the confusion and emphasizes on Winnie’s newfound “freedom”.

Further Conrad with the help of contradictory statements conveys the confusion created in Winnie’s head as to the steps she would take towards this “freedom”. The author describes her confusion, as “her personality seemed to have been torn into two pieces, whose mental operations, did not adjust themselves very well to each other” (The Secret Agent, pg 214). It always almost as if she had a personality disorder due to her being unaware of which actions she would and could take. One part of her wanted to flee, but another due to the devotion needed to stay, as her husband was still present. The use of two different options helps the reader to connect to the character, as the reader also goes through such a process everyday. Further, in this setting the streets (for the first time) was completely empty: “The street, silent and deserted from end to end, repelled her by taking sides with that man who was so certain of his impunity”(The Secret Agent, pg 214), the personification of the street also is a metaphor for the society. The society “deserted” her, as no one would have helped her because of the male-dominant society she was surrounded with. This view is confirmed in the next two lines: “She was afraid to shout let no one should come. Obviously no one would come” (The Secret Agent, pg 214), the situation was obvious because society had already “deserted” her. Her senses come back when “her instinct of self-preservation recoiled from the depth”(The Secret Agent, pg 214).  The use of personification portrays that due to the confusion Winnie almost forgot of the outside world and thus when she realizes that she will find no help, she her lost sense of control comes back to her. The hyperbole “recoiled from the depth” puts forward the lost sense of control that Winnie had and thus it went deep inside. And thus to free herself she “dressed herself to go out into the street another way” (The Secret Agent, pg 214) by dressing herself in complete black in order to make it obvious that she was mourning for her little brother. The repetition of “she was a free woman” was as if she was reassuring herself that was indeed “free”.

            Winnie eventually gained her consciousness, however because of the new found “freedom”, the thoughts she had were quite drastic, which led to Winnie murdering her husband. The author implies the sense of control that Winnie found in the line “She had commanded her wits now, her vocal organs; she felt herself to be in an almost preternaturally perfect control of every fibre of her body”(The Secret Agent, pg 219). The control of “every fibre” showed that slowly she gained a clearer idea of her intentions and actions. Furthermore, “preternaturally perfect” and the description of “every fibre” signifies the control she gained due to her freedom. A foreshadow of her actions is depicted in “She did not wish that man to change his position on the sofa which was very suitable to the circumstances.” (The Secret Agent, pg 219) Therefore “she started at once, as if she were still a loyal woman bound to that man by unbroken contract.” (The Secret Agent, pg 219) The “loyal woman” signifies a perfect wife and “unbroken contract” is the metaphor for marriage. However, this line underlines the irony in where Mr. Verloc broke the “contract”, but acts as if she isn’t supposed to break it as she controlled her actions. And because of this gathered up frustration, control and freedom Winnies murders Mr. Verloc.

            In conclusion, the author conveys the message of the treatment of women in the Victorian Age. Throughout the scene Mr. Verloc is allowed to be frustrated however, Winnie is not. Even if Mr. Verloc is wrong, he blames is on Winnie as she stitched the address on Stevie’s shirt. (The Secret Agent, pg 216) Because of the frustration Winnie gathered up the courage to murder Mr. Verloc because she had nothing to lose. Whatever she had was already taken away from her. Thus, Winnie felt as if she had no other choice but to seek justice from the person who took away her life.

Citation: 

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

The Secret Agent: Chapters 8-10

Analysis:

The character of Stevie had an interesting development throughout the book. Joseph Conrad, through Stevie gave the reader an idea about the way degenerates were treated in Victorian London. However, in the last few chapters, the author through the symbolism of the “clock” and the “circles”, Conrad foreshadows the character’s death. The foreshadow starts with Stevie’s revelation on his view on society: “Trying to express the view newly opened to his sympathies of the human and equine misery in close association” (The Secret Agent, pg 157). Stevie being a degenerate could not express his view however, had many insightful thoughts to everyone throughout the book quite ignored. The phrase “view newly-opened” expresses the revelation that Stevie had when he saw the man hitting his horses. And by calling him “Poor brute, poor people” (The Secret Agent, pg 157), instead of blaming the man, Stevie pitied him. The author continues with “It did not seem forcible enough, and he came to a stop with an angry splutter: ‘Shame!’ Stevie… lacked clearness and precision”(The Secret Agent, pg 157). Through Stevie’s “angry splutter” the author emphasizes on Stevie’s frustration from not only being ignored and not being able to express his views, but mainly towards society.  Despite the frustration those words gave Stevie “greater completeness and some profundity”(The Secret Agent, pg 157).

Joseph Conrad in the next few lines expresses Stevie’s sense of moral. He had a very view on what is right and wrong. One of his views was “Stevie knew what is was to be beaten. He knew it fro experience. It was a bad world. Bad! Bad!” (The Secret Agent, pg 157). The repetition of “bad” expresses the clear view that Stevie had due to his experience. His experience was his father treating him unjustly. And eventually Stevie does put together “Bad world for poor people” and that “somebody, he felt, ought to be punished for it – punished with great severity” (The Secret Agent, pg 157), the repetition of “punished” shows the urgency of the view Stevie put across. In addition, the phrase “great severity” shows his determination towards making the world a more righteous place. Furthermore, Stevie was a “moral creature” and thus was at the “mercy of his righteous passions” (The Secret Agent, pg 157). The author through these lines conveys the way Stevie had innocent insights on society; however, this innocence eventually gets him killed. Stevie also felt that the police were “a sort of benevolent institution for the suppression of evil” (The Secret Agent, pg 158). Despite that because of decided opinion and the police not helping the cabman Stevie “was irritated, too, by a suspicion of duplicity of the members of the force.”  (The Secret Agent, pg 158) The author thus remarked, “For Stevie was frank and as open as the day himself”, the simile emphasized on the innocent nature of Stevie.

Through the symbolism of the “clock”; the “circles” and the innocent nature, Conrad foreshadows Stevie’s death. Stevie looked up to Mr. Verloc as an ideal because his mother and Mrs. Verloc  “had established, erected, consecrated it”(The Secret Agent, pg 160), the alliteration emphasizes on the way the thought had been deep-rooted the view was. Further after the author establishes this fact after Mr. Verloc went away for a while Stevie would start at the clock. The author describes the setting as “ with his knees drawn up and his head in his hands. To come upon his pallid face, with its gleaming in the dusk, was discomposing” (The Secret Agent, pg 167). The use of “pallid” conveys as if Stevie was waiting for someone or something. As if he was waiting for time to pass by for something to happen. The clock is a symbol for his death as clocks also symbolize the amount of time as person has.  Stevie also “moped in the striking fashion of an unhappy domestic animal”(The Secret Agent, 167), here the author degrades the character; however, only to portray the unhappy state of Stevie. Also, whenever an animal mopes around one place for too long also shows that the animal from the inside knows that it is about die. And after Mr. Verloc came back Stevie “no longer moped longer at the foot of the clock”(The Secret Agent, pg 168), instead he “at odd times clenched his fists…scowling at the wall, with the sheet of paper and the pencil given to him for drawing circles lying blank and idle on the kitchen table.” (The Secret Agent, pg 168) The “circles” are a symbol of his understanding of the interwoven social and political society. Stevie through these circles defined his morals and viewed each circle as a connected chaos in the interwoven network of society. As he understood the cruel world better and to end the chaos he decided to take part in Mr. Verloc's plan. The reason behind Stevie’s eagerness behind Mr. Verloc’s plan was because he believed that someone ought to pay, his innocent morals and his admiration for Mr. Verloc. He felt the need to mean something and thus his eagerness and anger got him killed.

Through Stevie the author shows the way degenerates were misunderstood and thus ignored. Even though Stevie’s sister believed Stevie was excited, she never bothered towards the insights the Stevie gave. Mr. Verloc only noticed him when Mrs. Verloc told him that “he would go through fire for you”. And because, of this Mr. Verloc instead takes that comment literally and puts the boy in a tricky situation. In Conclusion, the author systematically puts across Stevie’s situation in the book that, which makes the reader sympathize with the degenerate.

Citation:

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

The Secret Agent: Chapters 5-7

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

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